In South Korea, narrow pathways to success are leaving its youth in a rut. What can be done?

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“Some parents walk past the cleaners and tell their children that if (they) don’t study hard, (they’re) going to be like that,” she said. “Nobody should be treated in that way.”

Youths can drive change by making their voices heard in the political arena, said Ko and Eun. They pointed out that the country’s legislative body, the National Assembly, is mostly made up of people above the age of 50.

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which provides data on parliaments round the world, the average age of National Assembly members is 54.9. Less than one in five are women.

With greater sociopolitical participation, “the policies that young people need are created”, Eun said.

MAYBE NOT A FLAT BUT A ‘VILLA’

In the meantime, the youths CNA Insider spoke to are tapping existing government resources and digging deep.

Seoul resident Park Jong-min, 30, wants to create a better future through web programming, after enduring a tough childhood and overcoming a gaming addiction.

His mother left when he was a year old, and he and his father moved when the latter had new partners. His father also had a drinking problem, and Park Jong-min left home at age 16, taking shelter in a temporary youth care centre, then his cousin’s house.

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Hong Kong’s teacher exodus: Is its national security law the reason?

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A FEWER Kids ARE” Sweet LANDING” MAKER?

What does the education industry in Hong Kong’s future keep, then? Some partners claim that there are causes for optimism or at least some breathing room.

Due to the immigration storm and Hong Kong’s declining fertility rate, which stood at 0.772 birth per person in 2021, there has been a decrease in student enrollment along with the increased withdrawal of teachers.

Because fewer educators are needed these days, the government has been able to address the so-called teacher shortage problem thanks to the somewhat large-scale exodus of students from the local schools, according to Cheung. He continued,” The teacher-student amount has also increased.”

According to Ip, the Education Bureau” promotes class mergers and the closure of some colleges” that don’t draw pupils. A shake-out of the business is not a bad point in my opinion, she said.

A free-market sector can be found in Hong Kong. We adhere to the principle of survival of the fittest. We shouldn’t( be) maintaining schools solely to give teachers and headmasters work, in my opinion.

Principal Chow Kim-Ho has adapted to the alterations at Tsuen Wan Trade Association Primary School. Although it” can be difficult” to lead a group of less experienced educators, they are” best” in terms of power levels.

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All out of love in China? Why young Chinese aren’t marrying and what can be done about it

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In general, she said, a man may claim that he doesn’t need an attractive or wealthy lady when looking for his partner in the matchmaking market, but instead is truly picky.

He is searching for someone who makes a good first impression, and at this point, he is becoming more picky.

According to Qian, one reason girls might accept a man is” because he doesn’t match their height requirements.” Girls place a high price on top and frequently favor men who are at least 1.7 meters high.

Although they may seem simplistic, these registration” requirements” are a part of China’s evolving perspective on love and marriage.

China’s cultural conservatism is at odds with years of female empowerment, which has led to a mismatch between what men and women want in marriage.

” China has made a very quick transition from traditional to modern beliefs.” We’ve only seen this happening for 20 to 30 years, according to Nanjing University psychologist Zhu Hong. Another nations and regions perhaps have taken 50 or 100 times.

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China’s unemployed youths: ‘Hit in the face’ by property crisis, outcompeted by those with master’s degrees

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Rising children poverty may endanger China’s social and political stability beyond the website expression of unhappiness. & nbsp,

The youth unemployment rate in China, at 21.3 percent, is just below the 23.4 % in the Muslim region in 2010, according to observers.

According to Zhang, a professor at CUHK, great children employment was” one of the factors contributing to the Arab Spring” and was referencing the rebellion that took place in the Middle East and North Africa in 2010 and 2011. & nbsp,

Children unemployment and social problems like substance abuse and violence even have” strong links.” He claimed that it costs society a lot of money and goes beyond the younger individuals themselves.

Additionally, there are effects on China’s business. & nbsp,

Being out of work for an extended period of time has a” scarring result.” After a protracted period of poverty, their knowledge might become obsolete, which will have an impact on the future, according to Zhang. In addition, & nbsp,

Yet with 10 or 15 years of work experience, their money won’t be able to return to normal.

