The conservative city state of Singapore has opened two casinos in the hopes of attracting tourists. But criticism of the projects remain. 101 East looks at the debate over casinos in Singapore.
One of the casinos is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. The other is owned by Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa.
Defence officials in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have increased sea and air patrols in the Straits of Malacca, after Singapore authorities warned that attacks were being planned in the area’s shipping lanes.
The latest threat was said to target an oil tanker, but few details have been given.
The Malacca Strait is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Half the world’s oil is transported through it and hundreds of vessels pass through every day.
The shipping route is highly vulnerable, as a bottleneck of just 2.7km leaves little room for ships to manoeuvre or gather speed.
According to security analysts, the region is well-placed to detect and deter any threat, but doubts remain over whether maritime authorities would be able to thwart an attack without air and land support.
The Mekong, one of the world’s major rivers, starting in Tibet and flowing through south China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, provides sustenance through irrigation and fishing to those living in its basin. But it also provides hydroelectric power through dams, three of which were built in China and with more planned. And it is precisely these dams that are now threatening the water supply, the livelihood of those living downstream, and the relations between China and its southern neighbors.
Thailand’s government is now attempting to deal with record-low water levels in the Mekong, a river which supports the livelihoods of about 60 million people in Southeast Asia. Many along the river blame the problem on China, which has planned eight hydroelectric dams on the upper Mekong, four of which have already been built.
In 1986, China began to build eight hydroelectric dams and two reservoirs on the waterway in Yunnan province, where the Lancang tributary traverses more than 1,000 kilometres.
The first dam at Manwan, was finished in June 1995. The second, at Dachaoshan, began in August 1997 and will be completed in 2003. The 2.7 billion U.S. dollar Xiaowan project, with a total installed generating capacity of 4.2 million kilowatts, is scheduled to be completed in 2012.
Xiaowan should further affect the level of fish stocks in Cambodia and water supply for Vietnam’s rice fields. But China contends controlling the water flow will prevent the adverse effects of erosion caused by the Mekong’s flooding cycle and will supply renewable energy. Winning the debate or coming to a workable compromise is further complicated by China’s refusal to join the Mekong River Commission, an inter-government agency whose members include the four of the downstream countries. And though the global financial crisis has put on hold other dams being planned by the downstream countries, China is moving ahead with its plans.
A new study has concluded that a volcanic eruption of mud in Indonesia’s east Java was caused by human error in a mining operation. An international team of scientists says there is no doubt that drilling at a nearby gas well weakened rock formations, triggering the crisis.
The company responsible for the drilling, Lapindo Brantas, claims the problem was caused by an earthquake. Lapindo Brantas, however, continues to shun its responsibility.
Al Jazeera’s 101 East looks at the basics of carbon trading and its possible impact on SE Asia’s vanishing tropical forests.
Religious tensions are rising in Malaysia following a High Court ruling which declared non-Muslims could use the Arabic word ‘Allah’ when referring to God.
Here are the thoughts of one Malay writer, Art Harum writing in The Malay Insider:
The controversy surrounding the usage of “Allah” by non-Muslims, particularly the Christians, in Malaysia continues to rage even as at the time of writing this article. The Malaysian Insider just reported that a ninth church — this time in Kota Tinggi, Johore — had been vandalised.
The year 2009 was about to end when Yang Ariff Justice Lau Bee Lan held that the word “Allah” may be used by the Herald in its newspaper. That decision has almost redefined the phrase “ending the year with a bang.”
Viewed with the benefit of hindsight, there were of course political opportunity loss on the part of the Barisan Nasional. In a land where everything from the slaughtering of cows for distribution to the poor and needy to the building of a free trade zone are perfect fodders for politics, the Allah issue was never far from being one as well.
In the last half of 2009, I actually thought that the Prime Minister was in the political driving seat. He was in control. His 1 Malaysia concept and sloganeering, although leaving much to be desired from the view point of the urbanites, was gaining support from the heartland. The Chinese and Indian supports were slowly coming back to him and his government despite the impotence and lameness of the two most important protagonists which were supposed to represent the two races within the government, namely the MCA and MIC respectively.
The public relation machinations of the government were working full steam and in overdrive. The Prime Minister and his men were all over the place, winning nods of approvals from the people on the street.
In the meantime, power base in Umno was being broaden. And his hard line approach towards the opposition was well received within the Umno circle, especially at the grass root level. The Perak power grab, orchestrated and executed by him, although crude and almost unrefined, served to cement the belief among Umno members that in Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Umno has a powerful leader who is not afraid to use his power for the benefit of Umno. Gone were the days of the lembik leadership that they had under the stewardship of Tun Abdullah Badawi.
And so, despite various issues ranging from Teoh Beng Hock’s death at the MACC state head office to the PKFZ debacle, the Prime Minister was looking good.
Here is the Friday, January 8th, 2010 edition of what’s making news and interesting reads from around the world. Also please note that off to the left there are two widgets with updates on news from Asia and the world in a separate page: Around Asia & Around the World New Feeds.
Lashkar-e-Taiba Attack in Jammu & Kashmir
Indian authorities have killed one Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist in a protracted 22-hour gun battle in Jammu & Kashmir. As many as ten others, including one Indian policeman, have been injured in the second incident in as many days in the restive Indian state. The story in the Times of India. Lashkar-e-Taiba was responsible for the attack on Mumbai in November 2008 and the organization has deep ties to Pakistan’s ISI.
