Archive for
February 5th, 2009
Stories
Malaysia: War on Dengue and Chikungunya
The Malaysian government has launched a dengue awareness campaign in response to the rising number of dengue cases. Last month, 4,521 dengue cases and 13 dengue-related deaths were reported. The high number of dengue cases is alarming. Last year, Malaysia recorded 49,335 dengue cases and 112 dengue deaths – the worst in the nation’s history.
Aside from dengue, there is another virus which is spreading in several Malaysian states: Chikungunya (pronounced chikoon-goon-nya). Doctor2008's Weblog writes about this little-known virus:
“(Its is) the latest in a series of diseases caused by a virus and spread by mosquitoes. While most of us were distracted by events of the world, this disease has steadily made its impact, not only in tropical regions but also in far-flung countries like Italy. In Malaysia alone, in 2008, more than 3700 cases have occurred. It used to have an incidence of 100 cases per year but this has now risen to 100 cases per week. Strangely enough, mainstream media has been deafeningly quiet and the health authorities have not done enough to educate the public on this relatively unknown condition.
Chikungunya is but the latest in a long line of diseases carried by mosquitoes, which include Malaria, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, and the West Nile Encephalitis and causing 1 million deaths worldwide.
Elizabeth Wong lists the dengue hotspots in Malaysia. Daddy-O's has compiled information about dengue fever and chikungunya which he collected from various sources.
Lim Kit Siang hits the Health Minister’s “protracted silence on the dengue epidemic last year.” Environe blames ignorance on public cleanliness for the epidemic:
“The situation is aggravated by the lack of awareness among the Malaysian people about public cleanliness. Refuses and garbage not only pollute the drains,rivers and streams, but they clog them as well. Clogged waters are the best breeding grounds for Aedes mosquito.
“As people continue to be ignorant towards a clean environment, it is no wonder that the dengue cases kept on rising, alarming the Malaysian government.”
Palmdoc agrees with the observation that the present campaign against dengue may be a “phony war”:
“We’ve had years and years of a dengue endemic in our country. Now we are also plagued with Chikungunya which is also transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. We’ve heard and read similar noises before so it’s no surprise to read that a “War on dengue” has been declared by the Health Ministry. Fogging won’t be a permanent solution since it only kills the adult mosquitoes, and indeed the authorities acknowledge the problem is that there are too many breeding grounds for Aedes.
“Unless everyone gets serious, I am inclined to think LKS is right and all this is just lip-service and indeed a Phoney war”
Fogging operation in a Malaysian village. From the blog of As normal as I can be.
M. Bakri Musa thinks that civil engineers should help in the anti-dengue campaign:
“We should engage civil engineers in local councils and the Ministry of Works, instead of medical doctors in local hospitals and the Ministry of Health. If those engineers could get away from their air-conditioned offices, they would notice those stagnant drains, silted ponds, and ditches with overgrown weeds. If those officers could brave the stench and examine closer, they would see mosquito larva luxuriating in the stagnant waters.”
Ji Keon's Blog urges citizens to remember their responsibilities in helping prevent the spread of dengue:
“It has been reported that residents do not allow the authorities to perform fogging activities in their premises. However, no fogging activities have been carried out so far in my area unlike previous years where relevant authorities will dispatch people to carry out fogging activities to eradicate those bloody mosquitos.
“It is unacceptable for the dengue and chikungunya cases to escalate for a prolonged period of time. Swift action must be taken to halt the problem from taking a turn for the worse.
“Prevention is better than cure. The Malaysian citizens must be reminded of the responsibilities they have in helping to curb this outbreak. Let's not allow those mozzies to reduce our productivity and our competitiveness at such critical time when the country needs everybody's effort to revive its ailing economy.
DESTROY AEDES!”
Picture in the front page is from the Flickr page of Pedro Trindade.
Global Health: Obama Lifts “Global Gag Rule”
In his first week in office, U.S. President Barack Obama lifted a policy popularly known as the “Global Gag Rule.” The move is being applauded by women's rights and public health groups, as it will reinstate funding to international family planning programs globally.
The policy, also known as the Mexico City policy, bans U.S. government funding from going to overseas family planning groups and clinics that perform or promote abortion or lobby for its legalization. Obama lifted the ban one day after the 36th anniversary of Roe versus Wade, the case that legalized abortion in the U.S. The policy was created in 1984 and has been tossed back and forth between presidents ever since. A blog post on South-South elaborates:
“The Global Gag Rule [also known as the “Mexico City Policy” or specifically, The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(f)(1))] denied United States family planning funds to foreign NGOs that use their own private, non-U.S. dollars to counsel women, make referrals for abortion, or perform abortions. It even denied U.S. funds to NGOs that expressed support for laws to make abortion safe and legal. The Global Gag Rule was in effect from 1985 until 1993, when it was rescinded by President Clinton. President George W. Bush reinstated the policy in 2001, where it was in effect until Friday, 23 January 2009.”
Critics have dubbed the ban the “Global Gag Rule” because of how it restricts groups overseas from participating in the abortion debate in their home countries. Texas in Africa points out that another problem with the policy is that its restrictions are too broad.
