PAKISTAN
Hurtling past 240m

Zeba Sathar 

Published June 29, 2024 

DAWN

IT was futile to expect Pakistan’s phenomenally high population growth rate and staggering population numbers of over 240 million to find mention in any of the budget speeches. The impact of a large population on lowering per capita incomes and forecasted economic growth rates of two to three per cent barely featured in post-budget discussions. Additionally, the glaring link between population numbers and declining per capita income was all but ignored, as was its impact on poverty and the low rate of household investment and savings.

Surprisingly, it did not occur to media pundits or policy advisers to challenge how an economic growth rate as sluggish as 2-3pc could possibly absorb a population growth rate of over 2pc and pull the country out of an economic abyss. In a nutshell, among the numerous remedies for reviving the economy, the strong potential impact of reducing the population growth rate was overlooked.

More than five years have passed since the Supreme Court took notice of the 2017 population census, which reported a growth rate of 2.4pc. Another census was held in 2023, supposedly to validate these results. The latest census ended up recording an even higher five-year intercensal population growth rate, with the latest figure standing at 2.55pc. The population estimate of 241m is unacceptably higher than any projections made for 2023 by international agencies such as the UN Population Division, in addition to national demographers and statisticians.

The political buzz around the 2023 census results resembled an auction, with each province and political group asking for greater allocation of resources, commensurate with their population size.


The prime minister must prioritise the challenge of reducing the population growth rate.

The provinces and parties that gained additional seats and resources were presumed the winners, and those that reduced their share of the pie by declaring smaller numbers, the losers. Amid the enthusiasm for financial resources and political representation, the principle that the census count is meant to calculate the needs of the citizens, according to the Constitution, was forgotten.

Of deep concern is the fact that the exaggerated intercensal population growth rate has gained wide acceptance among officials, including economic policy planners. Up to the 1990s, the Planning Commission, tasked with five-year plans, would have expressed concern over evidently distorted population figures. In that scenario, the contested intercensal growth rate of 2.55pc would have been re-evaluated and verified through consultations at the highest level before it was accepted. The concerned census commissioners would have meticulously weighed and vetted the numbers, even to the point of scrutinising a decimal place of change in population growth because of its multiple implications for economic planning.

Those were the good old days, when the addition of a million or even thousands of citizens to the population was taken seriously and the associated needs duly addressed. Population-related concerns were prioritised in policymaking. The current NFC award, which gives 82pc weightage to population size, is a pernicious incentive to exaggerate population size. To top it all, many view the census as merely an exercise to allocate parliamentary seats and demarcate constituencies.

Realising that lowering fertility rates was conducive to human development, the leadership of many a country formulated and implemented effective population policies. President Suharto of Indonesia in 1967, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh in 1975, and president Khamenei of Iran in the late 1980s took that course of action. Even the Muslim Gulf states have an average total fertility rate of two children per woman. Saudi Arabia now has a fertility rate of 2.4 children per woman, which is one child less than Pakistan.

When the Government of Pakistan declared an educational emergency last month, it raised hopes that a population emergency would follow. There has been a clear neglect of the education sector despite Article 25-A of the Constitution, which makes free primary education mandatory. The failure of not reducing fertility has increased the number of out-of-school children.

If the population policy of 2002 had been successfully implemented, fertility rates would have reached 2.1 children per woman by 2020. Consequently, we would not have a single child out of school based on our existing efforts to raise educational enrolment rates. However, as things stand, there are 23m children who are out of school due to the challenge of accommodating 7m additional children each year. As a result, we are leaving behind a generation of incapacitated children who cannot read or write and are likely to be stunted due to poor nutrition.

We ask the prime minister to prioritise the challenge of reducing the population growth rate for multiple reasons. The most important among them is to protect the fundamental human right of millions of children to basic education. This nation is in dire need of leadership on an important policy matter which impacts the lives of millions.

The oversight of not pursuing the 2002 population policy, or the CCI Plan of Action, 2018, does not implicate the government in power as it spans two decades of negligence. What is available now is an opportunity for the current political leadership to seize the moment and make a difference through appropriate course correction.

It is an opportune time for the prime minister to mobilise all four chief ministers in the next meeting of the Council of Common Interests to renew their pledge to the CCI’s population decisions of 2018. The religious leadership stands united in supporting the new population narrative of tawazzun (balance), which gives individuals the right to balance their family size in accordance with their resources.

Additionally, all major political parties currently in power in the provinces have expressed their support for decisions of the CCI in their respective 2023 manifestos.

Not taking immediate policy action on tackling population growth rates will be a huge blunder, one with a huge cost for the country.

The writer is Country Director, Population Council.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2024

How a Brooklyn dentist almost formed a Jewish homeland in pre-WW II China

Seeing a land free of antisemitism, Albert Einstein and Chinese leaders pushed plans to settle 100,000 Jews fleeing Nazis in Yunnan, the Himalayan foothills of China’s hinterland

By HARRY SAUNDERS

Today, 


Books about Jews arriving and living in Shanghai in the late 1930s displayed at the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited on May 7, 2013. (Peter Parks/AFP)

FOREIGN POLICY — On March 7, 1939, China’s top legislative official, Sun Ke, filed a dispatch to the government’s Civil Affairs Office. As a member of the Supreme Council for National Defense, he had spent the previous two years searching for ways to give China a fighting chance against the invading Japanese. Now, Sun Ke wanted to brief his colleagues on a seemingly unrelated issue: the plight of the Jewish people.

