News Stories

[TinyRedLeaf]

Indonesian minister tells Singapore to stop acting 'like a child'

Jakarta (June 20, Thu): An Indonesian minister today accused Singapore of acting "like a child" over choking smog from forest fires in Sumatra that has triggered the city-state's worst environmental crisis in more than a decade.

Mr Agung Laksono, the minister co-ordinating Indonesia's response, said: "Singapore should not be behaving like a child and making all this noise. This is not what the Indonesian nation wants. It is because of nature."

Singapore's air pollution index meanwhile hit a new record high, soaring to 371 at 1pm (5am GMT), well past the previous high of 321 set the night before.

Any reading above 300 is "hazardous" while a reading above 400 is deemed "life-threatening to ill and elderly people", according to guidelines published by Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA).

Mr Laksono also insisted that Indonesia did not want any financial assistance from Singapore to fight the fires unless it was a large amount.

"If it is only half a million, or one million dollars, we don't need that. We would rather use our own national budget," he said.

His comments came as an emergency meeting hosted by Indonesia's foreign ministry in Jakarta and attended by the NEA chief executive Andrew Tan, got under way.

At a news conference this afternoon, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong declined to respond to Mr Laksono's comments, saying he did not want to engage in "megaphone diplomacy".

He said his priority right now is to protect Singaporeans most at risk of health problems.

The Singapore government has set up a Haze Inter-Ministerial Committee to oversee the overall national effort to protect Singaporeans in practical and sustainable ways.

The immediate measures to be taken by the committee were laid out during the news conference.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, CHANNEL NEWS ASIA

[ganbaru]

Insight: Chinese whispers: Who wants to bet on the 'Nicaragua Canal'?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95J04F20130620
Kuwait sets sixth parliamentary election in seven years
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95J0PS20130620

[TinyRedLeaf]

A couple of opinion pieces from a while back provide some background on the root causes of Indonesia's perennial haze problem.

Where there's smoke...
Dr Aris Ananta for The Jakarta Post, Oct 26, 2010.

The most salient question is just why people continue to burn their own forest. Or, in broader terms: Why do our citizens ignore the destruction of their own environments?

Oftentimes people do not realise the cost of environment destruction, or they have been compensated (or bribed) by companies to make the destruction worthwhile. In many cases few people are aware of the fact that there are other options, and other employment opportunities.

A mechanism for enforcing the rules against environmental destruction is of course important, but without support from locals, there will always be a black market to destroy the environment, and companies will continue providing handsome compensation to the people who support their activities.

Haze: Jakarta to blame
Contributed to The Straits Times on Sept 13, 2012

The culprits are agri-businesses clearing the vast tracts of forest and peat land on their holdings by illegal burning.

It is no coincidence that the onset of the haze began in the late 1990s, when palm oil plantations were expanding; research has shown that Sumatra lost almost 75 per cent of its lowland forests between 1995 and 2007.

Massive burning is against Indonesian law and the reason it is not enforced is plain: corruption.

The heart of the haze menace lies in Jakarta, not in Sumatra or Kalimantan where the people are also victims. An official reply may in all likelihood trot out a favourite retort blaming a clutch of Malaysia- and Singapore-registered firms — "Big Agri" — that own vast plantations in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Even so, so what? Indonesian laws are being broken on Indonesian territory, and not in Malaysia or Singapore. How does the origin of a company's registration prevent enforcement in Indonesia?

[Ridwan]

Even so, so what? Indonesian laws are being broken on Indonesian territory, and not in Malaysia or Singapore. How does the origin of a company's registration prevent enforcement in Indonesia?

This is true. One thing to note though that, while Singapore and Malaysia can't possibly be held responsible for the burning, it's quite expected of Indonesia giving them middle finger since a lot of the profits do flow their way, which is yet another entirely different worm can we're having on the plate.

