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southeastasianists · 4 years

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Under a bridge on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur sits a small huddle of dilapidated shipping containers – each divided into two levels, carpeted with canvas sheets and ventilated by small whirring table fans.

For 65 Bangladeshi construction workers these containers are home, and as Malaysia enters its sixth week of a national lockdown to stem the spread of Covid-19 – during which most workplaces are closed and non-essential activities suspended – migrants living in these cramped, close quarters are beginning to feel the pangs of hunger as their money slowly runs out.

“We have not been paid since February because of the lockdown in mid-March,” said Mohamad Hanif, who has been living in one of the containers since he arrived in Malaysia last year. Although as a group they have scraped together everything they had to buy groceries during the lockdown period, nothing lasts forever.

“We cook communally. Our meals are usually rice, some vegetables with lentil curry. But it is difficult now because there isn’t money, there isn’t enough food to go around and we are all hungry. We need help.”

Mohamad Hanif’s situation isn’t unique. Malaysia is a temporary home to an estimated 5.5 million migrant workers – more than half of whom, about 3.3 million, are undocumented – from countries across Asia, but mostly Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal. They are employed in sectors such as construction, security and manufacturing: jobs that employers refer to as “3D” – dangerous, dirty and difficult.

Activists say many of these workers are subject to numerous human rights violations, from non-payment of wages by unscrupulous bosses to physical abuse, trafficking and debt bondage. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, their cramped living quarters mean they are at greater risk than most of infecting each other.

The lack of space for any sort of physical distancing is even more keenly felt under lockdown, as these small rooms become workers’ quarantine cells. Before, many would have spent much of the day working, running errands or spending free time outside.

“Others were shift workers so the house was never too full at any one time,” said Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna, director of Kuala Lumpur-based migrant rights NGO Our Journey. “But now that everyone has to stay home with the lockdown, conditions are far more cramped.”

Although Sumitha’s NGO was primarily set up to help with legal matters, since the lockdown began on March 18, its members have been hand-delivering groceries to migrant workers across Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, after obtaining permission to do so through various countries’ embassies.

For most areas, she and her volunteers collect addresses and phone numbers before dropping off groceries individually, but in some government-designated “red zones” – high-risk areas with more than 41 active cases – her team leaves dry goods such as eggs, potatoes, rice and oil with representatives from the Department of Social Welfare to distribute.

One such red zone encompasses Selangor Mansion and Malayan Mansion, two blocks of flats offering low-cost accommodation that have been placed under an enhanced movement control order which prohibits anyone from entering or exiting. About 5,000 people – mostly migrant workers who average 10 people to a three- or four-room unit, for which they typically pay about 2,500 ringgit (US$575) per month – live in these buildings, which are now barricaded with barbed wire and patrolled by security forces.

“The most packed unit I have encountered had 24 residents. People living in Selangor Mansion have told me they feel claustrophobic, that it’s become very noisy,” Sumitha said.

Another red zone is in the township of Selayang, which straddles Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia’s richest state. An enhanced movement control order in this area has seen an entire wet market cordoned off, as well as nearby residential buildings. Shamim Miah, a Bangladeshi student who shares a flat with five others in one of the buildings, has been unable to leave to get food for days, and soon it will be the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

“We have no food, we are scared. Help us, please,” he said.

For now, no infection clusters have emerged among migrant workers in Malaysia, unlike in neighbouring Singapore, where some 80 per cent of its more than 10,000 infections emanate from the 320,000-strong migrant worker community.

The city state, whose partial lockdown termed a “circuit breaker” was this week extended until June 1, now has the most cases of any country in Southeast Asia. It is screening thousands of workers every day and Malaysia’s top health official last week said it would “learn from Singapore” and embark on large-scale screening of the community.

The surge in infections in Singapore this month has sparked criticism of the government there for not taking action earlier to stop the spread of the virus within its 42 huge dormitory complexes, where thousands of workers sleep on bunk beds – between 12 and 20 to a room – and hundreds share communal bathroom and kitchen facilities.

Singapore also houses low-wage workers in about 1,200 industrial or warehouse developments which have been partially converted into dormitories that typically house 50 to 100 workers each, as well as in temporary living quarters on construction sites that have room for around 40 workers.

Residents’ groups in the city state have begun raising funds and collecting donations of food to help migrant workers.

In Malaysia, similar awareness of the dire living conditions of low-wage foreign workers is spreading.

But this has yielded a mix of both compassion and xenophobic sentiment. Earlier in the month, misinformation about urine-filled plastic bags being hurled at armed forces personnel patrolling the grounds of Selangor Mansion had to be refuted by Malaysia’s defence chief after online commentators accused foreign workers of being ungrateful, while some Malaysians questioned why the government had to supply food to these workers.

Migrant workers are disproportionately affected by the government’s lockdown, said M. Ramachelvam, deputy president of the National Human Rights Society. Besides a lack of decent housing and precarious employment, access to health care is a concern: under Malaysian law, doctors must report undocumented migrants seeking health care to the authorities, creating a culture of fear.

“There should be a moratorium against the arrest and detention of migrants for immigration related offences during this pandemic, ” said Ramachelvam, also urging the government to not discriminate when providing health care. So far, more than 14,000 migrant workers have been tested for Covid-19 virus, with 676 positive cases.

