May 12, 2013
May 9, 2013
May 8, 2013
NGOs Barred From Meeting Villagers Relocated for Lao Power Plant
RFA English
Authorities in northern Laos have barred non-governmental organizations from meeting with villagers relocated to make way for a Thai-backed, lignite-fired power plant under construction in Xayaburi province, according to a representative from a foreign NGO.
More than 2,000 villagers from 450 families in Xayaburi’s Hongsa district had to make way for the U.S. $4 billion project, a joint venture between two Thai electricity companies and the Lao Holding State Enterprise, a wholly Lao government-owned company.
NGOs and rights groups say they want to provide information to the villagers and listen to any grievances they have about the Hongsa Lignite-Fired Power Plant, which will burn the coal-like fuel to produce electricity mostly for export to Thailand.
Banned Vietnamese Buddhist Group's Pagoda Blockaded
Banned Vietnamese Buddhist Group's Pagoda Blockaded
Security forces in southern Vietnam surrounded the pagoda of a banned Buddhist group over the weekend and barred monks from leaving the monastery, in the latest crackdown on the group in the one-party communist state.
The blockade of the Giac Hoa Pagoda belonging to the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in Ho Chi Minh City came as activists gathered in parks in cities across the country to stage “picnic” demonstrations calling for protection of human rights.
Some 50 security personnel including police and plainclothes agents surrounded the pagoda on Sunday, the Paris-based UBCV-affiliated International Buddhist Information Bureau rights group said in a statement Tuesday.
That morning, the head of the pagoda Thich Vien Hy and UBCV deputy leader Thich Vien Dinh were pushed back inside by a “gang” of plainclothes agents who surrounded their car when they tried to leave the monastery, IBIB said.
The two were going to another monastery to visit UBCV patriarch Thich Quang Do, who has called on followers to support public protests in Vietnam’s cities in recent years.
Security forces in southern Vietnam surrounded the pagoda of a banned Buddhist group over the weekend and barred monks from leaving the monastery, in the latest crackdown on the group in the one-party communist state.
The blockade of the Giac Hoa Pagoda belonging to the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) in Ho Chi Minh City came as activists gathered in parks in cities across the country to stage “picnic” demonstrations calling for protection of human rights.
Some 50 security personnel including police and plainclothes agents surrounded the pagoda on Sunday, the Paris-based UBCV-affiliated International Buddhist Information Bureau rights group said in a statement Tuesday.
That morning, the head of the pagoda Thich Vien Hy and UBCV deputy leader Thich Vien Dinh were pushed back inside by a “gang” of plainclothes agents who surrounded their car when they tried to leave the monastery, IBIB said.
The two were going to another monastery to visit UBCV patriarch Thich Quang Do, who has called on followers to support public protests in Vietnam’s cities in recent years.
Official Google Blog - Google Translate Adds More Languages
Official Google Blog
If you took a quick snapshot of content available on the web, you might think that everyone around the world spoke English, Chinese, French or Spanish. But in fact, millions of people around the world speak an incredible array of languages that currently have a small presence across the web.
Google Translate helps bridge the divide between the content available online and people’s ability to access that information. Starting today, you can translate another five languages using Google, which combined are spoken by more than 183 million people around the globe:
With the exception of Bosnian, these new languages are “alpha,” meaning while the quality isn’t perfect, we will continue to test and improve them over time.
If you took a quick snapshot of content available on the web, you might think that everyone around the world spoke English, Chinese, French or Spanish. But in fact, millions of people around the world speak an incredible array of languages that currently have a small presence across the web.
Google Translate helps bridge the divide between the content available online and people’s ability to access that information. Starting today, you can translate another five languages using Google, which combined are spoken by more than 183 million people around the globe:
- Bosnian is an official language in Bosnia and Herzegovina that’s also spoken in regions of neighboring countries and by diaspora communities around the world.
- Cebuano is one of the languages spoken in the Philippines, predominantly in the middle (Visayas) and southern (Mindanao) regions of the nation.
- You can hear the Hmong language spoken in many countries across the world, including China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and throughout the United States.
- Javanese is the second most-spoken language in Indonesia (behind Indonesian), with 83 million native speakers.
- Marathi is spoken in India and has 73 million native speakers. Google Translate already supports several other Indian languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
With the exception of Bosnian, these new languages are “alpha,” meaning while the quality isn’t perfect, we will continue to test and improve them over time.
Apr 17, 2013
Apr 12, 2013
Apr 11, 2013
For Malaysia: Bringing Google Apps and Chromebooks to the classroom
For Malaysia: Bringing Google Apps and Chromebooks to the classroom: As a parent of three kids, I have the same aspirations as many other parents and educators—to provide them with the best opportunities to learn and discover their passions. For many students, the web has become an incredible resource for the classroom, offering tools to work collaboratively, share and research. School systems of all sizes—from a single primary school to an entire country such as the Philippines—have “Gone Google” in their schools and embraced the web to transform education.
Today the country of Malaysia is going a step further by adopting Google Apps for 10 million students, teachers and parents. As part of this initiative they are also deploying Chromebooks to primary and secondary schools nationwide. These efforts to integrate the web are a central part of a national plan (PDF) to reform its educational system.
