More kidney patients seek home dialysis services; one provider sees demand nearly triple in a year
For Ms Chew, she is supported by frequent visits from a care team from non-profit organisation Lions Befrienders.
“All the patients on peritoneal (are grouped) together. They have a support group, and then we are supervising the support group,” said Lions Befrienders Service Association executive director Karen Wee.
“So it means that there’s more home-based services and more support for them to age at home.”
With home dialysis, low-risk cases do not need to be admitted to nursing homes, daycare centres or dialysis centres, where there are long waitlists for services.
“For seniors who are able to do the home dialysis, peritoneal dialysis at home … It’s only about two weeks of training, and it’s very straightforward. They can do this at their own time and this allows for flexibility,” said Ms Wee.
Yasothon policeman sacked after rape complaint
Teen girl reportedly assaulted after being unable to pay fine for motorcycle offence
PUBLISHED : 30 Jan 2024 at 14:11
A police captain in the northeastern province of Yasothon has been dismissed for allegedly raping a schoolgirl he had arrested for riding a motorcycle to school without a helmet and licence.
A disciplinary investigation is under way and if it confirms a crime took place, the officer would face criminal action, said Pol Lt Gen Archayon Kraithong, a spokesman for the Royal Thai Police.
The name of the captain, attached to the Patiew district station, was not disclosed.
The investigation followed an online complaint from a woman that her daughter, a grade 11 student, was raped beside the police station after she could not afford a fine following her arrest.
The complainant said police at the Patiew station first demanded a 2,000-baht fine from her daughter but as the girl had no money, she was raped instead.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said on Tuesday that he would closely follow up the disciplinary investigation.
The national police chief, Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, has also been briefed on the case, added Pol Lt Gen Archayon.
Yasothon policeman charged with raping schoolgirl
Teen reportedly assaulted after being unable to pay fine for motorcycle offence
PUBLISHED : 30 Jan 2024 at 14:11
UPDATED : 30 Jan 2024 at 17:23
A police captain in the northeastern province of Yasothon has been charged with raping a schoolgirl he had arrested for riding a motorcycle to school without a helmet and licence.
The suspect, who was a deputy inspector at the Patiew district station, confessed to the crime, said Pol Col Sanit Chaiyasathit, deputy commander of Yasothon provincial police.
The name of the captain, who has been dismissed from the force, was not disclosed. In addition to rape, he is charged with separating a minor from her guardians.
The investigation into the case followed an online complaint from a woman that her daughter, a grade 11 student, was raped after she could not afford a fine following her arrest for the motorcycle infractions.
The complainant said the officer at first demanded a 2,000-baht fine from her daughter but as the girl had no money, she was raped instead.
According to Pol Col Sanit, the suspect was on traffic patrol when he stopped a 17-year-old schoolgirl on Arun Prasert Road at 10am on Monday. The girl was riding her motorcycle with a friend.
The deputy inspector took the girl to a deserted informal education office about 100 metres from the road and 150 metres from his police station and assaulted her.
The schoolgirl is still traumatised and her mother has had to continuously console her, Pol Col Sanit said.
He apologised for the incident and said the suspect would be detained at the Yasothon Provincial Court pending further legal action.
Military denies targeting MP over Prayut house inspection
PUBLISHED : 30 Jan 2024 at 14:03
The armed forces did not target a Move Forward MP over his conscription exemption because he wanted to inspect the army barracks residence where former prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha continues to live, Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang said on Tuesday.
Mr Sutin denied any link between the two issues.
He said the armed forces were not firing back at Jirat Thongsuwan, a Chachoengsao MP who called for a trip to Gen Prayut’s residence to inspect his style of living since his tenure as prime minister ended.
“The armed forces have no intention to cause him [Jirat] any trouble,” the minister said. “Don’t worry if you have not done anything wrong.”
Mr Jirat is fighting an allegation of evading mandatory conscription. He has claimed he was exempted. However, Lt Gen Taweepool Rimsakorn, chief of the Territorial Defence Command, said on Monday the army had not been able to find the original Sor Dor 43 document matching the exemption notice Mr Jirat showed reporters to back up his claim.
The military service issue emerged after the Move Forward MP, a member of the House committee on military affairs, last week proposed a visit to the military barracks home of Gen Prayut, where he continues to live despite retiring from the military and from politics and now being a privy councillor.
Gen Prayut’s United Thai Nation Party performed poorly in the general election last year, but still managed to join the current coalition government.