“The Global Gag Rule doesn't take a country's policies on abortion into account. Instead, it blocks funding from any organization that supports abortion rights anywhere in the world. That means if Planned Parenthood operates a clinic in rural Uganda that gives advice on family planning and provides prenatal screening, it loses funding when the Global Gag Rule is in effect because of its pro-choice stance on policies in the U.S. This happens regardless of the fact that abortion is illegal in Uganda unless it involves preserving the mother's life or health.
When the Bush administration reinstated the Global Gag Rule in 2001, clinics all over Africa lost all of their funding. In many places, especially in Kenya and Ghana, it meant that tens of thousands of people lost their only access to health care. Period.”
In light of this, many bloggers are praising Obama's move and the potential impact it will have on reproductive health and family planning issues worldwide. Danie, Danie, Danie believes we should be thanking Obama, while Arash Kardan blogs:
“Desperately poor women with high risk pregnancies won’t have to die because their doctor can’t tell them about termination options. Many will have more access to safe abortion care, and won’t die or face permanent injury due to risky do-it-yourself procedures. Women won’t have to get pregnant because their local birth control clinic had to choose between no funding or substandard, dishonest care, and subsequently closed down…This is what change can mean. Thousands of women’s lives saved. And after the past 8 years of this deadly policy, it’s about time.”
However, many anti-abortion groups have condemned the move, arguing, for instance, that U.S. taxpayer dollars shouldn't be spent supporting abortion and that this opens the door to more abortions worldwide. The Vatican has spoken out against Obama's decision, and the move has raised fears in some countries impacted by this funding. The blog Mike in Manila discusses the reaction in the Philippines:
“There are fears that now US funds will be released here in Asia as well to fund programs towards a global legalization of abortion. Some pro-Abortion groups have lobbied to tie in US Aid to legalization of abortion in the developing world.
A move that greatly concerns members of the CBCP [Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines] in the country who have called on Philippine-Americans of all faiths to signify their voices against the new executive order as well as for a campaign by them to elected members of the house and senate to be emailed and called by Catholics all over to world to ensure that the ‘pro-death and pro-abortion' stance of the extreme left of American politics is not pushing to impose abortion supportive or legalization policies to the rest of the world.”
However, Nicholas, posting on Staying Left, Living and Driving in South Africa, points out that the choice to have an abortion isn't always clear cut in the countries that need this funding:
“When thinking about abortions, especially in developing countries, the arguments seem quite compelling. In sections of the KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa, up to 50% of pregnant women are HIV+. If my work were successful, we could reduce transmission of HIV from mother to baby into the single digits, instead of 30+% in most parts of the country. However, that means we'd have carefully execute a number of steps in a process without faltering. Given the fragility of the health system, the likelihood of passing HIV to the baby is quite high, and if I were the pregnant one, its not a roulette game I'd want to be playing.”
Image of The Abortion Debate by Better In the Basement on Flickr.
Top Ranked Blogs in Africa
If you are following African blogs, you might be interested to know the top ranked blogs in the African blogosphere. Through Afrigator’s ranking system we are able to know the top ranked blogs in Africa as well as the most read blogs. Afrigator, which is an African blog aggregator, also has a list of top 45 African female bloggers.
Here is a list of 10 top ranked blogs:
1. Thought Leader: This is an editorial group blog of quality commentary and analysis, edited by the M&G Online
2. iMod: This blog ranks 2 in Africa and 2 in South Africa. It is a blog written by Chris M, a blogger based in Cape Town, South Africa. Chris is a freelance php developer.
3. Times Multimedia: A showcase of the best videos, audio, photos and movie trailers that The Times have to offer.
4. Web AddiCT(s): This is a blog run by three South Africans. Web AddiCT is an acronym for Web “2.0″, Applications, Developments,Designs & Innovation in Cape Town.
5. My Heart's in Accra: This is blog written by Ethan Zuckerman about Africa, media and international development. Ethan is the co-founder of Global Voices Online. His blog ranks 5 in Africa and 1 in Ghana.
6. Blat: To utter without thinking.
7. Adii: A blog about freelance design, Web 2.0, entrepeneurs & strategy by Adii Rockstar from South Africa.
8. Urban Sprout: This a South African blog featuring green news and opinion, and an organic eco-directory that focuses on organic and eco-friendly products.
9. So Close: This is a blog by the South African popular blogger, Tertia. Her blog description reads: After being So Close for so long, I have finally arrived. Life after infertility. Her blog, So Close, started as off as a chronicle of her journey through infertility.
10. Wonkie Cartoons: A cartoon blog of recent news, celebrity gossip, bollywood antics and political commentary.
You will note that apart from My Heart's in Accra, the rest of the top 10 ranked blogs are South African. Other non-South African blogs on the list are Black Looks (ranks 14) by the Nigerian blogger Sokari Ekine, Bankelele (ranks 18) from Kenya who writes about baking, finance and investment in Kenya and Bongo Celebrity (ranks 20), a Swahili blog about Tanzanian celebrities. It is interesting to see a non-English blog making the top 20 blogs on the continent.
Martinique: The last masters of the islands?