“These people suffer the most from being without a country, and for more than 2,600 years they have moved about homeless,” Sun Ke wrote, before describing Hitler’s plans for extermination. “The British want to set up a permanent settlement in Palestine,” he continued, “but this has provoked vehement opposition from the Arabs there, and the violence has not yet died down.”

Sun Ke believed that a more suitable refuge could be found in his own country. Not in Shanghai, where 20,000 Jews had already fled, but in the Himalayan foothills of China’s hinterland. With Laos to the south and what was then called Burma to the west, Yunnan was a border province with an unusually temperate climate, staggering natural beauty, and enough uncultivated land to accommodate 100,000 Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. What it lacked in scriptural significance, it made up for with its history free of antisemitic violence.

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To Sun Ke and the unlikely coalition of Kuomintang (KMT) officials and American Jews who rallied behind his plan, Yunnan represented nothing less than the promised land of China.

In the intervening 85 years, the Yunnan settlement plan has been mostly forgotten. But never in that time has China’s position on Zionism mattered as much as it does today. Since October 7, 2023, the Israel-Hamas war has forced Beijing to reckon with its newfound status as an emerging superpower and the expectation that it will play a role in every aspect of world affairs, no matter the region.

To fully understand China’s approach to the Middle East, we must return to the 1930s, when the idea for a Jewish homeland in Yunnan transformed from the parlor room fodder of a Brooklyn dentist into the official policy of the Chinese government.

In January 1934, a dentist from Brooklyn named Maurice William wrote a letter to Albert Einstein to present his idea for Jewish resettlement in China. “During a visit at the summer home of Judge [Louis] Brandeis last September we naturally discussed the plight of German Jews,” William wrote. “He too feels that China is the one great hope for Hitler’s victims.”

Illustrative: Officials open the Jewish Memorial Park at the Fushouyuan cemetery in Shanghai, China, September 6, 2015. (Courtesy of Dong Jun/ShanghaiDaily.com via JTA)

“Your plan,” Einstein responded, “seems to me to be very hopeful and rational and its realization must be pursued energetically.” The more he thought about the plan, the more sense it made. “The Chinese and Jewish peoples,” he told William two months later, “in spite of any apparent differences in their traditions, have this in common: both possess a mentality that is the product of cultures that go back to antiquity.”

A homeland not necessarily in the Holy Land

By the time William wrote to Einstein, Jewish leaders in Europe had long been searching for a homeland outside of Palestine — “Zionism without Zion,” as historian Gur Alroey put it. Russian activist Leon Pinsker crystallized the idea in his 1882 manifesto “Autoemancipation!”, writing that “the goal of our present endeavors must be not the ‘Holy Land,’ but a land of our own.” Territorialists, as his followers came to be known, spent the next four decades trying, and failing, to achieve Pinsker’s goal.

So there was nothing revolutionary about William’s proposed settlement, except for its location. Previous plans, including the 1903 Uganda Scheme and the Zionist project itself, targeted areas within existing colonial territories. William was the first to suggest that China, a young republic still struggling to transform itself into a modern state, might be willing to make room for Jewish settlers.

William was an unlikely champion for the project. He had no pertinent formal education, no previous ties to territorialism, and had never traveled to China. But through a combination of bootstrapping self-promotion and good fortune, William became not only a well-known figure among the KMT elite but also a respected US authority on China.

Chiang Kai-Shek, 37, standing in a formal photograph with Sun Yat-Sen, founder of the Chinese Republican government, at Wampoa Military Academy, China, in 1924. (AP Photo)

In 1923, William’s self-published refutation of Marxism, “The Social Interpretation of History,” found its way into the hands of Nationalist Party Premier Sun Yat-sen (Sun Ke’s father), who was in the process of articulating his economic vision for the country. Sun drew heavily on William’s language in a series of lectures that he delivered the following year. At one point, he mentioned the Social Interpretation by name. When the KMT published a book based on the lectures after Sun Yat-sen’s death a few years later, it catapulted William from unknown foreigner to philosophical luminary.

Americans first learned about William’s achievement from a 1927 article in Asia Magazine, which declared that Sun Yat-sen “bases his anti-Marxian position almost verbatim upon a little-known work from the pen of an American author.” William soon found himself in contact with some of the United States’ leading intellectuals, including not only Einstein and Brandeis, but also John Dewey and the Columbia historian James T. Shotwell, both of whom would later express their support for his Jewish settlement plan.
‘Abnormal influx of Jewish refugees’ in Shanghai

The Chinese government proved less receptive. Before writing to Einstein, William had discussed his plan in depth with Ambassador Alfred Sao-ke Sze, who agreed that importing German Jews could be a boon for the Chinese economy. Sze’s superiors in the KMT valued William’s opinion. But not as much as they valued their relations with Germany, which had stepped up its military and economic aid to China soon after the Nazis took power.

Constructing a settlement for the exact people that Hitler reviled was sure to offend the German government, the KMT leadership figured. Several years would pass before they became desperate enough to reconsider.