Argentina Central Bank President Removed By Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
A week-long stand-off between Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Martin Redrado, the President of Central Bank of Argentina, grew worse on Thursday. Issuing a decree, President Fernández de Kirchner removed Mr. Redrado from his post citing “misconduct and dereliction of duty by a public servant.” Earlier this week, President Fernández de Kirchner announced she had accepted Redrado’s resignation after the bank chief declined to support a plan to use $6.5 billion in reserves to pay the country’s debt. Redrado retorted that he had not resigned, and that only the Congress, not the president, could remove him. Opposition politicians advised Redrado not to abide by the decree and to seek an injunction to protect his rights. The move is likely to provoke a showdown between the President and the Argentine Congress. More from Bloomberg.
Turkmenistan Gas and an Emerging Economic Axis in Central Asia
The Asia Times reports how Russia, China and Iran are quietly tapping the vast natural gas in Turkmenistan for their benefit and in the process cementing a new economic axis in Central Asia.
We are witnessing a new pattern of energy cooperation at the regional level that dispenses with Big Oil. Russia traditionally takes the lead. China and Iran follow the example. Russia, Iran and Turkmenistan hold respectively the world’s largest, second-largest and fourth-largest gas reserves. And China will be consumer par excellence in this century. The matter is of profound consequence to the US global strategy.
The Turkmen-Iranian pipeline mocks the US’s Iran policy. The US is threatening Iran with new sanctions and claims Tehran is “increasingly isolated”. But Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s presidential jet winds its way through a Central Asian tour and lands in Ashgabat for a red-carpet welcome by his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, and a new economic axis emerges. Washington’s coercive diplomacy hasn’t worked. Turkmenistan, with a gross domestic product of US$18.3 billion, defied the sole superpower (GDP of $14.2 trillion) – and, worse still, made it look routine.
Seven Militants Killed in Karachi
Seven suspected militants were killed on Friday when explosives being stored in a hideout in the Pakistani city of Karachi were apparently detonated accidentally according to police in Pakistan. The full story from Al Jazeera.
Scores Dead in Tribal Clashes in South Sudan
At least 139 people have been killed in tribal clashes following a cattle raid in southern Sudan, local government officials said. Armed attackers from the Nuer tribe raided Dinka cattle herders in the remote Tonj area in Warrap state on Saturday, seizing 5,000 animals. Violence between the Nuer and Dinka tribes has been increasing in recent weeks ahead of the independence referendum scheduled for next year. More from Al Jazeera.
Religious Violence Flares in Malaysia
Two Malaysian churches have been attacked, leaving one badly damaged, in an escalating dispute over the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims. From the Jakarta Post:
The attacks sharply escalated tensions in the Muslim-majority country ahead of planned protests later Friday against a Kuala Lumpur High Court verdict which struck down a 3-year-old ban on non-Muslims using “Allah” in their literature.
The Dec. 31 court decision incensed many Muslims, who see it as a threat to their religion. Hateful comments and threats against Christians have been posted widely on the Internet, but this is the first time the controversy has turned destructive.
The ruling was on a petition by the Herald, the main publication of Malaysia’s Roman Catholic Church, which uses the word Allah in its Malay-language edition.
Only the first floor office in the three-story Metro Tabernacle Church was destroyed in the pre-dawn blaze, said Kevin Ang, a spokesman for the Protestant church. The worship areas on the upper two floors were undamaged and there were no injuries.
He quoted a witness as saying she saw three or four men on a motorcycle break the main glass front of the church and throw a gasoline bomb inside. The church occupies a corner plot in a row of shops in Desa Melawati, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.
Separately, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the compound of a Roman Catholic church before dawn Friday but caused no damage or injuries, said the Rev. Lawrence Andrew, the editor of the Herald.
Andrew said most churches have employed extra security guards amid the protest threats. “Most churches are taking precautions. They are aware it may just blow up,” he said.
The government has appealed the court verdict and the High Court has suspended its decision’s implementation until the appeal is heard.
Muslims argue that “Allah” is exclusive to Islam, and its use by Christians would confuse Muslims and tempt them to convert to Christianity.
One of the political events anticipated in 2010 is the elections promised by Myanmar’s military government. The polls scheduled to take place later this year would be the first since 1990.
But while the military rulers say people will be allowed to have their say, many remain sceptical that the polls will pave the way to democracy and change.
An experimental vaccine being tested in Thailand has shown signs of protecting people from infection by the virus that causes AIDS.
US military and Thai health officials announced in Bangkok that for the first time ever, an experimental vaccine prevented infection from the HIV virus. Thai authorities say the treatment given to healthy volunteers cut the number of expected HIV infections by almost a third.
“It is found that the vaccine has 31.2 per cent efficacy in reducing the risk of HIV infection,” Withaya Kaewparadai, the Thai health minister, said.
The world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial included more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand.
It is the first time any HIV vaccine has even partially succeeded in a clinical trial.
Every day, 7,500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV. Scientists say the study used strains of HIV common in Thailand. Whether such a vaccine would work against strains in the US or Africa is unknown.
Al Jazeera’s Aela Callan reports from Bangkok.
Few prognosticators predicted the sub-prime collapse, and even fewer economists forecasted that global demand would fall so dramatically in the wake of the financial crisis.
What are the systemic risks, industry dynamics and normative changes affecting global demand today?
The Panelists:
-David Dollar, Economic and Financial Emissary to the People’s Republic of China, US Department of the Treasury; Global Agenda Council on Trade
-Caio Koch-Weser, Vice-Chairman, Deutsche Bank Group, Deutsche Bank, United Kingdom
-Ilian Mihov, Professor of Economics, Novartis Chaired Professor of Management and the Environment, INSEAD, Singapore
-Vincent Van Quickenborne, Minister of Economy and Reform of Belgium
-Wu Ying, General Partner, CTC Capital, People’s Republic of China
Chaired by
Ian A. Goldin, Director, 21st Century School, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Global Agenda Council on Global Institutional Governance