In early April, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the welfare of foreigners was the responsibility of “their respective embassies”, just days after promising that the government would provide these workers with food supplies. Currently the areas under enhanced lockdowns are receiving food from several sources, including NGOs and public donations, as well as government agencies.

Now, with tensions at a high as the lockdown begins to bite, incomes depletedand the threat of an economic recession on the horizon, rights groups have expressed the concern that migrant workers will become scapegoats.

“The sentiment to deny aid to those without documentation in our country is based on xenophobia and will harm those who are most in need in these difficult times,” said migrant rights group Tenaganita in a statement, pointing out that undocumented migrants and refugees without stable work or who rely on a daily wage were disproportionately affected by the movement control order.

“There have been countless reports from the migrant and refugee communities of people going hungry and there are no government policies in place that protect them.”

Tenaganita and other NGOs have rallied together to ensure that aid is doled out. Organisations or civil society groups such as the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, Bersih and Engage have collected money or groceries from members of the public to help vulnerable groups. However, because of travel restrictions under the movement control order, only so much ground can be covered.

“We have to adhere to social distancing and other guidelines, and go to homes one by one. Some workers are too scared to leave their homes because they don’t have their passports. Some don’t even know how to tell us their house addresses,” said Sumitha of NGO Our Journey.

The fact that migrant workers were scattered across the country was another barrier to them receiving help, said Indonesian migrant rights activist Nasrikah, who goes by only one name.

“It’s very difficult to get aid to rural areas even though NGOs and the embassy are giving some support.”

Women’s rights groups say female migrant workers are particularly vulnerable in this period.

Liezl Galdo, who heads the organising committee of AMMPO, an organisation that lobbies for the rights of Filipino domestic workers in Malaysia, has received complaints of employers refusing to give them food.

“One woman who reached out to me said that when she rested on Sunday, her legally mandated day off, her employer withheld lunch and dinner. Another was not allowed to leave the house to go to the bank to send money back to her family,” she said, pointing out that as domestic workers are stuck at home with their employers, they are more vulnerable to abuse.

For other migrant workers such as Sulaiman, 42, housing is not the main issue, although the small two-storey house that the Bangladeshi construction worker shares with 29 other men – all sleeping upstairs – is certainly cramped

Their more pressing concern, however, is that food is running out – the men keep meals to a bare minimum so as not to use up everything they have left.

“We eat bread, rice. We haven’t had vegetables or meat in a while. We didn’t receive any sort of allowance when the lockdown was declared,” said Sulaiman, adding that it was difficult for some of them to even leave the house as their employers had kept their passports.

“We give each other space as much as we can, and have moved some chairs to the veranda so we can at least get some fresh air. We pray together upstairs. We can survive these housing conditions, there is nothing wrong with the house. We can endure – right now we just need food.”

#human rights #migrant workers #migrant labour #labour rights #malaysia #xenophobia #food security #coronavirus #covid-19

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newstfionline · 4 years

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Headlines

After George Floyd’s Death, Toll Rises in Protests Across the Country (NYT) Scores of American cities were on edge on Monday night as protesters faced off with the police for a seventh straight night since the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police. Curfews were ordered in New York City and throughout the country in an effort to stem the toll of deaths, injuries and vandalism that have accompanied demonstrations that grew violent. The clashes have echoed in the streets of at least 140 cities, and at least five people had died as the country entered another long night. An untold number more, including protesters and police officers, have been injured. Thousands of people have been arrested and fires, looting and vandalism have caused millions of dollars in damage to buildings and businesses. Amid demonstrations from the beach communities of California to the park right outside the White House, President Trump warned on Monday that he would order the military into American cities if officials could not get their streets under control. The growing toll came as a curfew was set starting at 11 p.m. in New York City—only the latest of dozens of cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, to order people to stay home as clashes have escalated. Nearly 20,000 members of the National Guard have been called up in 23 states.

The tear-gassing of Lafayette Square has now caused a diplomatic rift with Australia (The Week) People in China, where reporting on even small anti-government protests is censored, are getting full coverage of U.S. protesters and journalists being beaten and gassed by U.S. police, blinded by rubber bullets, and arrested in what looks like war zones. “Freedom is dead” in the U.S., Chinese wrote on social media, BBC News reports. “The U.S. police has lost all humanity.” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd,” adding that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest” and “call for a de-escalation of tensions.” Australians, meanwhile, watched a widely broadcast clip of 7NEWS reporter Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers being clubbed, punched in the face, and battered by federal police clearing Lafayette Square of protesters so President Trump could walk to a church and hold up a Bible for the cameras. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne expressed “strong concerns” about the assault on the Australian journalists. “We have asked the Australian embassy in Washington, D.C., to investigate this incident,” Payne said Tuesday. “I want to get further advice on how we would go about registering Australia’s strong concerns with the responsible local authorities in Washington,” suggesting a formal complaint will follow.

