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PUBLISHED : 19 Nov 2023 at 07:19
KANCHANABURI: An earthquake happened in Sangkhla Buri district early Sunday morning and was felt in this western province.
Kanrawee Sitthicheewapak, director-general of the department, said that the 4.0-magnitude quake occurred at a depth of six kilometres in tambon Nong Lu at 3.07am.
The Earthquake Observation Division of the department reported that the quake resulted from the movement of the Three Pagodas Fault and it received reports of shaken one-storey houses in tambon Nong Lu.
Many people in Sangkhla Buri district reported via Facebook that the earthquake woke them up, their houses shook and they heard noises from their metal roofs.
Nataya Noomwatana, a local pork vendor, said that while her team was preparing their merchandise, she heard noises from the roof of her market and from the ground under her feet. The quake shocked vendors who then ran out of the market buildings.
Two previous quakes in Sangkhla Buri had happened on July 14, 2015, with a 4.8 magnitude on the Richter Scale and on Aug 20, 2015, with a 4.5 magnitude.
PUBLISHED : 19 Nov 2023 at 07:19
KANCHANABURI: An earthquake occurred under Sangkhla Buri district early Sunday morning and was felt throughout this western province.
Kanrawee Sitthicheewapak, director-general of the Thai Meteorological Department, said that the 4.0-magnitude quake occurred at a depth of six kilometres in tambon Nong Lu at 3.07am.
The Earthquake Observation Division of the department reported that the quake resulted from the movement of the Three Pagodas Fault and it received reports of shaken one-storey houses in tambon Nong Lu.
Many people in Sangkhla Buri district reported via Facebook that the earthquake woke them up, their houses shook and they heard noises from their metal roofs.
Nataya Noomwatana, a local pork vendor, said that while her team was preparing their merchandise, she heard noises from the roof of her market and from the ground under her feet. The quake shocked vendors, prompting them to run out of the market buildings.
Two previous quakes hit Sangkhla Buri – one on July 14, 2015, with a magnitude of 4.8 on the Richter Scale, and another on Aug 20, 2015, with a 4.5 magnitude.
According to the company, one container, which takes up about 15 sqm, can produce up to 1,200kg of jade perch a year. Installing one container starts at S$30,000 (US$22,200) for the basic model, excluding land preparation costs.
Each container houses three tanks, which can be used for different varieties of fish, or fish at different stages of growth. When journalists visited the container on Nov 7, one of the tanks was already filled with jade perch.
Water filters are neatly tucked into the side of the container, and there is barely any room to walk around inside. The container will be closed to the public, with glass windows on the side for curious residents to peek inside.
The container in Tampines will be used to farm jade perch. Aqualita can also farm barramundi, tilapia, red snapper, hybridised grouper and murray cod at their seven-container set-up at Sungei Tengah, the team said.
“By using up spaces that are not utilised, we can actually grow fishes in an urban city – within grass plots, within empty warehouses,” said Mr Goh.
The system is patented by Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, he added. Unlike floating sea cages, the climate inside the containers can be controlled.
“And we’re able to grow fish in conditions that are away from potential algae bloom, potential changes in water quality, and we’re able to be more certain of how much fish we can get out of the whole system.”
The team is also exploring the possibility of adding solar panels to the container, which will offset about 50 per cent of the energy used by the system, said Mr Goh.
In return for his tireless care, his students love him affectionately. He recalled how one child gave him a Spider-Man balloon on her own birthday, and another child lugged back a Spiderman tumbler from Japan as a gift for him because they knew of his love for the Marvel superhero.
“It was a small gift but very heartwarming. It is so crazy how they are always thinking of me, even when they are in another country,” he said.
The children’s infectious enthusiasm also energises Fernandez. “There are some days towards the end of the week when my energy is drained. But there is something about the children where we teachers draw energy from them. If they are super hyper, we draw on that energy to bring out the lessons and make them more fun and creative,” he said.
He added that one of the biggest rewards of the job is how it brings out a childlike joy in him.
“The child in me is really very big now. At outdoor play, mealtime and routine time, when I talk to the children – every time I come to work, I feel like I’m back to being a child again,” he laughed.
“That’s why you’re on skewer prep for three years before touching the grill,” Hiro said.