According to Louise Loo, a China economist with Oxford Economics, children make up about 20 % of China’s use. She claimed that” a big ( source) of consumption is out of the workforce.” Therefore, that does have an impact on how much consumption can be a factor in growth over the long term. & nbsp,

The government has implemented a number of initiatives to increase children work. Provinces of Anhui and Guizhou have requested that state-owned businesses make sure that at least half of their new recruits are recent grads, according to South China Morning Post, a news source.

Graduate selection has been included in the yearly performance evaluations for executives at state companies in Hunan province, according to the report.

To” automatically clear” youth unemployment, the province of Henan developed a 100-day program from May to August. According to Reuters, measures included encouraging work in public institutions and state-owned businesses, following degrees, and grassroots or rural employment initiatives.

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‘Save us from this curse’: Villagers fear eviction as Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara takes form

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To this end, the authorities are “training, upskilling and reskilling” people in fields such as coding and renewable energy.

“I don’t want them … just watching (the transformation),” said Bambang, who is trained in engineering and infrastructure planning. “I want them to be part of (it).”

As for the social fabric, he felt that conflicts between locals and migrants were “very minimal” now, and he would like to maintain that state of harmony. Many of the migrants have been there for generations, he added.

Disparities must be addressed to avoid potential conflicts, observers noted.

Feelings of “injustice” in indigenous communities may later be reflected in hatred towards migrants, said Siwage Dharma Negara, a senior fellow and co-coordinator of the Indonesia Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Ethnic tensions have boiled over before. Violence between the Madurese — originally from Madura Island off the coast of Java — and Dayaks in Central Kalimantan in 2001 resulted in hundreds of deaths.

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‘Full-time child’, reverse migration: How China’s youths are tackling record youth unemployment

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It is important, however, to try different opportunities and be open to career advice dished out during the interview process, she said. “The key is to take the first step and engage with various job opportunities in society.”

Experts say there are gaps to bridge, for example between the jobs available and what youths aspire to and between youths’ salary expectations and what companies are willing to offer.

There are job openings waiting to be filled, such as technical and front-line positions in manufacturing, said Nina Wu, a human resources supervisor. These may not be the jobs, however, that “educated elite youth want”, noted Qian.

The typical salary for entry-level factory positions is around 2,000 to 4,000 yuan a month but could go up to 7,000 to 8,000 yuan in cities like Shenzhen, said Wu.

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Taiwan’s ‘stuck’ generation: Young adults hit by high costs, low pay. What can be done?

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SETTING YOUTHS ON THE RIGHT JOB PATH

There are also ways of mitigating the job situation, highlighted the experts who spoke to CNA Insider.

Hung said the issue of youngsters not considering their job prospects carefully enough when choosing what to study can be addressed by giving them early insights into professions and industries.

Most Taiwanese families, he said, tend to expect their children to enter university immediately after graduating from high school. He suggested that students could enter the workforce for a short while before going to university, to gain practical work experience.

“They can explore different career paths and discover areas of interest and potential for growth,” he said. “Once they have a clearer sense of their career direction, they can return to school.”

At the university level, Liu said existing internship programmes may vary in quality.

Students can be required, for example, to pay for the privilege of doing an internship. There have been media reports, on the other hand, of internships turning into forced labour for foreign students, prompting Indonesia to freeze recruitment in 2019 for a university internship programme in Taiwan.

“Taiwan lacks a screening mechanism, leading to inconsistent internship experiences,” said Liu. “In the long run, this can result in wasted time and money for students who gain little from their internships.”

Hence, she recommended that the Taiwanese government screen companies involved in internship programmes. She also suggested that the government step in to penalise companies that reap huge profits but pay their workers poorly.

The government has made money available for young people.

In 2019, the Executive Yuan approved a four-year programme to invest in their careers. This programme enhances career guidance and preparation for employment and gives job placement assistance to students nearing graduation, among other initiatives.

The second phase of the programme, which targets those aged 15 to 29, was launched in May with NT$16 billion earmarked to help 800,000 youths obtain jobs over the next three years in key industries experiencing labour shortage.