Brooms in hand, people patch up stores damaged in protests (AP) Carrying brooms, shovels, trash bags and cans of paint, thousands of people from Los Angeles to New York swept up glass from broken store windows, covered over graffiti and organized ransacked businesses Monday after protests over police killings of black people turned destructive once again. Bill Stuehler donned a mask Sunday and marched with a fellow nurse and other activists in Los Angeles, later trying to stop young people from breaking into stores and stealing. At home, he kept watching the violence on live feeds and fell deeper into despair. So before sunrise, the 66-year-old grabbed brooms, a rake and a trash shovel and drove to nearby Long Beach to clean up the mess. Soon, more than 2,000 people were working side by side, scrubbing, filling trash containers and repairing what they could in the hard-hit city south of Los Angeles. “It was pretty amazing to see the number of people turn out for the community,” Stuehler said. “It restored the faith in humanity that I had lost last night.” Throngs of people nationwide volunteered to help businesses—from small shops to major chains—bounce back from the damage, though some stores had burned to the ground and another night of unrest was expected.

Running into trouble: Eager pandemic exercisers rack up injuries (Washington Post) For people faced with more free time but fewer athletic options, overuse injuries are the painful flip side to the noble pursuit of “quarantoning” as getting toned during quarantine is known. Medical professionals and a footwear retailer on the receiving end of those distress calls say eager exercisers often overestimate how much of a new activity their musculoskeletal systems can handle. And they might do it again when they return to their gyms and studios after weeks or months away, expecting to be at the same level they were in March. Health-care professionals say they are seeing more injuries from bad home-office setups than from bad fitness forays, but physical therapists in particular say they are seeing both—and occasionally some creative person will combine the two. Kelly Roberts Lane, a physical therapist in Mahtomedi, Minn., said she is hearing from many office workers who wanted to take advantage of the unexpected downtime to get in shape but then went too hard too fast. “We’re going from sedentary at work to a ton of movement because we can,” Lane said, “and we’re just not conditioned for it yet.”

‘A national disgrace’: 40,600 deaths tied to U.S. nursing homes (USA Today) Over the last three months, more than 40,600 long-term care residents and workers have died of COVID-19—about 40% of the nation’s death toll attributed to the coronavirus, according to an analysis of state data gathered by USA TODAY. That number eclipses a count released Monday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal government’s first attempt at a comprehensive tally. CMS said 25,923 residents had died, but its number only includes federally regulated nursing homes, not assisted living facilities. Even USA TODAY’s larger total—which amounts to roughly 450 COVID-19 elder care facility deaths per day—is an undercount. Seven states did not provide the number of deaths in long-term care. And New York, the state with the most resident deaths, doesn’t include those who had been transferred to hospitals in its count of long-term care fatalities.

Mexico begins lifting lockdown (NYT) Mexico on Monday lifted a 70-day coronavirus lockdown, but the federal and local governments replaced it with a contradictory patchwork of measures as the country struggled to contain the outbreak. The nation’s coronavirus czar, Hugo López-Gatell, took a hard line, saying that federal guidelines on opening businesses would barely budge. But several governors defied the federal government’s orders, allowing shops and hotels in their states to open at least partially.

U.K. and EU plan crunch talks (Foreign Policy) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are headed for talks this month aimed at resolving post-Brexit trade negotiations between the two sides, the Financial Times reports. It comes as the deadline for the United Kingdom to request a two-year extension approaches at the end of June. Johnson has remained adamant that the U.K. must conclude a deal before Dec. 31, but trade negotiations have recently been bogged down—first because of coronavirus-related delays and now due to disagreements over fisheries and a common regulatory framework.

Indian metropolis of Mumbai braces for rare cyclone (AP) A cyclone in the Arabian Sea is barreling toward India’s business capital Mumbai, threatening to deliver high winds and flooding to an area already struggling with the nation’s highest number of coronavirus infections and deaths.

Poor countries, skyrocketing debt (NYT) The low interest rates of the past decade led to an unlikely alliance between poor countries and international investors. Governments, state-owned companies and other businesses were able to raise money relatively cheaply to finance their growth, while investors searching for better returns than they were getting at home gobbled up that debt. As a result, developing countries owe record amounts of money to investors, governments and others outside their borders: $2.1 trillion for countries ranked as “low income” and “lower-middle income” by the World Bank, including Afghanistan, Chad, Bolivia and Zimbabwe. Now, the pandemic is fraying that alliance. Economic activity has ground to a halt. Governments are on the hook for billions of dollars in interest and principal repayments—payments suddenly made more expensive by volatility in the currency markets at the same time that public health costs are skyrocketing. And their investors are not in a forgiving mood. “This is really unlike anything we have seen,” said Mitu Gulati, a law professor at Duke University who studies the debts of countries, or sovereign debt. “The last time we had this many countries likely to go under at the same time was in the 1980s.” In Latin America, that period was known as La Década Perdida—The Lost Decade.

Hong Kong leader calls out ‘double standards’ on national security, points to U.S. (Reuters) Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accused foreign governments on Tuesday of “double standards” in their reaction to Beijing’s plans to impose national security laws on the city, pointing to anti-police brutality protests in the United States. In her first public appearance after Washington said it will remove Hong Kong’s preferential treatment in U.S. law in response to Beijing’s plans, Lam warned countries threatening actions against the city that they may hurt their own interests. “They are very concerned about their own national security, but on our national security...they look through tinted glasses,” Lam told a weekly news conference. “In the U.S., we see how the riots were being handled by the local governments, compared to the stance they adopted when almost the same riots happened in Hong Kong last year.”