Mr Sutin questioned Mr Jirat’s motive in demanding the inspection. “Everybody is subject to scrutiny. The question is whether it is appropriate,” he said.
Last week Mr Jirat said he did not understand why he was attacked over his call for the house visit, and showed the conscription exemption document on Matichon TV.
Move Forward is battling to clear its image, dented by problems involving its members.
It kicked out Bangkok MP Chaiyamphawan Manpianjit and also Prachi Buri MP Wuttiphong Thonglour in November over sexual harassment claims. In July, Nakhonchai Khunnarong, a Move Forward MP for Rayong, quit after admitting he was convicted of theft and served one year and six months in prison about two decades ago.
Georgie Purcell: Nine News Melbourne’s doctored MP image causes sexism fury
SuppliedAn Australian news channel has come under fire after it doctored an image of a female state MP that enlarged her breasts and exposed her midriff.
The photo of Georgie Purcell appeared in a Nine News bulletin after she criticised the Victorian government’s rejection of a duck hunting ban.
Ms Purcell posted the original and altered images to social media, noting how her outfit had been edited.
Nine News apologised and claimed “automation by Photoshop” was to blame.
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Ms Purcell is the youngest woman in the state’s parliament and has frequently called out the “constant sexualisation and objectification” that women in Australian politics face.
Speaking to the BBC, the Animal Justice Party MP said seeing the image had capped off what had already been her worst day since being elected in 2022.
“It’s certainly confronting seeing your body altered on your TV in your own home,” she said.
“What has happened to me in the past 24 hours is just something that would never, ever happen to a male politician.”
Other politicians and members of the public have also been outraged.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan – who herself was controversially depicted naked in a newspaper cartoon last year, said: “That’s no way to represent any woman, let alone a woman who holds a position in public office.”
Nine News Melbourne boss Hugh Nailon has “unreservedly” apologised to Ms Purcell for the “graphic error”.
“As is common practice, the image was resized to fit our specs. During that process, the automation by Photoshop created an image that was not consistent with the original,” he said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to a tool which uses AI to expand pictures.
“This did not meet the high editorial standards we have.”
But in a statement, a spokesperson for Adobe – the firm which produces Photoshop – told the BBC: “Any changes to this image would have required human intervention and approval.”
Ms Purcell said while she accepts Nine’s apology, she is sceptical of their explanation.
But if it was an accident, she says, it raises concerns about the threat of AI to women in public life and why newsroom staff did not notice her outfit had been sexualised.
“This is not just some random person on the internet. This is a organisation with a lot of staff and a lot of resources that frankly should know better.”
Ms Purcell, who has previously spoken about working as a stripper to support herself through law school, has long been a target for sexist abuse, and says the altered image has already reinvigorated it.
“[They are] criticising me, telling me to get back on the pole, like weaponising it against me,” she said.
In recent years, Australian politics more broadly has been grappling with what women say is a prevailing sexist culture.
A landmark report in 2021 – triggered by an alleged rape inside Australia’s Parliament House – found a third of employees in federal parliament had been sexually harassed.
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Migrant workers in Singapore get free Coldplay tickets, courtesy of band’s charity partner
A video taken on the night of the concert showed the migrant workers enjoying dinner with members of Krsna’s Free Meals and dancing along to Coldplay’s songs while wearing T-shirts of the band.
When asked about the concert, a spokesperson for Krsna’s Free Meals told CNA Lifestyle: “Everyone had a wonderful time. The concert was a magnificent show and the migrant workers who didn’t know the music at all, were rocking to the beats and enjoying the spectacle.
“It was something no one had ever seen before. The volunteers enjoyed the experience more, they said, because of the special role they had in assuring the workers got there safely. They felt the joy of the workers, and it was very satisfying to see them having a great time at the concert.”
Reactions to this collaboration have been overwhelmingly positive with many calling it “cute” and “wholesome”.
The initiative marks one of the many taken by Coldplay to bring about a positive impact during their world tour. These include having a kinetic dance floor and electric bikes that power the show to providing green transport options for fans heading home.
Coldplay will be performing their sixth and final Singapore show on Jan 31.
How Ukrainians really feel about the war – Asia Times
Ukrainians have endured war for nearly two years. Since the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022, more than 6.3 million Ukrainians have fled the country, while an estimated 3.7 million are internally displaced.
The war has had damaging geopolitical and ecological consequences. But it is ordinary Ukrainians, those who stayed to endure and fight, who experience its strains and horrors daily.
As the war enters its third year, what is the mood among these Ukrainians? As a political geographer who has worked with colleagues on surveys in the region for years, I know that measuring public opinion in wartime Ukraine presents many challenges.