To deploy technology across a nationwide school system, computers need to be simple, manageable and secure. Chromebooks are ideal for learning and sharing in the classroom—there’s nothing complicated to learn, they boot up in seconds and have virus protection built in. They also offer easy setup and deployment, which means they’re ready to go the moment a student opens the lid and logs in. And with reduced overhead costs, Chromebooks are a cost-efficient option* to deploy technology at scale.
To date, more than 3,000 schools worldwide, from Edina, Minnesota to Point England, New Zealand, have deployed Chromebooks to improve attendance and graduation rates, make learning more fun and enable students to take more ownership for their learning.
The web gives our children and students new opportunities to access the world’s information and work collaboratively. We look forward to working with national and regional leaders to make the most of the web with Google Apps and Chromebooks and help them provide the best opportunities to every student.
Posted by Felix Lin, Director of Product Management
*In research sponsored by Google, research firm IDC found that Chromebooks yield three-year cost of ownership savings of $1,135 per device compared to traditional PCs or tablets, require 69% fewer hours to deploy and 92% fewer hours to manage. Learn more.
Today the country of Malaysia is going a step further by adopting Google Apps for 10 million students, teachers and parents. As part of this initiative they are also deploying Chromebooks to primary and secondary schools nationwide. These efforts to integrate the web are a central part of a national plan (PDF) to reform its educational system.
To deploy technology across a nationwide school system, computers need to be simple, manageable and secure. Chromebooks are ideal for learning and sharing in the classroom—there’s nothing complicated to learn, they boot up in seconds and have virus protection built in. They also offer easy setup and deployment, which means they’re ready to go the moment a student opens the lid and logs in. And with reduced overhead costs, Chromebooks are a cost-efficient option* to deploy technology at scale.
To date, more than 3,000 schools worldwide, from Edina, Minnesota to Point England, New Zealand, have deployed Chromebooks to improve attendance and graduation rates, make learning more fun and enable students to take more ownership for their learning.
The web gives our children and students new opportunities to access the world’s information and work collaboratively. We look forward to working with national and regional leaders to make the most of the web with Google Apps and Chromebooks and help them provide the best opportunities to every student.
Posted by Felix Lin, Director of Product Management
*In research sponsored by Google, research firm IDC found that Chromebooks yield three-year cost of ownership savings of $1,135 per device compared to traditional PCs or tablets, require 69% fewer hours to deploy and 92% fewer hours to manage. Learn more.
Apr 3, 2013
Disappearing Trades in Singapore
Disappearing Trades in Singapore:
By: Cher Tan
Modernization in Singapore has been exponentially rapid in the past two decades. The turn of the millennium – and thusly, the burgeoning need to live up to its reputation of being a first-world superpower – has resulted in an automatic culling of what are deemed relics of the past. The ubiquitous sidewalk cobbler that was once a fixture of the 80s and 90s have made way for boutique cobblers situated in air-conditioned shoe shops in shopping malls. The ice-cream vendor on a motorbike selling ice-cream out of his mobile freezer has all but disappeared, save for a select few situated in various parts of the CBD. Latitudes looks at some of these vanishing cultural traditions.
These vendors operate via bicycle or motorcycles, strapped to a huge container holding various ice-cream. The makeshift freezer allows these vendors to move from one place to another easily, with cheap overheads as they would only sell medium- to low-quality ice-cream. Their arrival would usually be signalled by an 8-bit melody or the ringing of bells, and in the past would easily be situated in neighbourhood areas, especially outside schools after-hours. Of recent times however, they can only be found in tourist areas, existing only for novelty’s sake.
Once a common sight in Singapore’s back alleys, they are now a dying breed. With only 4 street barbers believed to be the last, it appears that the trade will soon be relegated to history after 70 years. With their makeshift awnings and distinctive reclining chairs, these street barbers would do brisk business offering fuss-free trims. For some time, they also situated their mobile barbers on the corridors of HDB estates, crying out “cut hair” in various dialects. Nowadays, only a loyal customer would know exactly where these barbers are located, as their clientele are mostly made up of elderly men and migrant workers. In recent times, the price difference of $2 compared to new franchise neighbourhood salons have pushed these street barbers to make their businesses redundant.
Wayang, a Malay word meaning “a theatrical performance employing puppets or human dancers”, commonly refers to Chinese street opera in Singapore, though it is also used in reference to other forms of opera such as wayang kulit. In Mandarin, Chinese street opera is known as jiexi (“street show”). This traditional Chinese dramatic form was brought to Singapore by immigrants from China during the 19th century as part of their religious rites. Since then, the popularity of wayang has waxed and waned, in no small part due to modern developments. Wayang is now considered an icon of Chinese heritage and culture, and is performed by both professional and amateur opera troupes, mostly during religious festivals or ceremonies, for example the Hungry Ghost Festival which occurs every year for the whole of the Lunar Chinese 7th Month (usually in August).