Schools reopen as Singapore eases lockdown restrictions (Reuters) With temperatures checked, masks fitted, and hand sanitizers at the ready, many Singapore children returned to school on Tuesday after a novel coronavirus lockdown of nearly two months. With one of the highest coronavirus tallies in Asia, Singapore has said it will ease restrictions gradually, with the registry of marriages and some businesses, including pet salons, also reopening on Tuesday.

Ebola in Congo (NYT) Congo’s health minister confirmed the discovery of a new Ebola case in the country’s Équateur province, which last saw an outbreak of the highly deadly virus in 2018, ultimately killing 33 people there. The new outbreak in Équateur would be Congo’s 11th since the virus was first identified in 1976. Experimental vaccines have proved effective in preventing the spread of Ebola, but no cure has been found.

#headlines #news

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topfygad · 4 years

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An Art Trail in Melbourne

Packed with ever-changing urban art, Melbourne’s varied and vibrant cultural circuit is a treat for connoisseurs.

Australia Culture Prachi Joshi | POSTED ON: April 8, 2020

Apart from an extensive permanent collection, the National Gallery of Victoria regularly presents exciting special exhibitions. Photo Courtesy: Visit Victoria

Sydney may have the sights, but when it comes to art and culture, Melbourne takes the cake. Australia’s most happening city has many things to keep the culture enthusiast occupied, from world-class museums to groovy street art to a dedicated theatre district, and most of these are located in and around the Central Business District (CBD) area. Here’s how to take it all in.

Museum Beat

Founded in 1861, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is Australia’s oldest museum, but there’s nothing stuffy about it. When you enter the bluestone-clad rectangular building surrounded by a moat, the first thing you see is the stunning Leonard French stained glass ceiling. Inside, the gallery houses a collection of Australian, Asian, and international art, comprising 70,000 artworks that span several centuries. Apart from the permanent collection, NGV has an exciting calendar of special exhibitions, which have in the past included the likes of MC Escher, the Dutch graphic artist whose monochromatic prints and drawings were exhibited in an immersive environment designed by Japanese design studio Nendo.

The museum also runs the annual Melbourne Winter Masterpieces, which are large thematic exhibitions usually held between June and October. They include exhibits sourced from around the world and have showcased in the past the Terracotta Army from China, and masterworks from MoMA, New York. In addition, NGV hosts the annual Melbourne Design Week (typically in mid-March), which is a curation of exhibitions, tours, talks, and workshops that explore how design can shape everyday life. Designers present their ideas and solutions for tackling some of the world’s most urgent challenges, whether it’s dealing with e-waste or designing healthier cities. National Gallery of Victoria is open every day 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., general admission is free though some exhibitions are ticketed; ngv.vic.gov.au.

Nearby, under a soaring Eiffel Tower-like spire is Arts Centre Melbourne, the city’s leading venue for theatre, dance, music, and other performing arts. Apart from performances, the centre also puts up immersive exhibitions. Arts Centre Melbourne is open every day; artscentremelbourne.com.au.

Melbourne is the only city in the Asia-Pacific region where you can watch the award-winning spectacle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Photo Courtesy: Matthew Murphy

Living with art

Hop onto Tram 109 at Collins Street in CBD and hop off at Florence Avenue in suburban Kew, and you will find Melbourne’s best-kept secret—the Lyon Housemuseum. Designed by architect Corbett Lyon, this is a contemporary art museum, which just happens to be Lyon’s family home, which he shares with his partner Yueji and their two daughters. The Lyons have been collecting contemporary Australian art for nearly three decades and a walk through will show you paintings, sculptures, and installations seemingly casually strewn about their home. Think Patricia Piccinini’s baby-blue and pink Truck Babies in the living room, a multi-panel, technicolour painting of a cartoon home by Howard Arkley flanking the dining room, and Polly Borland’s portrait of the Queen in the music room, which also houses a giant pipe organ designed by Corbett. Visits are by appointment only on designated days of the year, and either Corbett or Yueji Lyon personally take you around.

In March 2019, the Lyons opened the Housemuseum Galleries next door, a series of huge, flexible exhibition spaces specifically designed for large-scale artworks and installations by both established and emerging Australian artists. Lyon Housemuseum is open by appointment; email [email protected]; AUD25/Rs1,200. Housemuseum Galleries are open Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; AUD12/Rs600; lyonhousemuseum.com.au.

Arts Centre Melbourne is Australia’s largest performing arts venue. Photo By: Meng Wee Siow/Shutterstock

Curtain call

Like London’s West End and New York’s Broadway, Melbourne’s East End Theatre District is the place to be, whether you’re looking to catch a blockbuster musical, a stand-up comedy gig or an experimental performance. The district is home to six historic theatres all within walking distance of each other: Princess on Spring Street, Comedy and Her Majesty’s on Exhibition Street, Athenaeum and Regent on Collins Street, and Forum on Flinders Street.