In a statement then, the Ministry of Labour said the unemployment rate among those aged 15 to 29 was 8.38 per cent last year, “the lowest level since the financial crisis”, which ended in 2009. The first phase of the youth employment programme helped 750,000 youths to find jobs, the ministry added.

Challenges abound, but young people like Wang have resolved to remain positive.

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‘We aren’t safe here’: Why are some Himalayan towns crumbling, and can they be saved?

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“We had apprehensions that this would happen if the project continued, and our apprehensions turned true,” said Atul Sati, convener of the Joshimath Bachao Sangharsh Samiti (Struggle to Save Joshimath Committee), citing several of the project’s mishaps over the years.

“Their tunnel boring machine got stuck, and there was water leakage, and the villages near their projects started developing cracks.”

But not all scientists hold the same view, and the plant’s developer — state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) — has denied responsibility. It said the tunnel in question is a kilometre away from Joshimath town and 1.1 km below ground level.

Swapnamita agrees. “I think the Joshimath problem is a surficial problem. It isn’t linked with something happening at such depth,” she said.

Another project halted was the Helang-Marwari bypass road, but it resumed in June after a five-month hiatus.

A “proper investigation” conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee concluded that the bypass is “on solid rock”, cited Uttarakhand disaster management secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha. “It isn’t going to affect the Joshimath area and won’t aggravate the problem.”

The road will shorten the distance to Badrinath and is part of a project to link the four Hindu shrines known as Char Dham.

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Inside Lombok’s secretive gold mining community, slowly suffering from poisoning

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That is not the only hurdle. Each day, miners such as Faturahman usually haul two sacks of ore at most. But cyanide processing requires a huge amount of ore in one go, ideally 150 sacks.

Even if miners could afford to wait, the extraction cost is too high individually. As members of a co-operative, however, they could potentially deal with the issues of cash flow and time.

But the most important hurdle is that “the way we process gold is somewhat illegal”, cited Hamdani. “Up until this point, we’ve not obtained permission from the government. We’re still in the process of obtaining the permit.”

The possible solutions, and the regulations needed, are apparent to Jossep.

“First, (the miners) can’t destroy nature. Second, they have to use cleaner methods without mercury. Third, a system is set up so that the gold they produce can be officially purchased by the state,” he said.

“This would provide a huge amount of foreign exchange for the country.”

The potential rewards for upskilling and harnessing the products of Indonesia’s informal gold miners could be huge, if the authorities can overcome the obstacles and if there is help from stronger international regulations.

“One shortcoming of the Minamata Convention in respect of small-scale mining is that the treaty regards this mining as an allowed use for mercury,” said Marcos A Orellana, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights.

“The position should be the other way around — that mercury should be banned.”

If black markets are not shut down, however, gold miners will continue to use mercury. It is the youngest generation, and succeeding generations, who will ultimately pay the heaviest price.

For Faturahman, his child’s illness has left him in the unenviable position of having to mine more gold to pay for surgery. “Because I don’t have insurance, it’d cost around 30 million rupiah. I don’t have that kind of money,” he said.

“Though this is the state we’re in, I’ll do my best to keep my son healthy. I know that he isn’t like a normal child, but I’m still grateful for his birth. I hope my son will be healthy soon.”

Watch this episode of Undercover Asia here.

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Illegal trade in butterflies is rife; collectors deny being the main problem. They may have a point

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A LIFETIME OF PAINSTAKING SEARCH

In Shikoku, 80-year-old doctor Haruki (not his real name) has amassed about 10,000 butterflies over a lifetime. He bought 80 per cent of his collection, paying upwards of US$7,500 (S$9,900) for his most valuable specimens.

He still hopes to expand his collection. “I accumulate so many of these butterflies in my house as a collector because it’s hard to be satisfied with just one (of each species),” he said.

He is driven to make his collection of various species as complete as possible by, for example, obtaining a rare female of a particular species. Some butterfly species are sexually dimorphic, which means the males and females differ in size, shape and colour.

One such species, the Ornithoptera croesus or Wallace’s Golden Birdwing, lives only in North Maluku.

It is highly sought after, but since 2017, the Indonesian government has specifically suspended all trade in the species — unlike other Cites (Appendix II) species, in which international trade is generally allowed with an export permit or re-export certificate.

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