A modern form of the “rag-and-bone” man, the karung guni man has seen its time. Visiting residences from door-to-door, the industry was made highly profitable from the 70s to the 90s due to the fact that there would be hundreds of apartment units situated in one typical public housing HDB block, with often a dozen blocks in each housing estate. These people can be distinguished by their use of horns or hand bell when making their rounds. Depending on the person, a nominal fee is paid for the quantity of newspapers or unwanted items sold. As of the 21st century, the karung guni have faced competition from government recycling initiatives and have practically been made obsolete as a result.
By: Cher Tan
Modernization in Singapore has been exponentially rapid in the past two decades. The turn of the millennium – and thusly, the burgeoning need to live up to its reputation of being a first-world superpower – has resulted in an automatic culling of what are deemed relics of the past. The ubiquitous sidewalk cobbler that was once a fixture of the 80s and 90s have made way for boutique cobblers situated in air-conditioned shoe shops in shopping malls. The ice-cream vendor on a motorbike selling ice-cream out of his mobile freezer has all but disappeared, save for a select few situated in various parts of the CBD. Latitudes looks at some of these vanishing cultural traditions.
Mobile ice-cream vendor
These vendors operate via bicycle or motorcycles, strapped to a huge container holding various ice-cream. The makeshift freezer allows these vendors to move from one place to another easily, with cheap overheads as they would only sell medium- to low-quality ice-cream. Their arrival would usually be signalled by an 8-bit melody or the ringing of bells, and in the past would easily be situated in neighbourhood areas, especially outside schools after-hours. Of recent times however, they can only be found in tourist areas, existing only for novelty’s sake.
Alleyway barber
Once a common sight in Singapore’s back alleys, they are now a dying breed. With only 4 street barbers believed to be the last, it appears that the trade will soon be relegated to history after 70 years. With their makeshift awnings and distinctive reclining chairs, these street barbers would do brisk business offering fuss-free trims. For some time, they also situated their mobile barbers on the corridors of HDB estates, crying out “cut hair” in various dialects. Nowadays, only a loyal customer would know exactly where these barbers are located, as their clientele are mostly made up of elderly men and migrant workers. In recent times, the price difference of $2 compared to new franchise neighbourhood salons have pushed these street barbers to make their businesses redundant.
Street wayang
Wayang, a Malay word meaning “a theatrical performance employing puppets or human dancers”, commonly refers to Chinese street opera in Singapore, though it is also used in reference to other forms of opera such as wayang kulit. In Mandarin, Chinese street opera is known as jiexi (“street show”). This traditional Chinese dramatic form was brought to Singapore by immigrants from China during the 19th century as part of their religious rites. Since then, the popularity of wayang has waxed and waned, in no small part due to modern developments. Wayang is now considered an icon of Chinese heritage and culture, and is performed by both professional and amateur opera troupes, mostly during religious festivals or ceremonies, for example the Hungry Ghost Festival which occurs every year for the whole of the Lunar Chinese 7th Month (usually in August).
“Karung guni”
A modern form of the “rag-and-bone” man, the karung guni man has seen its time. Visiting residences from door-to-door, the industry was made highly profitable from the 70s to the 90s due to the fact that there would be hundreds of apartment units situated in one typical public housing HDB block, with often a dozen blocks in each housing estate. These people can be distinguished by their use of horns or hand bell when making their rounds. Depending on the person, a nominal fee is paid for the quantity of newspapers or unwanted items sold. As of the 21st century, the karung guni have faced competition from government recycling initiatives and have practically been made obsolete as a result.
Apr 2, 2013
Mar 27, 2013
Mar 23, 2013
Twitter Archive gets support for 12 new languages, including Japanese, Russian and Chinese
Twitter Archive gets support for 12 new languages, including Japanese, Russian and Chinese: 
Twitter has announced archive support for 12 new languages: Danish, Filipino, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Urdu.
The company also added a batch of 12 more languages earlier this month: Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, & Spanish.
Twitter first began allowing users to download a complete archive of their tweets last December after promising the feature earlier in the year. However, it was originally only available to users who had marked their language as English. Counting today’s latest batch, a total of 25 languages are supported for archiving.
If you’re new to this, head to your account settings on Twitter.com and request your archive. Twitter will take a few minutes to compile and then email the results to you. The archive arrives as a package that includes an HTML browser interface file and both CSV and JSON exports of your posts.
Photo credit: KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/Getty Images
Twitter has announced archive support for 12 new languages: Danish, Filipino, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Urdu.
The company also added a batch of 12 more languages earlier this month: Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, & Spanish.
Twitter first began allowing users to download a complete archive of their tweets last December after promising the feature earlier in the year. However, it was originally only available to users who had marked their language as English. Counting today’s latest batch, a total of 25 languages are supported for archiving.
If you’re new to this, head to your account settings on Twitter.com and request your archive. Twitter will take a few minutes to compile and then email the results to you. The archive arrives as a package that includes an HTML browser interface file and both CSV and JSON exports of your posts.
Photo credit: KIMIHIRO HOSHINO/AFP/Getty Images
Mar 21, 2013
China Scores Poorly in Global Democracy Index
China Scores Poorly in Global Democracy Index: 
In a year of little progress for democracy around the world, China has once more ranked among the lowest on a 2012 global democracy index, while Hong Kong moved up a few places based on rising levels of public participation in politics.