At Yakitori Yoneda, just south of Nishi-Ogikubo Station, I found myself noticing how the tsukune, or chicken meatballs, arrives perfectly charred, a tiny bit sweet, with a perfect spring to the bite from that potato starch added to the mixture the night before grilling.
I tuck in under the red awning away from the rain with a skewer of medium-cooked chicken livers, another of crispy chicken skin. The tsukune here is plump, the size of a small zucchini. And when it arrives with its diced onion and jammy soft fried egg, I enjoy it even more for recognising the perfect execution. It’s still one of the best plates I’ve had in Tokyo over many visits.
Yoneda also illustrates another point: You don’t have to spend a ton of dough to have these “best bite” moments. Good, inexpensive yakitori in Tokyo is going to run you around 400 yen, or about US$2.65, for a couple of skewers. I think cooking classes actually lower the price of pleasure by allowing you to see how great the technique can be in many everyday Tokyo restaurants.
The Michelin-starred Kondo restaurant has brilliant tempura, no question. But so, too, does Ginza Hageten, just down the road and at a fraction of the price. Here, the lunch crowds stream through, jazz burbles in the background, and your vegetable tempura, rice and bowl of noodles all comes together.
I had the same experience exploring tonkatsu, that ubiquitous panko-fried pork loin that often comes alongside a pile of shaved cabbage. It’s ethereally good at Butagumi, where, amid woody elegance, you can choose from dozens of pork varieties and where nobody in the dining room is allowed to wear perfume. But it’s also pretty great at Danki Tonkatsu, around the corner from the Demboin shrine in Asakusa. When I ate there with Yukari Sakamoto, the author of the guide Food Sake Tokyo, we sat shoulder to shoulder with whoever else just happened to be hungry and walking by.
Despite the prevailing challenges, owners are adamant that minimarts have a place in Singapore society because they “supplement” supermarkets, which don’t cover all areas. So, many are ready to fight to keep theirs.
Mr Tan, whose minimart lies within the mature estate of Chong Pang in Yishun, said it is partly due to the elderly who are “unable to travel out of their convenient (zone)” that his store remains standing. That, and a nearby bigger supermarket that shut down.
To help her business stand out, Ms Nilima gets her staff to deliver goods to customers who are living nearby. “Even one item, they will also deliver,” she said. She also stocks up on daily necessities, so “if customers need it in the middle of the night, they can just come and buy”.
With many Singaporeans familiar with supermarkets, success depends on location – which is “very critical” – and creating a differentiating factor, noted Assistant Professor Charlene Chen, a social and consumer psychologist from Nanyang Technological University.
“If you’re lucky, you’re located where there’s not much competition. Strategically, some are close to schools, so kids can drop by after class. If you’re in a location where you have steady flow of clientele and traffic, then you’re protected from bigger external forces.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and rising prices due to inflation, for example, would hit a single minimart harder than a supermarket chain which can “ride over tough patches”, she said.
As such, minimarts that “survive a longer time” may have managed to “plug themselves” into an area not served by a larger supermarket. They have “already established their presence” and are “familiar faces” to residents in the area.
A good location, however, might be insufficient when a supermarket “pops up nearby”, or when they have “supply issues” and customers turn to supermarkets to get certain products, Asst Prof Chen cautioned.
Additionally, minimarts typically do not enjoy large economies of scale like supermarkets, pushing their prices higher. Customers who are on the hunt for cheaper products, as well as greater variety, would turn to supermarkets, she said.
And the “shopping goal is different” for a minimart customer, she added. She visits the provision store in her estate when she wants to “grab a couple of things I’m missing”, including dry goods that the supermarket might not sell.
Supermarkets, on the other hand, tend to have loyalty reward programmes which minimarts don’t, she noted. “If I’m attracted by these prizes and potential gifts, then I might shop at a supermarket.”
Asst Prof Chen nonetheless pointed to “interesting vending machines and pop-ups” that she has spotted at minimarts to attract customers to the store. These “nostalgic” features give people “an incentive to stop by and buy something “that can’t be bought from the supermarket”.
“Whatever business you’re in, it’s important to differentiate yourself from competitors – as long as there’s some kind of footfall,” she said.