The most exciting recent opening at East End was of the award-winning production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Princess Theatre. The two-part play is a theatrical extravaganza unlike you’ve ever seen before. The Princess Theatre underwent a major refurbishment and is appropriately decked out with the Hogwarts insignia on the carpets, dragon light sconces, and other Potterverse aesthetic. The performance itself is spellbinding, complete with some jaw-dropping moments of magic that will have you asking, “How did they do that?” The two parts are meant to be watched in order either on the same day (matinee and evening) or on two consecutive evenings. Tickets get sold out fairly quickly, so book in advance (yonhousemuseum.com.au). Make a night out of it with pre-theatre drinks or dinner at the retro-chic Federici Bistro located in the theatre building.

Pick a lane

Take a wander down CBD’s laneways—tiny alleys choc-a-bloc with boutiques, cafés, restaurants, and bars—and it’s impossible to miss the abundance of street art. From giant murals and spray-painted graffiti to stencil art and paste-ups, the streets are a vibrant urban art gallery. Street art is legal in Melbourne provided the artist has the necessary permissions. The city also hosts street art festivals, so like in any self-respecting art gallery, there’s always something new. The cobblestoned Hosier Lane is where the street art movement exploded, so it’s naturally overrun with people looking for the perfect Instagram shot. Head to AC/DC Lane where artists pay tribute to musical legends or to Meyers Place with its massive urban jungle mural by Mike Makatron. The often overlooked Presgrave Place showcases quirky art including miniature dioramas, tiny sculptures, and whimsical framed photographs.

A ‘graffiti tolerance zone,’ Hosier Lane is a dizzying array of ever-changing colours, shapes, and characters. Photo By: Sunflowerey/Shutterstock

A good way to take in all the art is on a walking tour with Melbourne Street Art Tours. The tours are run by street artists so you not only discover art in hidden laneways but also get a low-down on the city’s street art culture, its evolution, and the different techniques involved. The tour ends at Blender Studios in West Melbourne, a collaborative gallery and studio space where you can meet and chat with practising street and fine artists, tour their studios, and check out experimental art. Tours run Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.; AUD69/Rs3,300; melbournestreettours.com.

To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller India and National Geographic Magazine, head here.

There are very few direct flights from India to Melbourne. Many airlines, including Singapore Airlines, offer good connections from several cities, with a layover in a Southeast Asian gateway city.

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eyesopen2019 · 5 years

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Beijing and the onset of Golden Week

We are experts at packing up and getting out the door for train/bus/plane rides now. We can do it in under an hour if we have to, but prefer at least an hour or so. Our routine is that I pack up Leon and Lani’s bags with them and they pack their small backpacks with their nicknacks, Kai collects all his belongings together and I help him fit it in his bag (I usually have to put all the spare items in his bag as he has the most extra space), Aiden and Hung do their own and then I do mine. Hung usually tidies up the apartment and gives everyone chores to do. It was stressful in the beginning, but we are definitely getting better at making it a seamless process.

We left our apartment in Xian early on Sept 19th, minus Aiden, and made it to the northern Beijing train station with plenty of time to spare for our 9.15am train. I went in search of coffee and came back to where Hung was waiting to find him pacing as they had been calling our train. We lined up to go through security along with 100’s of other people. It was a very slow process with everyone going through 2 scanners. People around us were becoming more and more panicked about getting through and everyone started pushing to get to front of the line. Luckily, we were towards the front and got through before the masses pushed. It was still very stressful with everyone pushing and shoving each other. Lani burst into tears as she got separated from the rest of us a few steps behind. It must be scary to be her height and in a crowd of pushing strangers. We made it through security after losing our scissors and deodorants to the guards but needed to run to get onboard the train and only just sat down as it left the station. Once onboard the 4.5hr journey was comfortable and we’d come prepared with our own snacks and drinks unlike last time. The train travels at 300km an hour for most of the way and is a very smooth ride. We arrived in Beijing just after lunch and made our way to our apartment by the metro. It was a bit tricky to find as it was in a residential area of the city. We eventually found it after a few messages to our host. Kai was our navigator for the 1.3km walk from the metro and he is very good at getting us where we need to go. This used to be Aiden’s job when he was travelling with us and he also did a great job – although he walked very fast with his long legs and we sometimes struggled to keep up!

Our first night we went out for a hotpot dinner and we all enjoyed it. The kids all loved cooking their own food, especially the meat, as well as concocting their own dipping sauces and were all very full by the end. We wandered back to our unit for a fairly early night after a long day.

The following day, Hung and I went out with Leon and Lani firstly to Wangfujing Street which is a massive pedestrian shopping street lined with huge malls and expensive shops. It was not really what we were interested in and we went down a sidestreet and found a dumpling restaurant which the kids enjoyed. We then got a bus to Nanluogu Xiang which is one of the most famous Hutongs (and near to where Mum, Kai and I stayed on our previous trip a couple of years ago). A hutong is a street or alley bounded on both sides by old buildings in courtyard compounds. It is how most ‘common’ Beijiners live now and how they did in the past. Leon and Lani enjoyed trying many different snacks and drinks while checking out the souvenir shops. Towards the end of the street I found an old house converted to a bar and we sat for a while for a drink while the kids played UNO. Kai had resting day and spent part of the day researching the sections of the Great Wall which are accessible from Beijing and deciding which one we should see. He also researched Tieneman Square and the history behind it.