On Christmas Eve, 1938, Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC) Secretary G. Godfrey Phillips sent an urgent cable to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: “Shanghai is gravely perturbed by [the] abnormal influx of Jewish refugees,” he warned. “Shanghai is already facing the most serious refugee problem due to Sino-Japanese hostilities. It is quite impossible to absorb any large number of foreign refugees.”

An Israeli tour guide showing Zhoushan Road, an alley in a Shanghai neighborhood that was a Jewish ghetto housing thousands of refugees during World War II, in May 2010. (AP Photo)

Shanghai enjoyed an unusual status in the early days of World War II. Japanese forces captured the city in November 1937, but they left control of the International Settlement in the hands of the SMC. Under its multinational leadership, Shanghai remained one of the few ports in the world that would allow stateless persons entry. From 1937 to 1939, more than 20,000 Jewish refugees, mostly from Central Europe, flooded into the city.

Over that same period, China suffered a string of devastating military defeats at the hands of the Japanese. After capturing Shanghai in November, the Imperial Army marched on Nanjing, forcing Chiang Kai-shek and his government to flee. By January 1939, the Japanese controlled nearly the entirety of China’s eastern seaboard. Chiang’s forces had halted the Imperial Army’s advance, but Chinese pleas for US and British military support continued to fall flat.

Soon after Phillips sent his cable, Sun Ke learned that SMC officials planned to restrict the flow of refugees to Shanghai. Resettling Jewish refugees in Yunnan suddenly seemed to him like the perfect solution to the joint crises facing his country. He began drafting his dispatch to the Civil Affairs Office the next month.

Illustrative: Jewish World War II refugees cooking in an open-air kitchen in Shanghai. (Courtesy Above the Drowning Sea/ Time & Rhythm Cinema)

The logic behind Sun Ke’s proposal was simple: If China offered refuge to the persecuted Jews of Europe, then their co-religionists in the United States and Britain might convince those governments to support China against the Japanese. “British economic support was in truth manipulated by these large merchants and bankers,” Sun Ke wrote, “and since many of these large merchants and bankers are Jewish, therefore this proposal would influence the British to have an even more favorable attitude toward us.”

In addition to their propaganda value, Sun Ke believed that Jewish refugees had something to offer a Chinese province lagging in economic development. In the short term, the symbol of Jewish refugees could help China win the war. In the long term, the refugees themselves, with their “strong financial background and many talents,” as he put it, could help China develop into a great nation.

A young Jewish refugee and her Chinese girlfriends in Shanghai during World War II (photo credit: Courtesy Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum)

His reasoning echoed that of Einstein, who told William back in 1934 that his settlement project would “place at the service of China the beneficent aid of Western skill, knowledge and science.” The historical record reveals no direct link between the plan that William presented to Einstein in 1934 and Sun Ke’s proposal in 1939. However, William’s renown in the KMT and his correspondence with Sze, the ambassador, both suggest that the similarities between his idea and Sun Ke’s proposal were the result of influence, not coincidence.

Nativist US atmosphere gives China plan death blow

Some within the Chinese government doubted that engaging with the thorny issue of Jewish refugees would be worth it. The Foreign Ministry warned that governing Jews in China would only be tenable in the short term before their demands for autonomy became too difficult to control. China’s Interior Ministry went further. “The enemy and fascist countries are constantly alleging that we are a communist state,” ministry officials wrote, “and at this time to take in a large number of Jews will make it difficult to avoid giving the enemy a pretext for propaganda. In general, in fascist theory, communism and the Jews are frequently mentioned in the same breath.”

But the promise of potentially attracting Western military assistance proved stronger. In March 1939, the KMT approved Sun Ke’s proposal and began publicizing the Yunnan plan in the Chinese and US press. That they lacked a clear plan of execution made little difference. Since the Jewish settlement’s primary appeal lay in its propaganda value, merely declaring support for it could be enough to win the sympathy of the Americans.

Visitors read a poster with information about Jewish asylum seekers in Shanghai during World War II at the Israel Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, May 4, 2010, in Shanghai, China. (AP/Eugene Hoshiko)

When William heard about Sun Ke’s proposal, he burst into action. His peers in the United States had given him nothing but positive feedback, and with the KMT on board, it looked like his idea could finally become a reality. But the moment William started to ask for government money, things started to look different.

In response to polls revealing an electorate preoccupied with domestic issues, the Roosevelt administration’s foreign policy took a distinctly anti-immigration turn in the run-up to the 1940 presidential election. After Hitler annexed Austria in March 1938, the State Department maintained its quota of 27,730 visas for Germans, even as applications soared. By June 1939, the waiting list had grown to more than 300,000. That month, an ocean liner called the St. Louis carrying 937 mostly Jewish refugees from Hamburg got within sight of the Miami harbor. US immigration officers sent the ship back to Europe, where hundreds of its passengers were later murdered in the Holocaust.

It was against this nativist backdrop that William began holding meetings with State Department officials in August 1939. They referred him to a committee that advised Roosevelt on refugee affairs, but no records of any further meetings survive. For a project that would involve transporting 100,000 refugees from central Europe to China, the US government’s refusal to provide funding represented a death blow.