Nearly 1 in 4 Ukrainians have had to move from their homes. And while the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has largely stabilized, missile and drone attacks are a daily occurrence. Patriotic feelings are high, and so also is distrust, especially in places formerly occupied by Russia.
Most public opinion research today in Ukraine is conducted by telephone interview. Survey companies make calls to randomly selected functioning numbers and ask citizens over the age of 18 to participate.
Response rates can be low. Nonetheless, survey companies manage through persistence.
The latest survey by the National Democratic Institute released on January 26 provides insight into how Ukrainians are coping. Administered by the reputable Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, this telephone survey recorded the views of 2,516 Ukrainians from November 14-22, 2023. Four findings stand out:
1. Costs in lives and mental health are high
Since the outset of the war, the National Democratic Institute has asked Ukrainians if they have experienced the loss of family and friends from the war. In May 2022, one-fifth of respondents indicated that they had. In November 2023, almost half said they had lost loved ones, with higher rates among middle-aged and young respondents.
The mental health costs to Ukrainians of war are considerable. Many are forced to flee to shelters at all hours. Almost three-quarters of women and half of male respondents report a deterioration of their mental health, according to the latest poll.
Lack of sleep is the single largest reported health cost of the war. But lost income, deteriorating physical health and family separation are also commonly reported.
Any post-war Ukraine will be a society where significant parts of the population are living with physical and mental disabilities. Human rehabilitation needs are already considerable and will grow.
2. More Ukrainians are willing to negotiate
Since the war began, the National Democratic Institute survey has asked if Ukraine should engage in negotiations with Russia to try to achieve peace.
A majority (59%) said yes just a few months into the war in May 2022. But, by August 2022, in the wake of accumulating Russian assaults and alleged war crimes, sentiment had flipped with a majority against. By January 2023, the share of those in favor had dropped 30 points to a low of just 29%.
Since then, this percentage has climbed upward. In November 2023, it rebounded to 42%.
As it stands, the majority of Ukrainians are opposed to seeking negotiations with Russia. Talks, in any case, are not on the agenda. In the current war climate, there appears little prospect of negotiations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia at a time when it is deepening the militarization of the state, economy and society.
Academic research, largely based on the US experience since World War II, suggests that as casualties increase, public support for war declines.
Wars of defense against an invasion appear to be different, with greater public tolerance of loss because the conflict is perceived as necessary and just.
But as Ukraine drives to recruit 450,000 to 500,000 new soldiers to replace its fallen and wounded, this proposition will be significantly tested.
3. Resistance to land concessions continue
From the outset of the war, Ukrainians have been surveyed to elicit what they would accept as the price of peace. The question is difficult for Ukrainians who rightly feel victimized.
Research by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology since the outset of the war reveals overwhelming sentiment among Ukrainians against territorial concessions for immediate peace.
My own research with social psychologist Karina Korostelina in front-line southeastern Ukrainian cities revealed the overwhelming belief that Ukraine’s territorial integrity is sacred.
But so too, of course, is human life. Ukrainians are understandably divided over what should be prioritized: preserving territory or preserving lives.
Wartime experiences also matter. Earlier research suggested that those most affected by the war through displacement and most concerned about their immediate security are more likely to prioritize a cease-fire.
Russia occupies approximately 18% of Ukraine today, a figure composed of territories it controlled before February 2022 (Crimea and the Donbas) and territories it subsequently seized and retained. Some, but not much, territory has shifted hands this last year.
To most Ukrainians, it is unacceptable to hold only the territory it currently controls as the price for peace – 71% strongly reject this, another 13% less strongly in the survey.
Only 12% see peace based on current territorial control as acceptable.
Meanwhile, a majority declare it is fully unacceptable to return to the pre-2022 borders. Slim majorities also say it is unacceptable that Ukraine renounces its aspirations to join NATO and the European Union as the price of peace.
These attitudes restrain Ukraine’s leadership, as US officials signal that they do not foresee Ukraine retaking lost territory in 2024. Right now, it is safer politically to fight than confront an ugly peace.
4. Ukrainians expect a long war but remain optimistic
Ukrainians do not think the conflict will end any time soon, with 43% saying that the war will go on for an additional 12 months, at least. A third responded that they simply do not know when the conflict will end.
In May 2022, just a few months into the conflict, 1 in 4 Ukrainians thought the war would end within three months. In November 2023, only 3% had that expectation.