The index, published annually by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), ranked the People's Republic of China 142nd out of 165 independent states and two territories, among the "authoritarian regime" category.
By contrast, Hong Kong moved upwards to 63rd place, putting it in the "flawed democracy" category along with France.
The index calculates a country's ranking on a scale of 0 to 10, including 60 separate measures that include electoral process and pluralism, levels of political participation, civil liberties and government performance.
Britain and the United States were ranked at the lower end of the 25 "full democracies" that scored between 8 and 10 points.
A score lower than 4 puts a country into the "authoritarian regime" category.
China moved up one position compared with the 2011 index, behind Yemen and Belarus but ranking higher than Vietnam and the Republic of Congo.
Lost years
Guangzhou-based rights lawyer Sui Muqing said he felt that China's decline had begun a decade ago, at a time when other countries were progressing up the democratic scale.
"Other countries have been improving their own political culture and civilization, while China has consistently failed to uphold even its previous standards," Sui said. "If anything, things have got worse, beginning in about 2003."
"The past 10 years have been about stability maintenance, a period during which we lost a lot of ground on human rights and the rule of law."
He added that single party rule is enshrined in China's Constitution, making Beijing's status on the index unsurprising.
The index showed that around 2.6 billion people, about one third of the global population, still live under some form of authoritarian rule, while only 11 percent of people live in a full democracy.
Norway was the most democratic country in the world last year, according to the index, which said that developed countries have been losing ground on democracy.
Washington politics "continues to be paralysed by polarization" while London faces a “deep institutional crisis," it said.
Poll turnout
Hong Kong, where political pressure is building in favor of universal elections in spite of hints from Chinese officials that this won't happen soon, scored 6.42 last year compared with 5.92 in 2011.
The EIU said the reason for the rise in ranking was a greater level of influence over the outcome of last year's elections to the territory's legislature, which saw higher turnout than in previous years.
Directly elected legislators now account for more than half of seats in the Legislative Council, and even the closely controlled race for chief executive was clearly influenced by public opinion, EIU Asia director Simon Baptist told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
“Hong Kong's vibrant non-governmental organisations, judicial independence, social tolerance and free media continue also to contribute towards its democracy score," the paper quoted Baptist as saying.
Hong Kong current affairs commentator Poon Siu-to said he was skeptical about the ranking, however.
"This is a long way from what we are seeing [here in Hong Kong]," Poon said. "There has been no change in the fundamental status of Hong Kong's democracy; things are the same as they were before."
"The entire government is moving backwards, whether it be on the rule of law, or respect for freedoms, and protection for freedom of the press," he said.
Call for full elections
Momentum is building in the former British colony for a second "Occupy" movement in the city's downtown business district, to press the authorities to allow full and direct elections for the legislature and the chief executive.
However, Chinese officials have hinted that they are unlikely to OK a full democracy by 2020, as permitted in the mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
Anxiety over the city's political future sparked an "Occupy Central" movement in the downtown business district last year, with participants calling for universal suffrage by the next election.
On Jan. 1 of this year, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong to demand the resignation of embattled chief executive Leung Chun-ying and universal elections for his replacement.
Leung was narrowly selected for the chief executive job this year by a pro-Beijing committee.
Under the terms of its 1997 handover to China, Hong Kong was guaranteed the continuation of existing freedoms of expression and association for 50 years.
But journalists and political analysts say that the ruling Chinese Communist Party has redoubled its ideological work efforts in the territory following mass demonstrations on July 1, 2003 against proposed anti-subversion legislation, which the government later abandoned.
Reported by Yang Fan for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
In a year of little progress for democracy around the world, China has once more ranked among the lowest on a 2012 global democracy index, while Hong Kong moved up a few places based on rising levels of public participation in politics.
The index, published annually by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), ranked the People's Republic of China 142nd out of 165 independent states and two territories, among the "authoritarian regime" category.
By contrast, Hong Kong moved upwards to 63rd place, putting it in the "flawed democracy" category along with France.
The index calculates a country's ranking on a scale of 0 to 10, including 60 separate measures that include electoral process and pluralism, levels of political participation, civil liberties and government performance.
Britain and the United States were ranked at the lower end of the 25 "full democracies" that scored between 8 and 10 points.
A score lower than 4 puts a country into the "authoritarian regime" category.
China moved up one position compared with the 2011 index, behind Yemen and Belarus but ranking higher than Vietnam and the Republic of Congo.
Lost years
Guangzhou-based rights lawyer Sui Muqing said he felt that China's decline had begun a decade ago, at a time when other countries were progressing up the democratic scale.
"Other countries have been improving their own political culture and civilization, while China has consistently failed to uphold even its previous standards," Sui said. "If anything, things have got worse, beginning in about 2003."
"The past 10 years have been about stability maintenance, a period during which we lost a lot of ground on human rights and the rule of law."
He added that single party rule is enshrined in China's Constitution, making Beijing's status on the index unsurprising.
The index showed that around 2.6 billion people, about one third of the global population, still live under some form of authoritarian rule, while only 11 percent of people live in a full democracy.
Norway was the most democratic country in the world last year, according to the index, which said that developed countries have been losing ground on democracy.