Four girls on deck of the MS St. Louis in 1939. (Courtesy of the Arlekin Players)

The exact circumstances in which the KMT abandoned the project are similarly murky. But this much is clear: In the archives of the year 1939, there was a cacophony of discussion surrounding the Yunnan settlement plans. Press conferences in Shanghai, dispatches from Chongqing, and meetings in Washington. Objections, assessments, retorts. By 1940: nothing.

In the end, it was Pearl Harbor, not the sympathy of prominent Jews, that drove the United States and Great Britain to support China. The ensuing Allied-backed counteroffensive vanquished Japan, but it left the KMT severely depleted. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seized on this weakness to relaunch its campaign to control the country. In 1949, Mao Zedong established a new government in Beijing while Sun Ke and his comrades fled to Taiwan.

They have operated in exile from Taipei ever since.

Little unites today’s CCP with the KMT of the 1930s. Chinese leader Xi Jinping will quote Marx and Lenin a million times before admitting even a nickel of intellectual debt to the KMT. But Beijing’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war, with its faith in the power of messaging, would be all too familiar to Sun Ke and his colleagues.

When Israel first launched its military operation to remove Hamas from power in Gaza and secure the return of the 251 hostages kidnapped on October 7 when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel butchering 1,200 people, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China would always support “the legitimate aspirations of the Arab and Islamic world.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) adjusts his kippa, the traditional Jewish skullcap for men, as he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City on December 20, 2013. ( Ahmad Gharabli / AFP)

After Iran launched a series of attacks against Israel in April, Wang parroted Tehran’s account, while characterizing the strikes as an act of self-defense.

Beijing’s statements have not labeled Hamas as a terrorist group, an omission that is sure to strain China’s once-blossoming trade relationship with Israel. Yet behind closed doors, Chinese diplomats keep trying to convince their Israeli counterparts that all this is just talk and should not be misconstrued as actual Chinese hostility toward Israel.

If China’s response to the Israel-Hamas war seems passive or incoherent or amateurish, it is helpful to remember how little experience Beijing has engaging with the political thicket that Zionism has always represented. Seldom in its history has China taken a position on the issue of a Jewish state. When it attempted to establish a Jewish settlement in 1939, it acted on the belief that Washington’s loyalty to the Jewish people was an unchanging and exploitable fact.

When China overestimated the influence of Jewish interests in US politics during World War II, it wasted valuable time and a few stacks of paper. But with the Chinese government now trying to position itself as the world’s alternative superpower, misreading the politics of Zionism could be far more costly.

Global powers clash at United Nations over North Korea

A general view shows the inside of the UN headquarters, on the day members of the United Nations Security Council vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, in New York City, US, March 25, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters file

PUBLISHED ONJUNE 28, 2024 

UNITED NATIONS — The US, Britain, France confronted Russia at the United Nations Security Council on Friday (June 28) over accusations it is violating an arms embargo on North Korea by using missiles and munitions from Pyongyang in its war against Ukraine.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia rejected the accusations as "completely false". The council meeting came after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact last week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in which they agreed to provide military assistance if either faces armed aggression.

The US also called out China on Friday, saying it should use its influence with North Korea and Russia to protect regional and global security and end "this increasingly dangerous military co-operation" between the pair



"I appeal to my Chinese colleagues to understand that if indeed the situation on the Korean Peninsula continues on the trajectory it's going, the United States and its allies will have to take steps to defend their security," deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood told the council, without elaborating.

China strongly rejected a US accusation that it was emboldening North Korea by not condemning Russia's actions.

"The current situation on the Korean Peninsula continues to be tense. How did this come about?" said China's deputy UN ambassador, Geng Shuang. "The US should reflect deeply especially on its own actions instead of blaming others and shirking its own responsibility as it habitually does."

The contrail of a North Korean missile is pictured from Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, on June 26, 2024.

'No reason' for concern

China and Russia say joint military drills by the US and South Korea provoke Pyongyang, while Washington accuses Beijing and Moscow of emboldening North Korea by shielding it from more UN sanctions. Russia, China, the US, Britain and France are permanent veto-wielding council members.

Nebenzia dismissed the council meeting — called by the US, France, Britain, South Korea and Japan — as a bid to "disseminate baseless accusations in order to detract attention from their own destructive actions".


"Our co-operation with Pyongyang is exclusively constructive and legitimate in nature and this is exceptionally important. It does not threaten anybody, unlike the military activity of the United States and their allies," Nebenzia said.

North Korean UN Ambassador Song Kim also sought to give reassurances, adding that unless anyone was planning to invade North Korea or Russia, "there is no reason whatsoever to be concerned about development of their bilateral relations".

"The DPRK, Russia relations are completely peace-loving and defensive in nature as they do not target a third party, but promote progress and well being of the people of the two countries," he told the council.

China reacted guardedly last week to the pact between Moscow and Pyongyang. It made no reference to it during the Security Council meeting on Friday.

'More dangerous' world

UN sanctions monitors said in April, that the debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile. Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian state prosecutors said in May they had examined debris from 21 of about 50 North Korean missiles launched by Russia between December last and February this. The US has also accused Russia of firing "a total of four possible North Korean-supplied ballistic missiles toward Ukraine" in mid-June.

"Russia's actions are making the world a more dangerous place for all countries," Britain's UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward told the council.

Formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and those measures have been unanimously strengthened over the years.