On our second day in Beijing we all visited the Art Zone which is a collection of galleries, shops and cafes in an area of decommissioned communist factories outside the city. It was interesting to see a different side of Beijing than the temples, monuments and historical buildings. After lunch we made our way back to the area near Tieneman Square by bus as we wanted to go the one of the nearby parks. We found the whole area being shut down by thousands of police and army personnel. Our bus drove straight past Tieneman square and we saw it all set up for the military parade planned for the upcoming National holiday of Golden Week which was interesting to see including the massive grandstands and the giant picture of Chairman Mao. The bus didn’t stop and allow us to get off and we found ourselves stuck in the restricted zone. Many of the roads and pathways were blocked and the buses no longer running. We had to walk for several km’s along the allowed paths to get ourselves outside the zone to call a car to get home. It was amazing to see how the whole area had been shut down and movement restricted and the shear number of police on the street was very impressive. The police were not very friendly and looked at us with stoney faces as we tried to navigate our way out of the area without really knowing what was going on. The kids were all fascinated by the how and why of communism, what people thought about communism and why didn’t people or other governments didn’t change it. It is just so different to the way they live, and they could really feel a small part of how people here have to live.

Luckily, we have managed to find a way around the great Chinese Firewall with a VPN and again have access to the outside world and Netflix which made us all happy. It was so frustrating not being able to look things up whenever you wanted and kept forgetting why when the ‘this site is unavailable’ message keeps popping up.

Golden Week in China is a National Holiday celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It runs from October 1st to the 7th and this year is the 70th year from the founding date. During this week most people have time off work, schools are closed and many people travel all over the country for tourism and to visit family. We planned to leave Beijing before the holiday started as the city was going to be fairly shutdown for that week and movement limited.

We decided to have a home day on Sunday (22nd) as the city was still mostly shut down to allow for military drills and practice for the parades for the Golden Week. Lani and I spent a few hours in a nearby Starbucks with her watching Netflix and me writing this blog which was very productive and relaxing. Hung was at home doing homework with Leon and having a chess tournament with Kai and Leon. Lani and I wandered through the small shopping centre where the Starbucks was, and found several floors dedicated to Chinese mums and young children doing all sorts of activities – English, ballet, piano, basketball, gymnastics, swimming lessons, Lego, cooking and art classes. There was an area where the mums could have their hair or nails done or have a facial. It reminded me of when we lived in Singapore and most of the children would be tied up in extracurricular activities for all their spare time and made me so happy that I am not part of that culture.

After the weekend the city opened up a bit, with buses back up and running and roads opened but the Forbidden City and Tieneman square were closed. We spent time wandering around different Hutong areas and sampling various restaurants, but we (except Hung) were not really keen to see temples and palaces etc. We did visit the Jingshan Park which has a 360 degree view of the city and overlooks the Forbidden City which was as close as we got to it due to road closures. We also wandered through Beihai Park which is a large park with lake very close to the Forbidden City.

We found Peking duck at a restaurant near our house and had a special meal out together, even though Hung did think it was too pricey, but sometimes you have to splash out.

While in Beijing we enjoyed several hotpots with Hung and I and Lani having a fantastic fish one right near our apartment which was quite different to the others as you pick a fish as you walk in and then it is taken and cleaned then a lady comes back and adds it, plus lots of other yummy things, into your pot and puts the lid on for 15 mins and then takes the lids off and voila – a delicious meal. It also included some bread like damper which they slapped onto the wall of the hotpot to cook.

Around the corner from our Airbnb, Lani and I stumbled across ‘The Fish Café’ which really was a cute little local café filled with gorgeous cats. We spent several afternoons there with me enjoying a coffee and Lani enjoying playing with the cats. It was like the cat café’s in Japan only better as you didn’t have to pay!

On our last day in Beijing we booked a guided tour through Airbnb with a local called Roy. He drove us out, along with his driver, to a section of the wall called Huanghuacheng Great Wall which is lesser known than other ones nearby Beijing. Kai and I had previously been to Badaling and this was a totally different non-touristy experience. Roy picked us up about 8am and we drove the 2 hours to the wall with our driver. He spent the drive talking to us about the history of the Great Wall and answering our endless questions. When we arrived to the village we climbed a dirt track which was unsigned and found a path where you can climb onto the Great Wall. The area is managed by the local villagers and I think Roy paid them a small fee to allow us access. We had an amazing day climbing onto and walking a section of the Great Wall where we were mostly alone. We were there for several hours and only saw a handful of other people. Roy gave us lots of fantastic history and information about the wall and Leon kept him busy with his questions. It was quite a challenging walk with steep steps and some more ruined sections but we all managed without too much trouble and the views were incredible. Lani was surprised to see the wall so ‘ruined’ and thought it would be not so old. Hung, after been not too interested in going to see the wall, was really pleased he had experienced it and felt it was such a peaceful place and could really imagine what it was like when it was being used to defend China from various attackers. We were both really happy we’d spent the money and had this experience together.

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hellofastestnewsfan · 6 years

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Google employees around the globe walked out of their offices today to protest the way the company deals with sexual harassment. It was a well-meaning, but ultimately empty endeavor.