Washington politics "continues to be paralysed by polarization" while London faces a “deep institutional crisis," it said.
Poll turnout
Hong Kong, where political pressure is building in favor of universal elections in spite of hints from Chinese officials that this won't happen soon, scored 6.42 last year compared with 5.92 in 2011.
The EIU said the reason for the rise in ranking was a greater level of influence over the outcome of last year's elections to the territory's legislature, which saw higher turnout than in previous years.
Directly elected legislators now account for more than half of seats in the Legislative Council, and even the closely controlled race for chief executive was clearly influenced by public opinion, EIU Asia director Simon Baptist told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
“Hong Kong's vibrant non-governmental organisations, judicial independence, social tolerance and free media continue also to contribute towards its democracy score," the paper quoted Baptist as saying.
Hong Kong current affairs commentator Poon Siu-to said he was skeptical about the ranking, however.
"This is a long way from what we are seeing [here in Hong Kong]," Poon said. "There has been no change in the fundamental status of Hong Kong's democracy; things are the same as they were before."
"The entire government is moving backwards, whether it be on the rule of law, or respect for freedoms, and protection for freedom of the press," he said.
Call for full elections
Momentum is building in the former British colony for a second "Occupy" movement in the city's downtown business district, to press the authorities to allow full and direct elections for the legislature and the chief executive.
However, Chinese officials have hinted that they are unlikely to OK a full democracy by 2020, as permitted in the mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
Anxiety over the city's political future sparked an "Occupy Central" movement in the downtown business district last year, with participants calling for universal suffrage by the next election.
On Jan. 1 of this year, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong to demand the resignation of embattled chief executive Leung Chun-ying and universal elections for his replacement.
Leung was narrowly selected for the chief executive job this year by a pro-Beijing committee.
Under the terms of its 1997 handover to China, Hong Kong was guaranteed the continuation of existing freedoms of expression and association for 50 years.
But journalists and political analysts say that the ruling Chinese Communist Party has redoubled its ideological work efforts in the territory following mass demonstrations on July 1, 2003 against proposed anti-subversion legislation, which the government later abandoned.
Reported by Yang Fan for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
North Korean Water Project Faces Funding Woes
North Korean Water Project Faces Funding Woes: 
A U.N. effort to expand an initiative to provide North Koreans with safe drinking water is being held up by funding and logistics problems, an official says.
More than one-quarter of the people in the nuclear-armed but impoverished nation have no access to safe drinking water, a basic necessity.
The U.N. initiative promotes the use of Gravity Fed Water Systems (GFS), which draw clean water from high up in mountain regions and pipe it down to residents of both urban and rural communities.
The GFS initiative has been primarily funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and constructed by North Koreans.
Geoffrey Keele, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Beijing, told RFA’s Korean Service that his organization had completed feasibility studies for expanding the GFS initiative in 14 villages in North and South Hamgyong, North Hwanghae, and North Pyongan provinces, but that more funding is needed to push ahead with construction.
“Currently, we are lacking the necessary funding to support more GFS projects and there continue to be delays in receiving critical supplies from offshore locations,” he said.
“There is also a considerable challenge in relation to local transportation due to a lack of trucking companies.”
Keele said that GFS initiative had been completed in three urban and four rural areas, including Tosan, Hamju, and Hyangsan county towns, and Puksinhyon, Rimhung, Unbong, and Chusang villages.
He said that more GFS projects are ongoing in Jangyon, Sinpyong, Sudong, Ichon, Sepo, Unjon, Kumya, Kilju, and Pihyon counties, as well as in 11 villages in Kangwon, North Pyongan, and North Hwanghae provinces.
According to a report issued by UNICEF last summer, around 100,000 people, including some 7,000 children under the age of five, had access to safe water in 2011 following the completion of nine GFS projects.
But it said that the coverage represented less than 2 percent of the 5.28 million people in North Korea that still need access to clean water—a staggering figure given the North’s population of just over 24 million.
In 2011, the report said, the nine completed GFS projects provided clean water to all targeted institutions in the areas where the systems had been constructed, including 14 health facilities, 17 primary schools and secondary schools, 13 nurseries, and 14 kindergartens.
An earlier pilot program in ten focus counties from 2007-2009 supplied more than 228,000 people with clean water.
Water challenges
Keele said that UNICEF partners with the Ministry of City Management and with local communities to bring GFS projects to North Korea, which despite a piped distribution network, suffers from poor delivery of water due to old systems and a shortage of electricity needed to pump water to homes.
“Key supplies for operating and maintaining piped water systems are now in short supply, including pumps, spare parts, pipes and water treatment chemicals,” he said.
“All of the old pump-based facilities use rivers or other low-lying water sources, which are more susceptible to contamination from human and industrial waste. So in many cases the water that does reach people is of poor quality.”
According to UNICEF, diarrhea is the number one cause of child mortality in North Korea and, together with pneumonia, affects large numbers of children in the country.
“Both of these illnesses can result from insufficient water for proper hygiene or through contaminated water caused by the deterioration of the country’s water supply infrastructure,” Keele said.