"The Russian Federation has opted to prioritise the pursuit of its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine to the detriment of the international non-proliferation regime. It has imperiled regional security and our collective security," said French UN Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere.

For the past several years the Security Council has been divided over how to deal with Pyongyang. Russia and China say more sanctions will not help and want such measures to be eased. They proposed some sanctions be lifted in December 2019 but have never put their draft resolution to a vote as it would fail.

Controversial Malaysia airport privatisation deal stirs debate on economic fallout of Israel boycotts

Critics want the Malaysian airport privatisation deal scrapped because it involves an Israeli-linked company. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

Hazlin Hassan
Malaysia Correspondent
JUN 29, 2024

KUALA LUMPUR - A controversial multibillion-dollar Malaysian airport privatisation deal involving an Israeli-linked company has ignited a debate over the economic fallout of pro-Palestine boycotts and whether they are sustainable in the long run.

Critics, as well as some ruling party and opposition lawmakers, want the government to scrap the deal involving US fund manager BlackRock because of its ties to Israel, but Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who has been a vociferous critic of Israel over its war in Gaza, has said that it is “not realistic” to ban all trade with Israel-linked companies.

“Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia, they all have interests in Israel. Do we have to cancel (our trade with them)? It might sound good, people will be happy to hear it and call us fighters, but actually, this is not realistic. In my discussions with Hamas, this issue did not even arise,” he said.

The clamour to call off the deal “seems more Hamas than Hamas”, he told Parliament on June 25.

BlackRock is in talks to buy New York-based infrastructure investor Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which aims to take a 30 per cent stake in Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), together with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

GIP and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are in a consortium led by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and state pension fund Employees Provident Fund, which on May 15 announced its offer to take MAHB private.

Datuk Seri Anwar pointed out that BlackRock currently holds equity investments in 100 public-listed companies in Malaysia, worth approximately RM27.5 billion (S$7.9 billion).

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz told Parliament on June 28 that BlackRock has never influenced government policy, despite pouring money into the Malaysian economy. He had also earlier warned that if BlackRock withdrew its investments from Malaysia, this would have a negative impact on the country’s investments, and potentially affect thousands of jobs.

Amid the furore, Malaysia has found itself in a difficult position.

The country has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel. Mr Anwar blocked all Israel-flagged ships from using local ports in December 2023, but the BlackRock issue underlines the difficulties faced by his administration in condemning the war in Gaza while minimising the domestic economic fallout.

Dr Oh Ei Sun from the Singapore Institute of International Affairs told The Straits Times that if Malaysia were to pull out from the deal, it would “paint a rather negative picture of Malaysia’s corporate scene, one of prioritising remote political considerations over legitimate business dealings”.

Some observers and experts have raised doubts about consumer boycotts against goods and businesses perceived to be linked to Israel, after several companies in Malaysia faced economic consequences as a result.

A persistent boycott here led to the nationwide closure in April of more than 100 KFC fast-food restaurants, owned by Johor Corporation – the Johor government’s investment arm – and the Employees Provident Fund.

The Berjaya Food restaurant group, which operates over 400 Starbucks stores across Malaysia, has also suffered losses as a result of customer boycotts linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Revenues fell 48 per cent year on year for the three months ending March 31 to RM138.6 million, compared with RM265.8 million in the same period in 2023. Berjaya Food reported a RM29.8 million loss for the quarter, compared with a profit of RM15.94 million for the same period in 2023.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Management and ownership of Malaysia’s airports operator to remain in Malaysian hands: PM Anwar

Malaysian govt accused of hypocrisy over presence of Israeli-linked defence firms at exhibition

Footfall is still limited at many of the boycotted businesses.

Housewife Khatijah Saiful, 51, continues to steer clear of McDonald’s, Starbucks and Pizza Hut, among others. But she started buying from KFC again after pro-Palestinian group Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Malaysia stated in May that it had never campaigned for Malaysians to boycott the fast-food joint.

“I nearly bought cookies from Marks & Spencer just now, as they were on sale, but my daughter reminded me not to buy from them,” said Mrs Saiful, referring to the British retailer perceived to have Israeli links.

Following the closure of the KFC outlets, the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM), a government agency under the Prime Minister’s Office, held a closed-door roundtable discussion on June 27 with experts in various fields. Under discussion was the impact of the boycotts on Malaysia’s economy, and their potential to affect its position as a trading country and investment destination.

“On one hand, we as Malaysians are firmly in strong support with our brothers and sisters in Palestine,” IKIM director-general Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil told ST before the roundtable.

“On the other hand, we want to seek the best solution. What is the contribution of a boycotted company to Israel, is it 1 per cent? What are the repercussions that we will face?” he said.

“We are really worried that companies majority-owned by Muslims will collapse. My personal opinion is that the boycott will affect the economy in the long run. You can say that we can switch to local fried chicken, but the repercussions are very big. It affects the chicken producers, the companies that belong to Muslims. The majority share of the companies is held by Muslims.”

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
American F&B chains in Malaysia still face boycott over Gaza war

McDonald’s Malaysia sues Israel boycott movement for $1.7 million in damages

Another concern with the boycotts is the spectre of growing unemployment among Malay-Muslims, who make up the bulk of the workers employed by these companies.