The walkout, which took place at 11 a.m. in all time zones, was prompted by a New York Times investigation last month that alleged that the company had mishandled sexual harassment for years to protect key executives. Google said that it has fired 48 employees for sexual harassment over the past two years.

But many of Google’s more than 85,000 employees want the company to do a lot more. One woman held a poster saying “What do I do at Google? I work hard every day so the company can afford $90,000,000 payouts to execs who sexually harass my coworkers.” Others held signs saying “Time’s up tech,” “Workers’ rights are women’s rights,” and “Not OK Google.” In Mountain View, California, more than 1,000 employees left their desks, according to CNN. In New York, walkout co-organizer Meredith Whittaker addressed the crowd via megaphone. “This is a movement,” she declared to cheers. “I’m here because what you read in the New York Times is a small sampling of the thousands of stories we all have ... the thousands of instances of abuse of power, discrimination, and harassment, and a pattern of unethical and thoughtless decision making that has marked this company for the last year ... This is it; time is up, and we’re just getting started.” The crowd subsequently broke into cheers of “Time is up.”

The first of many coordinated #GoogleWalkout protests has begun - this is at the firm’s office in Singapore. (Pic via https://t.co/h44RZYGGHV ) pic.twitter.com/QeFgmPbHnN

— Dave Lee (@DaveLeeBBC) November 1, 2018

In a Thursday op-ed in The Cut, the walkout’s organizers outlined their demands: “All employees and contract workers across the company deserve to be safe ... We demand an end to the sexual harassment, discrimination, and the systemic racism that fuel this destructive culture,” they wrote.

The group and its supporters are advocating for five key changes. They want an end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination; a commitment to end pay and opportunity inequity; a publicly disclosed sexual-harassment transparency report; a clear, uniform, and globally inclusive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously; and promotion of the chief diversity officer to answer directly to the CEO and make recommendations directly to the board of directors, along with the appointment of an employee representative to the board.

[Read: How women are harassed out of science]

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, sanctioned the walkout. In an email to employees on Tuesday, he wrote, “I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel. I feel it as well, and I am fully committed to making progress on an issue that has persisted for far too long in our society ... and, yes, here at Google, too ... In the meantime, Eileen [Naughton, the vice president of people operations] will make sure managers are aware of the activities planned for Thursday and that you have the support you need.”

We, Google employees and contractors, will walkout on November 1 at 11:10am to demand these five real changes. #googlewalkout pic.twitter.com/amgTxK3IYw

— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) November 1, 2018

Of course, not allowing the walkout would have only further sullied the company’s reputation, and taking a public stance against sexual harassment in a post #MeToo era is hardly revolutionary. If the company truly wants to address deeper issues of sexism and harassment, meeting the organizers’ list of demands would be a start. And if employees want to force the company’s hand, they need to go further than a company-sanctioned symbolic walkout.

Just weeks ago, Google was forced to drop out of the running for a $10 billion cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon after internal revolt. In August, employees also protested after it was revealed that Google was developing a censored search engine for China. In a letter speaking out against the proposed partnership, Google employees declared, “We urgently need more transparency, a seat at the table.”

Not ok, Google. Sign making is underway in NYC! #GoogleWalkout pic.twitter.com/hMLKL0LHOz

— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) November 1, 2018

Despite the fact that executives have repeatedly pledged to “do more” to work toward diversity, Google’s 2018 diversity report shows that the company is still overwhelmingly white and male. Without aggressive work from senior leaders, the corporate environment is unlikely to change. It’s telling that five out of the six organizers of today’s walkout were women and that the walkout originally began as a 200-person “women’s march.”

Mary Rinaldi, the founder of the Women’s Holding Company, a company aimed at helping female workers get legal advice, said that the PR attention the walkout received is a good thing, if interest can be sustained. “The #MeToo movement has uncovered all these things that have been happening in the shadows. It’s new for society to start accepting that this happens all the time; these aren’t one-off situations. The next step is to keep in the spotlight,” she said.

Risa B. Heller, a crisis-communication expert, is also optimistic about the walkout’s capacity to effect change. “These companies want to be a place where people want to work. They want people to be proud of working for them,” she said. “These kinds of actions certainly make the executives pay attention.”

But while a walkout may be a PR win, it isn’t really affecting Google’s business very much. “So far, #MeToo hasn’t really changed anything in the legal realm of many businesses. While we’ve gotten rid of a lot of terrible men, it hasn’t changed anything structurally,” said Ashish Prashar, a crisis-communication expert with experience in politics.

The Google walkout, in particular, has done a great job of raising awareness of company wrongdoings, but at the end of the day, Google is a for-profit corporation. The way to negotiate with a for-profit corporation isn’t through symbolism, but by jeopardizing profits.

“If women and men and anyone who supports these efforts had an actual strike, then you’d see lasting change,” Prashar said. “They need to say we’re not going to work unless these things actually change.” He also doesn’t see lasting changes coming from Google itself, or any other for-profit tech company for that matter. “It would be brilliant for businesses to do this [protect workers from sexual harassment and punish abusers], but to create a countrywide change, it’s going to require state and federal government to come in and change the laws too.”

from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/2P0Sc3r

#Blogger

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cleopatrarps · 6 years

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With handshakes, smiles and a thumbs up, Trump and Kim start…

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump shook hands and smiled cautiously as they met at their historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday, in which the two men will look for ways to end a nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula.