War, paradoxically, generated a surge of optimism about Ukraine’s future as Ukrainians processed suffering into hope. That sentiment remained high in November 2023, with 77% of respondents saying they were optimistic about the country’s future, though fewer Ukrainians said that they were “very optimistic.”
Data on this important metric in 2024 will be revealing.
Desire to resist
Ukraine war fatigue is growing among the country’s Western backers. But no group is more tired of this war than Ukrainians. The costs being paid by ordinary Ukrainians are enormous in terms of lives lost, settlements destroyed, environments poisoned and futures compromised.
And these costs come across in public opinion surveys. But so too does an enduring desire to have their war resistance mean something, to have it affirm Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity.
Gerard Toal is Professor of Government and International Affairs, Virginia Tech
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Bi-2: Russia anti-war band arrested in Thailand faces deportation
Getty ImagesA Russian-Belarusian rock band with anti-war views that had been touring Thailand is under threat of being deported back to Russia, activists say.
Human Rights Watch has urged the Thai government not to deport Bi- 2, who have been criticised by Moscow, saying the seven members face persecution.
The band was arrested for unauthorised shows while touring Phuket, a resort island that hosts hundreds of thousands of Russian tourists.
They are in detention in Bangkok.
But Thai authorities are yet to comment on the case publicly or respond to the BBC’s questions.
A statement on the band’s official Facebook page said they were facing deportation after being found guilty on 26 January of performing a gig without the correct permit. It said they had paid a fine for the breach.
But some of their supporters responded to the post, alleging the band had been targeted: “Russian authorities found an excuse to detain them.”
The band says in their statement: “outside pressure played a significant role in our detention. We know that the reason for this pressure is [retaliation] for our creativity, our views, our position.”
The band has also alleged that they could not understand the legal process with Thai police and courts, having not been provided adequate translation services.
Of the band’s seven members, some are dual citizens of Australia and Israel, so they could be deported to those countries. But activists warn that at least two members only have Russian citizenship and could be sent back there.
Russian authorities are yet to comment on the band’s situation and have not said if they sought their deportation.
But the band has been singled out by Russian lawmakers before for their “anti-Russian stance”.
In May 2023, Russia’s justice ministry labelled the frontman Egor Bortnik a “foreign agent” for “opposing” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “making negative statements” about Russia, its citizens and authorities.
The band had been touring outside Russia since 2022, including playing shows across Europe last year.
“They’ve been inconvenient for [the] Russian government for a while because they are a very big band and they are very obviously anti-war and anti-Putin. So they moved out of the country a while ago,” a friend of one of the band members, Marjana Semkina, wrote on Facebook.
Thailand and, in particular, its desirable island holiday spots such as Phuket have seen a huge influx of Russian tourists since the war began in Ukraine two years ago.
Many Russians have fled the country to avoid conscription. By some estimates, nearly half a million Russians arrived in Phuket in the first half of 2023.
“If Thai authorities send them [Bi-2] back to Russia to face danger and persecution, it would be the first case under [Prime Minister] Sretta’s government,” Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher Sunai Pasuk told the BBC.
“The Thai PM promised that his government will adhere to the principle of human rights so this is a crucial test.”
It would also be the first case of the Thai administration forcibly returning a Russian national to Russia since the war began.
And it would be a breach of Thai domestic law preventing torture and enforced disappearances, as well as Thailand’s obligations under international laws against torture.
Bangkok is a signatory to the UN Convention against torture, meaning it has an obligation not to return people to places where they face the risk of persecution.
With additional reporting by Thanyarat Doksone
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Rivalry-plagued college told to stop admissions
PUBLISHED : 30 Jan 2024 at 12:53
Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-Ok, Uthenthawai Campus, has been instructed to cease admitting new students and speed up its relocation, in a move to contain violence arising from inter-school rivalry.
The order was issued by Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi.
She said at Government House on Tuesday that the Uthenthawai campus rector had been told not to admit any new students for the 2024 academic year, to pave the way for its intended relocation, away from Pathumwan district.
The relocation would take time, she admitted, but the process must still be hurried up, and this was possible because there were fewer than 1,000 students.
“The issue [violence] is escalating and everyone must cooperate,” the minister said.
The move follows a number of deaths during confrontations between rival student gangs from Uthenthawai campus and nearby Pathumwan Institute of Technology. The two groups have clashed repeatedly over the years.
A first-year student of Uthenthawai Campus died after a shooting in Klong Toey district in November last year and last Friday two students at Pathumwan Institute of Technology were attacked in front of the campus. One of them was killed.