“If we were to boycott, we have to do our homework to ensure that at the end of the day, it will not destroy the Muslim economy,” said Datuk Dr Mohamed Azam.

According to the Economy Ministry, however, the boycott, which has mainly affected the food and beverage sector, has only slightly affected employment.

The ministry said on June 26 this is because the contribution of the food and beverage sub-sector to gross domestic product is small – 2.3 per cent in 2023 and 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2024.

Nevertheless, there has been a 23.8 per cent increase in overall unemployment, with 22,315 workers losing their jobs between January and May, compared with 18,026 in the same period in 2023.

The job losses were due to business closures and downsizing, said the ministry. Some 4.9 per cent were from the accommodation and food services sector.

Fatal fire at lithium battery plant in South Korea exposes 5-year oversight lapse

A joint investigation team conducting a probe into the cause of the fire at a lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, South Korea. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

JUN 29, 2024

SEOUL - Aricell, a lithium battery plant that recently experienced a fatal fire resulting in 23 deaths, had not undergone any government industrial safety inspections in the past five years, despite the hazardous nature of the materials it was using, according to the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

Data obtained by Democratic Party lawmaker Park Hae-cheol from the Ministry of Labor and Employment confirms that no government industrial safety inspections or supervision had been conducted at Aricell in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, during the past five years.

Annually, the Labor Ministry selects high-risk workplaces, particularly those involving dangerous machinery and hazardous substances, for industrial safety supervision and inspections.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act mandates the Ministry of Employment and Labor to oversee and inspect workplace safety to prevent industrial accidents and protect workers.

High-risk workplaces, especially those handling hazardous materials or operating dangerous machinery, must undergo stringent safety inspections and comply with regulations.

The police are focusing their investigation into the deadly fire on two main aspects: determining the cause of the fire and understanding why there were such a large number of casualties.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency’s special investigation team on Friday announced they are intensifying their efforts. They consider the incident a disaster caused by comprehensive negligence rather than isolated factors.

Min Gil-soo, head of the Labor Ministry’s special investigation team, told June 28’s briefing that the government had completed work to prevent further damage.

Min explained that the “disposal of the waste electrolyte, which was left on the first floor of the affected building, was safely completed to prevent additional harm”.

The electrolyte used in the batteries, which facilitates the movement of electrons between the cathode and anode in batteries, was highly flammable and could pose a significant risk.

The police are focusing their investigation into the deadly fire on two main aspects: determining the cause of the fire and understanding why there were such a large number of casualties. 

PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Min also confirmed that the remains of all 23 victims had been identified as at June 28.

The final DNA results confirmed the identities of 17 Chinese nationals, five Koreans, and one Laotian among those who lost their lives in the fire, according to Min.

Chinese Consul General Zhong Hongnuo on June 28 visited the memorial altar at Hwaseong City Hall to pay his respects to the victims. After paying tribute, he had a brief meeting with Hwaseong Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun to discuss the incident and extend support to the grieving families.

After the meeting, Mr Zhong stated: “We will assist the bereaved families in managing the aftermath of the accident and work with the relevant departments of the Korean government to ensure proper compensation is provided.”

He further told reporters: “We hope the Korean government will promptly investigate the cause of the fire and thoroughly explain the findings to the families, implementing effective measures to prevent future incidents.”

Mr Zhong also emphasised: “We must value and protect the lives and property of all workers, including Chinese nationals, and take steps to prevent such tragedies from happening again.” 

THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

 

Preserving Indigenous Rights While Protecting The Planet

Saturday, 29 June 2024
Press Release: East West Center

At the EWC International Media Conference in Manila, renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle and several Indigenous leaders urge new perspectives on climate and the environment

MANILA (June 29, 2024) — In a world grappling with escalating climate crises, the way forward can include both modern scientific knowledge and traditional wisdom, according to several expert speakers who took the stage this week at the 2024 East-West Center International Media Conference during several sessions devoted to “New Climate Perspectives.” The presenters, including world-renowned oceanographer and explorer Sylvia Earle, urged the audience of more than 400 journalists and media professionals from 30 countries to explore holistic solutions that include affected communities and to hold everyone to account, even those pursuing alternative energies to fossil fuels.

In a video message, Nainoa Thompson, leader of the Hawai‘i-based Polynesian Voyaging Society, told the group that it is vital to integrate actionable science and data with “not just Indigenous knowledge, but the practices, the views, and the values that Indigenous people have learned over thousands of years of taking care of one’s place,” he said. “It’s the definition of stewardship.”

Joeli Veitayaki, a strategic adviser at Blue Prosperity Fiji, noted that Indigenous peoples of the Pacific have long practiced sustainable methods of living that conserve natural resources. Today, community-led initiatives remain strong in Fiji, where the country’s “largest marine assessment undertaken in over the last hundred years” was just completed, Veitayaki said, and momentum is building around reclaiming beaches and replanting mangroves, among other projects. “We are using a combination of Indigenous and traditional knowledge and science-based methods to adapt to the existential threat that is affecting all aspects of our lives,” he said.