Should they succeed in making a diplomatic breakthrough, it could bring lasting change to the security landscape of Northeast Asia, like the visit of former U.S. President Richard Nixon to China in 1972 led to the transformation of China.

“Nice to meet you Mister President,” Kim said as he sat alongside Trump, against a backdrop of North Korean and U.S. flags, beaming more broadly as the U.S. president gave him a thumbs up. Trump said he was sure they would have a “terrific relationship”

With cameras of the world’s press trained on them, Trump and Kim displayed an initial atmosphere of bonhomie.

“I feel really great,” Trump said. “It’s gonna be a great discussion and I think tremendous success. I think it’s gonna be really successful and I think we will have a terrific relationship, I have no doubt.”

Kim replied: “Well, it was not easy to get here. The past has … placed many obstacles in our way but we overcame all

of them and we are here today.”

Both men looked serious as they got off their limousines for the summit at the Capella hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa, a resort island with luxury hotels, a casino, manmade beaches and a Universal Studios theme park.

But they were soon smiling and holding each other by the arm, before Trump guided Kim to the library where they held a meeting with only their interpreters.

Financial markets were largely steady in Asia and did not show any noticeable reaction to the start of the summit. The dollar was at a three-week high and the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares was largely unchanged from Monday.

The one-on-one between Trump and Kim will be followed by a wider meeting that includes officials from the two sides before the teams hold a working lunch.

While Trump and Kim search each other’s eyes and words for signs of trust or deceit, the rest of the world will be watching, hoping that somehow these two unpredictable leaders can find a way to defuse one of the planet’s most dangerous flashpoints.

OPTIMISM, CAUTION

In the hours before the summit began, Trump expressed optimism about prospects for the first-ever meeting of sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders, while U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo injected a note of caution whether Kim would prove to be sincere about his willingness to denuclearize.

Officials of the two sides held last-minute talks to lay the groundwork for the summit of the old foes, an event almost unthinkable just months ago, when they were exchanging insults and threats that raised fears of war.

Staff-level meetings between the United States and North Korea were going “well and quickly,” Trump said in a message on Twitter on Tuesday.

But he added: “In the end, that doesn’t matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!”

The combatants of the 1950-53 Korean War are technically still at war, as the conflict, in which millions of people died, was concluded only with a truce.

On Tuesday morning, Pompeo fed the mounting anticipation of diplomatic breakthrough, saying: “We’re ready for today.”

He earlier said the event should set the framework for “the hard work that will follow”, insisting that North Korea had to move toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

North Korea, however, has shown little appetite for surrendering nuclear weapons it considers vital to the survival of Kim’s dynastic rule.

Sanctions on North Korea would remain in place until that happened, Pompeo said on Monday. “If diplomacy does not move in the right direction … those measures will increase.”

He added: “North Korea has previously confirmed to us its willingness to denuclearize and we are eager to see if those words prove sincere.”

The White House said later that discussions with North Korea had moved “more quickly than expected” and Trump would leave Singapore on Tuesday night after the summit, rather than Wednesday, as scheduled earlier.

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un before their bilateral meeting at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Kim is due to leave on Tuesday afternoon, a source involved in the planning of his visit has said.

One of the world’s most reclusive leaders, Kim visited Singapore’s waterfront on Monday, smiling and waving to onlookers, adding to a more affable image that has emerged since his April summit with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

The Swiss-educated leader, who is believed to be 34, has not left his isolated country since taking office in 2011, apart from visiting China and the South Korean side of the border Demilitarised Zone, which separates the two Koreas.

‘CHANGED ERA’

Just a few months ago, Kim was an international pariah accused of ordering the killing of his uncle, a half-brother and scores of officials suspected of disloyalty.

The summit was part of a “changed era”, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said in its first comments on the event.

Talks would focus on “the issue of building a permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism on the Korean peninsula, the issue of realizing the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern”, it added.

Ahead of the summit, North Korea rejected unilateral nuclear disarmament, and KCNA’s reference to denuclearization of the peninsula has historically meant it wants the United States to remove a “nuclear umbrella” protecting South Korea and Japan.

Trump spoke to both South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday to discuss developments ahead of the summit.

For Kim, the authoritarian leader of a militarized state that has shunned contact with the outside world, the ultimate goal aside from security guarantees would be freedom and support to develop an impoverished economy.

For Trump, achieving a momentous foreign policy success would cement his place in history.

Many experts on North Korea remain skeptical Kim will ever completely abandon nuclear weapons, believing his engagement aims to get the United States to ease crippling sanctions.

“The process could be doomed before it begins,” said Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association, adding that a common understanding of denuclearization was key to success.

Slideshow (16 Images)

($1=1.3336 Singapore dollars)

Reporting by Christophe Van der Perre; Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim, Dewey Sim, Aradhana Aravindan, Himani Sarkar, Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel, Miral Fahmy, Joyce Lee, Grace Lee, Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom in Singapore and Christine Kim in Seoul; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Raju Gopalakrishnan

The post With handshakes, smiles and a thumbs up, Trump and Kim start… appeared first on World The News.

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dragnews · 6 years