[KiraYamatoFan]

Actor James Gandolfini dies of heart attack at age 51.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1377435

That really came out of nowhere when it was announced yesterday. Of course, people will mostly remember him as Tony Soprano. However, I still remember his first noticeable performance (for me) in Crimson Tide as Lt. Bobby Dougherty in particular scenes alongside Gene Hackman, Matt Craven and a certain Viggo Mortensen.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Indonesian minister tells Singapore to stop acting 'like a child'

We should just ask how do Beijing people get by everyday...

Come to think of it, isn't smog in most major cities about as bad or worse than this anyway?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Indonesian minister tells Singapore to stop acting 'like a child'

This should make for some good show. *pops popcorn*

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Cosmic Eagle

We should just ask how do Beijing people get by everyday...

Perri Air

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2012/09/1...alls-predicted

[AnimeFan188]

"Here's a sign of the times. Canada has made wearing a mask at a protest a
crime.

Why did they do this? It makes it easier for police to ID people using CCTV and
social media photos after a protest occurs.

It also makes it easier to assemble a database of facial portraits, that can be run
through rapidly improving facial recognition software, so everyone involved in the
protest can be IDed and the information stored in a database, for use in the
future."

"This is why Canada would make wearing mask in public a crime that could put you
behind bars for up to a decade. Incidentally, that's more time than any bankster
got for defrauding us of trillions of $$ in 2008!!"

See:

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/....html#comments

[KiraYamatoFan]

With all the crap that happened in last year's student protests, many of those animals escaped because they wore masks while acting as professional property destroyers. Anything to get rid of those scumbags is fine to me.

[ganbaru]

Speaking of protest: Hundreds of thousands of protesters march in Brazil
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95J15020130621

[Shay]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Speaking of protest: Hundreds of thousands of protesters march in Brazil
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95J15020130621

Up to a million was reported here in the UK. As a fan of football I fear for the World Cup. But I am also sick of people being screwed over by their governments all around the world, so power to the people!!!!!

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Speaking of protest: Hundreds of thousands of protesters march in Brazil
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95J15020130621

About time. There needs to be a compromise between being able to provide for the people and hosting world events.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

Perri Air

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2012/09/1...alls-predicted

"Good Person Chen Guangbiao”... Is that really the name? That is extremely funny.

[Infinite Zenith]

Major flooding in Alberta, Canada

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle12738046/

[ganbaru]

China denounces Philippines for 'illegal occupation' of reef
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95K0E920130621

[KiraYamatoFan]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

About time. There needs to be a compromise between being able to provide for the people and hosting world events.

Pretty much this. I already fell off my chair when they gave the 2016 Olympics to Brazil only 2 years after the World Cup. This is just beyond ridiculous for a country that has not come out of the woods yet in terms of solving its poverty problems in many places.

Considering how the Athens Olympics brought up a massive bill that is still killing Greece up to this day, I hope IOC/FIFA will no longer give the World Cup or the Olympics to countries which are very doubtful in their ability to host the events and pay the bill without making their economy collapse.

For instance, one city out of Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid will be named as host the 2020 Olympics. If it was for me, Istanbul (political problems) and Madrid (quite the analogy with Athens/Greece) should be out of contention in the first round of voting on September 7.

Originally Posted by ganbaru

China denounces Philippines for 'illegal occupation' of reef
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95K0E920130621

Here we go again (). Glad to see the Philippines' answer sounding along the tune of 'This It How It Feels' by The Inspiral Carpets when China has no friends in politics:

This is how it feels to be lonely
This is how it feels to be small
This is how it feels when your word
Means nothing at all
Nothing at all

Seriously, they better take care of their own problems in-borders rather than put their noses outside.

[Seitsuki]

Who wouldn't want it? It's Ren'ai reef! It's the paradise of bishoujos on earth!!

[Sugetsu]

This news report on the state of Maine will make your jaw drop and your brain explode. If you thought that corruption is only predominant in 3rd world countries then think again. The corruption in the US is just as bad if not worse; cases like such as this one are particularly repulsive.

[ganbaru]

British spy agency taps cables, shares with NSA: Guardian
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...95K0ZV20130621

FAA moving toward easing electronic device use
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...06-21-17-48-25