While such strategies might be necessary today, first-generation minimart owners who are still in business “earned their first pot of gold” through their minimart, Mr Tan pointed out. “But in this day and age, we’re just managing costs.”
His minimart has been a family business since he was Primary 5 and he “can’t bear” to let it go. In fact, even when he met his wife, he mentally prepared her – he would work here “for (the rest of) my life” unless his parents decide to give up the business.
“I told her I have never given up hope on this business, and I will never give it up unless the situation has to change,” he said.
But isolating neodymium from its mineral is when things get tricky. Rare earths tend to occur together — often, all 17 in the same ore — and as they are chemically similar, they are harder to process than other metals.
“What makes (them) so ‘rare’ is the complexity of extracting them,” said Sahajwalla.
While rare earth projects are spread across the world, China stands out, with 70 per cent of production last year. The US makes up 14 per cent, followed by Australia, Myanmar and other countries, US Geological Survey data showed.
And even the US must export its rare earth raw materials to China before they can be used in the manufacture of magnets.
“There are enough deposits in the world that can supply rare earths. But … the critical point is who controls the processing technologies,” said Marina Yue Zhang, an associate professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney.
“China is the only country in the world that’s developed the capacity to cover the entire value chain of 17 rare earth elements. … China has developed the advantages in not just technology, but also waste management.”
Many parents start off determined not to be a kiasu parent. But as their children enter primary school, they begin to feel stuck between a rock and a hard place – to either fail their children in academic success or a happy childhood.
As a former teacher in Singapore and a mother of two children, my personal journey has inspired me to investigate the influence of kiasuism on parenting in a doctoral study.
As interviews with more than 30 participants reveal, the challenge of aligning with national curriculum standards resonates deeply with parents.
While some embrace the idea of a more playful childhood for their children, they cannot help but fret about the widening gap in academic expectations between preschool and primary school.
“When they’re young, they get to play, learn at their own pace. Then suddenly, in Primary 1, they must know how to read. If they don’t know how to read, they will lose out because they cannot do all their homework,” Emma, a mother of two preschoolers told me.
This challenge is further compounded by the substantial class sizes in primary schools, where the average class hosts 40 students.
For many, providing tuition support emerges as a strategy in bridging educational gaps, even if they initially harbour reservations about supplementary classes. It’s not uncommon for students to have multiple tuition classes, sometimes even on weekends.
AJ, a father of three, shared his journey: “I resisted engaging a tutor until my boy was in Primary 4 and I realised he was struggling.”
Chinese viewership for the film exceeded 90 million as of late-September, according to film data platform Beacon, while revenue was at around 3.8 billion yuan (US$525 million).
Following the movie’s release, Thailand saw a drop in Chinese tourists. From 410,311 visitors in July, the figure dipped to 355,146 in August and 284,989 in September.
“Chinese people feel scared. They’re afraid of human trafficking and worried they wouldn’t be safe if they travel here,” said Mr Ratasak.
During his official visit to China last month, Mr Srettha had a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and emphasised his government’s commitment to ensure foreign tourists’ safety following the Siam Paragon shooting incident.
The two leaders also discussed intensifying efforts to crack down on cross-border crimes such as wire fraud and online gambling.
Domestic factors have also hampered the return of Chinese tourists to Thailand.
Analysts say sluggishness in the world’s second-largest economy has reduced people’s spending power, especially those outside big Chinese cities. China’s second-quarter gross domestic product growth of 6.3 per cent on-year was below expectations. But its third-quarter growth of 4.9 per cent year-on-year exceeded forecasts.
Meanwhile, limited international flights have affected outbound travel. “The frequency of flights from China to Thailand is still below pre-COVID numbers,” explained Mr Pruangkarn.
Online flight data provider OAG reported that out of China’s top 20 international markets since 2019, Thailand is the least recovered this month.
“Seats are still 57 per cent below 2019, despite the recent visa relaxation for Chinese visitors to Thailand,” it said on its website.
Still, market observers believe the Thai tourism sector could rebound in the near to medium term, given the right conditions and strategies.
“Thailand can boost Chinese arrivals by promoting Thailand as a safe destination that offers a variety of activities for all types of travellers, and by working with the airlines to increase flights from China,” said Mr Pruangkarn.