He said that GFS is a simple, cost effective, and environmentally sound means of providing clean water to North Koreans by taking fresh water from the country’s abundant mountain ranges and filtering it through natural sand and gravel purification ponds.
When the water is free of impurities, he said, it is channeled through a series of PVC pipes where gravity transports the water down to a community’s homes, schools, and hospitals, without the need for electricity.
According to UNICEF, the average cost to design and construct a standard GFS in a medium-sized county town of around 20,000 people is about U.S. $500,000. It says the technology is low-maintenance and requires relatively low running costs.
The project is expected to help North Korea achieve several of its Millennium Development Goals in 2015, including a reduction in child mortality, improvements in maternal health, and a reduction in malnutrition.
Reported by Ahreum Jung for RFA’s Korean Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
A U.N. effort to expand an initiative to provide North Koreans with safe drinking water is being held up by funding and logistics problems, an official says.
More than one-quarter of the people in the nuclear-armed but impoverished nation have no access to safe drinking water, a basic necessity.
The U.N. initiative promotes the use of Gravity Fed Water Systems (GFS), which draw clean water from high up in mountain regions and pipe it down to residents of both urban and rural communities.
The GFS initiative has been primarily funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and constructed by North Koreans.
Geoffrey Keele, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Beijing, told RFA’s Korean Service that his organization had completed feasibility studies for expanding the GFS initiative in 14 villages in North and South Hamgyong, North Hwanghae, and North Pyongan provinces, but that more funding is needed to push ahead with construction.
“Currently, we are lacking the necessary funding to support more GFS projects and there continue to be delays in receiving critical supplies from offshore locations,” he said.
“There is also a considerable challenge in relation to local transportation due to a lack of trucking companies.”
Keele said that GFS initiative had been completed in three urban and four rural areas, including Tosan, Hamju, and Hyangsan county towns, and Puksinhyon, Rimhung, Unbong, and Chusang villages.
He said that more GFS projects are ongoing in Jangyon, Sinpyong, Sudong, Ichon, Sepo, Unjon, Kumya, Kilju, and Pihyon counties, as well as in 11 villages in Kangwon, North Pyongan, and North Hwanghae provinces.
According to a report issued by UNICEF last summer, around 100,000 people, including some 7,000 children under the age of five, had access to safe water in 2011 following the completion of nine GFS projects.
But it said that the coverage represented less than 2 percent of the 5.28 million people in North Korea that still need access to clean water—a staggering figure given the North’s population of just over 24 million.
In 2011, the report said, the nine completed GFS projects provided clean water to all targeted institutions in the areas where the systems had been constructed, including 14 health facilities, 17 primary schools and secondary schools, 13 nurseries, and 14 kindergartens.
An earlier pilot program in ten focus counties from 2007-2009 supplied more than 228,000 people with clean water.
Water challenges
Keele said that UNICEF partners with the Ministry of City Management and with local communities to bring GFS projects to North Korea, which despite a piped distribution network, suffers from poor delivery of water due to old systems and a shortage of electricity needed to pump water to homes.
“Key supplies for operating and maintaining piped water systems are now in short supply, including pumps, spare parts, pipes and water treatment chemicals,” he said.
“All of the old pump-based facilities use rivers or other low-lying water sources, which are more susceptible to contamination from human and industrial waste. So in many cases the water that does reach people is of poor quality.”
According to UNICEF, diarrhea is the number one cause of child mortality in North Korea and, together with pneumonia, affects large numbers of children in the country.
“Both of these illnesses can result from insufficient water for proper hygiene or through contaminated water caused by the deterioration of the country’s water supply infrastructure,” Keele said.
He said that GFS is a simple, cost effective, and environmentally sound means of providing clean water to North Koreans by taking fresh water from the country’s abundant mountain ranges and filtering it through natural sand and gravel purification ponds.
When the water is free of impurities, he said, it is channeled through a series of PVC pipes where gravity transports the water down to a community’s homes, schools, and hospitals, without the need for electricity.
According to UNICEF, the average cost to design and construct a standard GFS in a medium-sized county town of around 20,000 people is about U.S. $500,000. It says the technology is low-maintenance and requires relatively low running costs.
The project is expected to help North Korea achieve several of its Millennium Development Goals in 2015, including a reduction in child mortality, improvements in maternal health, and a reduction in malnutrition.
Reported by Ahreum Jung for RFA’s Korean Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Vietnamese Activist Interrogated Over Articles
Vietnamese Activist Interrogated Over Articles: 
A Vietnamese activist from a banned Buddhist group has been interrogated and threatened with punishment over articles he wrote criticizing Hanoi’s policies on religion and a territorial dispute with China.
Police in central Vietnam’s Thua Thien-Hue province questioned Le Cong Cau, who heads the youth movement of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), for three days last week and told him they had sufficient evidence to charge him with undermining unity and conducting anti-state propaganda.
Cau, 62, who coordinates the UBCV’s activities in the province, had written articles advocating political pluralism and accusing the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party of religious persecution, repressing prodemocracy and human rights advocates, and failing to stand up to China in a dispute over islands in the South China Sea.
Cau had not posted the articles himself, but had sent them to the International Buddhist Information Bureau, a Paris-based rights group affiliated with the UBCV, which circulated them online.