Ms Supamas said police were trying to stop the violence and would be on alert for the anniversary of Uthenthawai campus on Feb 1.
The campus is on 20 rai of land leased from Chulalongkorn University in 1935 for 68 years. The lease expired in 2003. Chula has been negotiating for the return of the land since 1975, with no success.
In 2002, the Treasury Department offered the use of 36 rai of land in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan for the relocation of Uthenthawai campus, and the government allocated 200 million baht in funding for its construction.
Uthenthaiwai campus signed an agreement with Chula University to move out by Sept 30, 2005, and agreed to move to the Bang Phli site in November of the same year. The relocation process stalled and is opposed by students.
Supamas Isarabhakdi, Minister of Higher Education Science Research and Innovation
The conundrum of a white Miss Japan – Asia Times
On January 22, Carolina Shiino, a 26-year-old naturalized Japanese citizen of Ukrainian origin, was crowned Miss Japan 2024, sparking debate about Japanese identity prominent enough to be featured on multiple international news outlets.
As expected of a nation defined by ethnic homogeneity, the debate centered on how significant race is to the notion of “Japaneseness.”
While Shiino emphasized repeatedly, in her fluent Japanese, her allegiance to Japan as the only home country where she hopes to live her entire life, many netizens were clearly unconvinced that her seeing herself as Japanese could be equated with others seeing her as Japanese.
Analogy in the world of sports
Shiino’s predicament in Japanese cyberspace is reminiscent of the one tennis superstar Naomi Osaka faced in the aftermath of her failure to win a medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
After her crashing out of the women’s tennis tournament with a defeat to a lower-ranked opponent in the third round, Japanese netizens started questioning her Japaneseness, citing her inability to speak Japanese and having lived in the US most of her life.
Implicit in the online drubbing of Osaka as “not Japanese enough” is her lack of complete ethnic and, by extension, cultural ties to Japan, not dissimilar to Shiino’s situation now.
But there is also a key difference between Osaka’s and Shiino’s situations that media reports have only vaguely referred to. In sports, there are objective definitions of success. Winning can erase questions about identity because every country, Japan included, wants to claim a winning sports star, no matter what his or her background happens to be.
So the crowds celebrating Naomi Osaka’s 2018 US Open victory happily defined her as Japanese, strenuously pointing to her Japanese “soul,” mannerisms, and interest in Japanese pop-culture products.
The black-and-white, winner-takes-all world of sports helps to suppress questions about the ethnic purity of sports stars. It is just as Turkish-German soccer star Mesut Ozil put so eloquently, “I am German when we win, an immigrant when we lose.”
Osaka did not have to face the question of “Japaneseness” as long as she kept winning. And that desire for Japan to celebrate the Japaneseness of its winning sports stars is similarly suppressing the question, for now, for the likes of “Japanese” National Basketball Association star Rui Hachimura, Major League Baseball’s Yu Darvish, and sprinter Abdul Hakim Sani Brown.
The subjectivity of beauty
Beauty-pageant contestants are not so lucky. With no universal, objective definition of beauty, they cannot be unanimously branded a “winner” that all Japanese can easily claim.
Indeed, the Miss Japan website’s claim to uphold the standards of “Japanese beauty” not only in visual terms but mannerisms and etiquette only gave further ammunition for netizens doubting Shiino’s ability to represent how an ideal Japanese woman behaves.
They undoubtedly saw a woman of European heritage as incapable of embodying an almost culturally ingrained idea of a gentle and humble Yamato nadeshiko.
That lack of an objective definition for beauty is compounded by an inherent inferiority complex among many Japanese, like other people of color around the world.
The widespread use of white models in cosmetic and fashion advertisements, combined with a pre-existing preference for white skin in centuries before contact with Europeans have created a sustained belief that whites represent the ideal standard of beauty that non-whites cannot surpass.
The result is a belief, including by some netizens speaking out against Shiino’s victory, that a European face in a beauty contest is almost akin to an objective “win” in sports, that for the ethnically Japanese to compete against her is akin to a Paralympian running in the same race as an Olympian.
So as long as beauty standards remain a realm of personal opinions, debates will rage on about what is beautiful, in Japan and elsewhere.
As Japan slowly opens up to foreign immigration, it is even possible to imagine a future where someone like Shiino no longer needs to prove herself to be Japanese, with the assumption that, with nothing said, the Japanese audience will think she is not.
That matter-of-fact acceptance of diversity will be more beautiful than anything any individual Miss Japan contestant can bring.