The Ocean’s vital role
Such efforts are crucial, since only three percent of the world’s oceans are considered fully protected from exploitation, said Earle, the founder of Mission Blue, an organization that is working to build a worldwide network of protected marine areas called “Hope Spots.” She detailed how the ocean plays a crucial role in maintaining the earth’s climate through what is called "blue carbon,” a term coined to convey the fact that more than half of all biological carbon kept out of Earth’s atmosphere is captured by living organisms in the sea.

Pollution, habitat destruction, overfishing, deep sea mining, and other harmful practices are degrading natural ecosystems in the water and, in turn, on land, she told the journalists. “Are we going to protect what remains of the natural fabric of life that keeps earth habitable? Or are we going to sacrifice it to developments like deep sea mining that are questionable in terms of whether we really need to do this for future prosperity?” she asked.

Earle pointed out that “humans have become the greatest predators of nature that there has ever been. What we're putting into the ocean, as well as what we're taking out of it, is having a magnified impact on those cycles of life.” Still, she remained optimistic that new technologies will lead to creative solutions to protect the planet. “This is our time, and as we have pointed out, the future is really with the next generation,” she said.

Green energy isn’t always ‘clean’
One facet of climate reporting that is often overlooked, according to Joan Carling, the executive director of Indigenous Peoples Rights International based in Baguio, Philippines, is the fact that a global push to shift to renewable energy has the potential to do more harm than good, particularly in areas where Indigenous peoples’ land is exploited. “Journalists can also play a crucial role by conducting more in-depth investigative reporting on the abuses and injustices faced by Indigenous peoples in the name of climate action,” Carling said. “This includes uncovering land grabs, forced evictions, environmental degradation, and human rights violations perpetrated by corporations and state authorities.”

Certain renewable energy projects may require the mining of metals and rare-earth minerals, which poses huge ecological challenges as well as a human cost, she said, criticizing hydropower and liquid natural gas projects in particular for displacing people from their homes and degrading land in Indigenous territories. These kinds of projects are often approved without the local population’s informed consent, she noted.

More funding needs to be directed to proven community-based renewable energy projects that involve Indigenous communities so they may have a greater sense of ownership, Carling said: “What we need to do is look for other options … and there are other options that have already been proven, like bio-gas or community-based solar and renewable micro-hydro projects. These are the ones that have actually worked on the ground, if only they are supported.”

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U.S. miners' union head: Republican effort to block silica dust rule 'attack' on workers

ASSOCIATED PRESS | Friday, June 28, 2024 

“It is difficult for me to understand how certain members of Congress could possibly be supportive of more miners dying a suffocating death as a result of being forced to breathe this dust,” United Mine Workers of America President Cecil E. Roberts said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The head of the national mine workers’ union Friday condemned what he characterized as an effort by House Republicans to block enforcement of a long-awaited federal rule directed at curbing workers’ exposure to poisonous, deadly rock dust, calling it “a direct attack on the health and safety of coal miners.”

United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Roberts said a budget provision — approved by a U.S. House subcommittee Thursday — prohibiting the Department of Labor from using funding to enforce a silica dust rule operators must be in compliance with next year is “morally reprehensible” and that the action “undermines the principles of fairness and justice that our country stands for.”

“It is difficult for me to understand how certain members of Congress could possibly be supportive of more miners dying a suffocating death as a result of being forced to breathe this dust,” Roberts said in a statement.

Silicosis, commonly referred to as black lung, is an occupational pneumoconiosis caused by the inhalation of crystalline silica dust present in minerals like sandstone. Finalized in April by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration rule cuts by half the permissible exposure limit for crystalline silica for an eight-hour shift.

The regulation is in line with exposure levels imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on construction and other nonmining industries. And it’s the standard the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was recommending as far back as 1974. The U.S. Department of Labor began studying silica and its impact on workers’ health in the 1930s, but the focus on stopping exposure in the workplace largely bypassed coal miners.

Su said in April it is “unconscionable” America’s miners have been forced to work without the protections for so long: “We’re making it clear that no job should be a death sentence.”

The black lung problem has only grown in recent years as miners dig through more layers of rock to get to less accessible coal, generating deadly silica dust in the process. Silica dust is 20 times more toxic than coal dust and causes severe forms of black lung disease even after a few years of exposure.

The increased drilling has meant severe forms of the disease are being identified even among younger Appalachian miners, some in their 30s and 40s. An estimated one in five tenured miners in Central Appalachia has black lung disease; one in 20 has the most disabling form of black lung.

On Thursday, the House subcommittee did not debate the bill containing the silica dust rule enforcement block before advancing it. A spokesperson for Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Subcommittee Chair U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, a Republican representing Alabama, did not return an email request for comment Friday. Neither did the National Mining Association, which represents operators.

Mine safety advocates are scrambling to meet with lawmakers before the bill is scheduled to go before the full House Appropriations Committee on July 10. It would have to be greenlit by that committee before going to the full chamber.

Quenton King, federal legislative specialist for Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit that advocated for the silica dust rule, said the protection is essential to protecting not only coal miners in central Appalachia, but metal and nonmetal miners across the country. If allowed to be enforced, it will help save thousands of lives, he said.

“To willfully prevent MSHA from doing that would literally be killing miners,” he said.

West Virginia Attorney Sam Petsonk, who has represented coal miners who were diagnosed with black lung after companies violated safety violations, said he sees workers every day who have fewer than 10 years of mining experience diagnosed with end stage, fatal silicosis.