On Friday, at the end of his interrogation by provincial and municipal security police in Thua Thien Hue’s Truong An district, Cau signed a statement affirming he had written the articles, but refused to recognize doing so as a crime.
In the statement, he also made it clear that what he said was fully in line with Vietnam’s constitution, but police struck that part out.
In an interview with RFA’s Vietnamese service following the interrogation, Cau said he stood by what he had written and that he believes Vietnam should move away from one-party Communist rule.
“I think if we all unify, we will have our victory over the authoritarian party and the despotic regime to move forward to political pluralism. That is the only way to progress forward.”
“The [Vietnamese Communist] Party should announce that they have accomplished their historical mission and hand over the ruling of the country to the people so we will move forward to pluralism and a multiparty system,” he said.
'Deep concern'
The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, another Paris-based rights group affiliated with the UBCV, said in a statement Tuesday that it is “deeply concerned” about Cau’s security since the interrogation.
According to what police told him, Cau could face charges under Article 87 of the Criminal Code for “sowing divisions between the religious and non-religious people,” and under Article 88 for “conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
The offenses carry punishments of up to 15 and 20 years in prison, respectively.
A slew of bloggers, dissidents, and citizen journalists have been jailed under Article 88 in recent years, and international rights groups and press freedom watchdogs have accused Hanoi of using the vaguely worded provision to silence dissent.
UBCV members have called on the Communist Party to change laws guiding religious freedom in Vietnam, where religious activity is strictly monitored and groups must be supervised by government-controlled management boards.
The UBCV was effectively banned in 1981 and supplanted by the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, which is controlled by the Communist Party’s Fatherland Front.
But the UBCV’s 500,000-member Youth Movement Commission, headed by Cau, has semiofficial status, and focuses on social, educational, and humanitarian activities that are tolerated by the government.
Last week UBCV patriarch Thich Quang Do, who is under house arrest at his monastery in Ho Chi Minh City, warned that Vietnam’s leaders face a backlash if they do not respond to mounting online calls for amendments to Vietnam’s constitution aimed at putting an end to one-party rule.
Reported by Y. Lan for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
A Vietnamese activist from a banned Buddhist group has been interrogated and threatened with punishment over articles he wrote criticizing Hanoi’s policies on religion and a territorial dispute with China.
Police in central Vietnam’s Thua Thien-Hue province questioned Le Cong Cau, who heads the youth movement of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), for three days last week and told him they had sufficient evidence to charge him with undermining unity and conducting anti-state propaganda.
Cau, 62, who coordinates the UBCV’s activities in the province, had written articles advocating political pluralism and accusing the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party of religious persecution, repressing prodemocracy and human rights advocates, and failing to stand up to China in a dispute over islands in the South China Sea.
Cau had not posted the articles himself, but had sent them to the International Buddhist Information Bureau, a Paris-based rights group affiliated with the UBCV, which circulated them online.
On Friday, at the end of his interrogation by provincial and municipal security police in Thua Thien Hue’s Truong An district, Cau signed a statement affirming he had written the articles, but refused to recognize doing so as a crime.
In the statement, he also made it clear that what he said was fully in line with Vietnam’s constitution, but police struck that part out.
In an interview with RFA’s Vietnamese service following the interrogation, Cau said he stood by what he had written and that he believes Vietnam should move away from one-party Communist rule.
“I think if we all unify, we will have our victory over the authoritarian party and the despotic regime to move forward to political pluralism. That is the only way to progress forward.”
“The [Vietnamese Communist] Party should announce that they have accomplished their historical mission and hand over the ruling of the country to the people so we will move forward to pluralism and a multiparty system,” he said.
'Deep concern'
The Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, another Paris-based rights group affiliated with the UBCV, said in a statement Tuesday that it is “deeply concerned” about Cau’s security since the interrogation.
According to what police told him, Cau could face charges under Article 87 of the Criminal Code for “sowing divisions between the religious and non-religious people,” and under Article 88 for “conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”
The offenses carry punishments of up to 15 and 20 years in prison, respectively.
A slew of bloggers, dissidents, and citizen journalists have been jailed under Article 88 in recent years, and international rights groups and press freedom watchdogs have accused Hanoi of using the vaguely worded provision to silence dissent.
UBCV members have called on the Communist Party to change laws guiding religious freedom in Vietnam, where religious activity is strictly monitored and groups must be supervised by government-controlled management boards.
The UBCV was effectively banned in 1981 and supplanted by the state-sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, which is controlled by the Communist Party’s Fatherland Front.
But the UBCV’s 500,000-member Youth Movement Commission, headed by Cau, has semiofficial status, and focuses on social, educational, and humanitarian activities that are tolerated by the government.
Last week UBCV patriarch Thich Quang Do, who is under house arrest at his monastery in Ho Chi Minh City, warned that Vietnam’s leaders face a backlash if they do not respond to mounting online calls for amendments to Vietnam’s constitution aimed at putting an end to one-party rule.
Reported by Y. Lan for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
Short on Water in the Tonle Sap
Short on Water in the Tonle Sap: 
Residents of a village in the middle of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap “Great Lake” live surrounded by water, but don’t have enough access to clean water for drinking, cooking, and washing.
The Tonle Sap, a combined lake and river system that swells in the rainy season to form Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, has for generations supported fishing communities living in floating villages of moored houseboats.
But the silt deposited by the flow of the Mekong River, which nourishes the Tonle Sap’s abundance of fish that form a key source of food for millions of Cambodians, makes its brown, muddy waters unsuitable for daily use by households.
In Peam Ta Our, a floating village in Puok district some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the tourism hub of Siem Reap, residents have no access to other water sources in the dry season and are forced to turn to Tonle Sap water for drinking, cooking, and laundry.
Resident Keng Chin said the Tonle Sap water is too dirty even to wash clothes with.
“We are facing water issues in our village. It is miserable,” she said.
“I want clean water the way other people want gold.”
Some who take the risk to drink and wash clothes with Tonle Sap water are paying a high price with diarrhea and skin rashes from chemicals used to treat the water—problems compounded by the village’s lack of a health center.
“What we need is clean water and a health center,” Keng Chin said.
Buying clean water
During the wet season, residents can get clean water from nearby ponds and wells, but during the dry season villagers have to buy bottled water.
Keng Chin pays at least 3,000 riel (U.S. $0.75) every two days to buy clean water, a significant amount in Cambodia where the average income is around U.S. $1 a day.
Those who can’t afford to buy water use chemical tablets to treat lake water before washing clothes in it, but it makes the skin itchy, she said.
Villager Chheang Sarith said some residents even drink the Tonle Sap water without boiling it.
“Some villagers are using chemical treatment to purify the water but some villagers drink water that hasn’t even been boiled,” he said.
“Some rich villagers who have boats go to buy water because they can’t use this water.”
But he himself can’t avoid using dirty water and most of the village has to use it toward the end of the dry season, from March through May, he said.
Health concerns
Deputy village chief Ly Moeung said he is concerned with villagers’ health because using dirty water is giving residents skin problems and the village has no access to a health center.
“I am worried about the villagers’ health because of the use of dirty water,” he said.
“I have requested the government and NGOs to help us out, but there’s no solution,” he said.
Last year two residents died of diarrhea, and using dirty water has gotten many residents sick, Chheang Sarith said.
Villagers say that they have lacked a health center for generations, and have appealed to the authorities and NGOs to build a floating health center for the villagers, but no one has offered help.
Transportation to the nearest health center, which is 11 miles (17 kilometers) from the village, costs about 15,000 riel (about U.S. $4.00), residents said.
Reported by Hang Sabratsavyouth for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
Residents of a village in the middle of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap “Great Lake” live surrounded by water, but don’t have enough access to clean water for drinking, cooking, and washing.
The Tonle Sap, a combined lake and river system that swells in the rainy season to form Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, has for generations supported fishing communities living in floating villages of moored houseboats.
But the silt deposited by the flow of the Mekong River, which nourishes the Tonle Sap’s abundance of fish that form a key source of food for millions of Cambodians, makes its brown, muddy waters unsuitable for daily use by households.
In Peam Ta Our, a floating village in Puok district some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the tourism hub of Siem Reap, residents have no access to other water sources in the dry season and are forced to turn to Tonle Sap water for drinking, cooking, and laundry.
Resident Keng Chin said the Tonle Sap water is too dirty even to wash clothes with.
“We are facing water issues in our village. It is miserable,” she said.
“I want clean water the way other people want gold.”
Some who take the risk to drink and wash clothes with Tonle Sap water are paying a high price with diarrhea and skin rashes from chemicals used to treat the water—problems compounded by the village’s lack of a health center.
“What we need is clean water and a health center,” Keng Chin said.
Buying clean water
During the wet season, residents can get clean water from nearby ponds and wells, but during the dry season villagers have to buy bottled water.
Keng Chin pays at least 3,000 riel (U.S. $0.75) every two days to buy clean water, a significant amount in Cambodia where the average income is around U.S. $1 a day.
Those who can’t afford to buy water use chemical tablets to treat lake water before washing clothes in it, but it makes the skin itchy, she said.Villager Chheang Sarith said some residents even drink the Tonle Sap water without boiling it.
“Some villagers are using chemical treatment to purify the water but some villagers drink water that hasn’t even been boiled,” he said.
“Some rich villagers who have boats go to buy water because they can’t use this water.”
But he himself can’t avoid using dirty water and most of the village has to use it toward the end of the dry season, from March through May, he said.
Health concerns
Deputy village chief Ly Moeung said he is concerned with villagers’ health because using dirty water is giving residents skin problems and the village has no access to a health center.
“I am worried about the villagers’ health because of the use of dirty water,” he said.
“I have requested the government and NGOs to help us out, but there’s no solution,” he said.
Last year two residents died of diarrhea, and using dirty water has gotten many residents sick, Chheang Sarith said.
Villagers say that they have lacked a health center for generations, and have appealed to the authorities and NGOs to build a floating health center for the villagers, but no one has offered help.
Transportation to the nearest health center, which is 11 miles (17 kilometers) from the village, costs about 15,000 riel (about U.S. $4.00), residents said.
Reported by Hang Sabratsavyouth for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
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