“This is a policy decision by the entire Republican party leadership to throw America’s miners to the dogs,” he said. “It’s insulting and really unfair to our communities for them to do this to us. And it’s certainly inconsistent with the idea that the Republicans are trying to help coal miners and coal mining communities.”

PHOTO: KELLY TUNNEY | HERALD-STANDARD

Research gives more reassurance milk pasteurization kills bird flu, officials say

ASSOCIATED PRESS | Friday, June 28, 2024 

AP
U.S. officials said a new study provides reassurance that pasteurization kills bird flu virus in cow’s milk.

NEW YORK — A new study that recreated commercial pasteurization in a government lab provides reassurance heat treatment kills bird flu virus in cows’ milk, U.S. officials said Friday.

When the bird flu known as H5N1 first was detected in U.S. dairy cows this year, there were no studies of whether heat treatment killed the virus in cows’ milk. But officials were comforted by studies that showed the pasteurization of eggs — which involves heating at a lower temperature and for a shorter amount of time — worked, said the Food and Drug Administration’s Donald Prater.

A study in April found there was no evidence of infectious, live virus in store-bought samples of pasteurized milk, though they did contain dead remnants of it. Some later small studies that attempted to simulate pasteurization showed mixed results.

The new study was done at a federal research center in Athens, Ga., using custom equipment that tried to more completely recreate commercial pasteurization.

It also allowed sampling at different stages in the process. The milk goes through several heating steps before being flash-heated, and the study found the virus was inactivated even before it hit the 161-degree, 15-or-more-seconds “flash pasteurization” stage that is considered the key step in making milk safe.

“This information really fills an important gap in our understanding of how commercial pasteurization inactivates the virus,” Prater said.

The study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

ARACHNOPHILIA

Keeping spiders around could reduce hay fever symptoms, research claims

Spiders could be our unexpected ally in the fight against hay fever so leaving them alone could help you both

NEWS
By Andrew Nuttall

29 JUN 2024

A small spider's web could be doing more good than harm for hay fever sufferers (Image: Getty Images)

The thought of keeping spiders around the house and garden may send shivers down the spine of arachnophobes. Those who'd rather endure watery eyes and sneezing should know there's scientific evidence to suggest letting these eight-legged friends set up their homes near yours could be beneficial.

As summer hits its peak, with pollen levels soaring across the UK, hay fever sufferers are all too familiar with the discomfort it brings. Yet, this spider-based remedy might just be worth considering.

Researchers at the University of Exeter have discovered that spiders aren't exclusively the predators we often think they are, with some species making pesky pollen up to a quarter of their diet. Dr Dirk Sanders observed that orb web spiders, commonly found in gardens, opt for pollen even when insects are on offer.

The study revealed that the robust silk of spider webs not only captures their typical insect meals but also ensnares airborne pollen and fungal spores. Orb web spiders habitually consume their own webs to reclaim the silk proteins, leading to speculation that pollen ingestion might occur inadvertently during this process.

Dr Sanders, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus, clarified: "Most people and researchers think of spiders as pure carnivores. But in this family of orb web spiders that is not the case.", reports the Mirror.

"We have demonstrated that the spiders feed on pollen caught in their webs, even if they have additional food, and that it forms an important part of their nourishment. The proportion of pollen in the spiders' diet in the wild was high, so we need to classify them as omnivores rather than carnivores."

The Met Office also explained how, although usually carnivorous, certain spiders feed pollen to their young. It's not known how they manage to eat it though, since their mouths are not large enough but, that said, less pollen in the air means less going around to make hay fever symptoms worse.

According to the National Library of Medicine, baby orb-weaving spiders appear in spring when insect prey are scarce but pollen and fungus spores are abundant. Microscopic organic matter may be the main food of orb-weaving spiderlings, with insects providing only a dietary supplement.

Next time you see a spider web in your garden it might be a good idea to keep it where it is. It could be a natural net waiting to catch not only garden bugs but pesky pollen that's causing just as much of a nuisance to some.

Two volcanic earthquakes recorded at Kanlaon Volcano

By GMA Integrated News
Published June 29, 2024 

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) on Saturday said two volcanic earthquakes occurred at Kanlaon Volcano in the past 24 hours.

The quakes were monitored from 12 a.m. Friday to 12 a.m. Saturday.

PHIVOLCS said 5,397 tonnes of sulfur dioxide were emitted on June 28, the highest emission of volcanic gas at Kanlaon Volcano since instrumental gas monitoring began.

The volcano which straddles Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental also emitted weak plumes rising up to 150 meters tall, according to PHIVOLCS' bulletin.

The plumes then drifted west-southwest and southwest.

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PHIVOLCS said Kanlaon Volcano remains to be under Alert Level 2 which means increased unrest.

It reiterated that entry into the volcano's 4-kilometer radius permanent danger zone is prohibited.

Flying aircraft close to Kanlaon Volcano is also not allowed, PHIVOLCS added.

This is due the possible hazards that might occur, such as sudden steam-driven or phreatic eruptions.

Kanlaon volcano erupted last June 3, emitting plumes that rose to 5,000 meters. The eruption lasted 6 minutes and was followed by a relatively strong volcanic-tectonic earthquake. —KG, GMA Integrated News