As the two-week-long-protest in Guadeloupe continues, the other French Overseas Departments of America - French Guiana and Martinique - are thinking about their own contribution to this deep thinking and massive mobilization. In the midst of this brainstorming, the French-encrypted and sometimes trouble-making channel, Canal+ is seasoning up the debate with a sizzling hot documentary about the tight relationships between certain ethnic groups and economic domination on the French island of Martinique. The Martinican blogosphere, naturally, has been buzzing…
One Martinican blogger, blogdemoi explains her interest in watching the documentary after presenting the synopsis [Fr]:
Voilà le synopsis, disponible sur le site de Canal+, concernant ”Les derniers maîtres de la Martinique” (production: TAC Presse):
En Martinique, moins de 1% de la population détient 52% des terres agricoles. Il s’agit des békés, les héritiers des vieilles familles blanches, installées dans l’île avant la Révolution française.
Pour Spécial Investigation, Romain Bolzinger enquête sur une communauté méconnue et discrète qui a traversé les siècles en préservant ses coutumes, ses richesses et ses codes et dresse le portrait d’un département rongé par les inégalités et les rancoeurs post-coloniales.
In Martinique, less than 1% of the population owns 52% of the farming lands. They are the “békés“[Fr], name given to the families of white people, who have been living and managing the island even before the French Revolution.
For Spécial Investigation, Romain Bolzinger investigated a little-known and discreet community who have succeeded in preserving its traditions, wealth and codes through the centuries. He drew the portrait of a department [Martinique] tormented by various inequalities and post-colonial resentment.
blogdemoi draws attention to the pseudo-coincidental time of the broadcast - when the neighboring island of Guadeloupe is still shaken by a mobilization which questions the monopoly of a few families, and as another mobilization is scheduled in Martinique on February 5th 2009:
Le timing est presque parfait vu que les syndicats martiniquais appellent à la grève générale ‘contre la vie chère' (selon l’expression désormais consacrée) à partir du jeudi 5 février.
She expresses her fears concerning the consequences of this broadcast, at a time when economic and ethnic matters tend to get all mixed up:
Ca risque de faire mal.
[…]Il faudra aussi s’attendre à des dérives racistes et xénophobes qui refuseront de s’appeler comme telles bien sûr; tout le monde sait que le racisme et la xénophobie ça ne va que dans un sens, n’est-ce-pas ? J’espère simplement, je croise les doigts, que ce documentaire ne mettra pas le feu aux poudres
[…]It is quite likely that some racist and xenophobic acts will follow and they will not be called so, of course; everyone knows that racism and xenophobia go only way, right? My only hope, fingers-crossed, is that this documentary will not set the island on fire.
blogdemoi's concerns may be justified: although the program will only be broadcast in the French West Indies on Feb. 6th 2009, it has already triggered many reactions. Indeed, the program was broadcast on Jan. 31st in continental France and has already crossed the Atlantic thanks to the Internet. bondamanjak and montray kréyol, both from Martinique, expressed their complete shock over the words uttered by a man from one of the richest and oldest “Béké” families, concerning racial mixing and slavery [Fr]:
Dans les familles métissées, les enfants sont de couleurs différentes, il n’y a pas d’harmonie. Moi, je ne trouve pas ça bien. Nous (ndlr : les Békés), on a voulu préserver la race.
Les historiens ne parlent que des aspects négatifs de l’esclavage et c’est regrettable
Historians only insist on the negative sides of slavery and that's a shame.
The man in question has since published a letter [Fr], to say that his words and ideas had been twisted by the journalist, but most people from the West Indian diaspora who saw the documentary in France, feel still miserable about it - like this woman for instance [Fr] :
Bref…ça fait mal…quand même parce qu'on passe (le reste de la population non béké) pour des cons bien gentils qui se font entubés depuis 400 ans !!!
Such bitter feelings are probably one reason why bondamanjak asks the question “DOIT-ON DIFFUSER LES DERNIERS MAITRES DE LA MARTINIQUE AUX ANTILLES?” which means, “Should The Last Masters of Martinique be broadcast in the French West Indies?” The majority of comments on this post say yes, as people seem to think that now is the time for some truths to be officially unveiled.
Lebanon: Cedar Island - A Controversial Construction
From disbelief to bewilderment to outweighing its environment disaster against its economic impact, the proposed Cedar Island project is taking the Lebanese blogosphere by storm.
The blueprint for the artificial island, covering an area of 3,311,731,60 square meters, in the shape of the Cedar Tree, will boast residential, commercial, recreational, and touristic facilities in the Lebanese part of the Mediterranean Sea, once completed.
The idea for this man-made island has created a strong divide between the Lebanese, whose reactions are voiced in various blog posts and different Facebook groups. Most of the blog posts oppose the project. Those who support, especially the Facebook group, see it as an opportunity to eternalize the Lebanese emblem - the Cedar - in addition to creating jobs, money and other economical benefits to their country. Those who oppose it, both on Facebook and in the blogosphere, see that it will destroy the livelihood of fishermen, the environment and the Lebanese culture among other disadvantages.
Here are some of the reactions of Lebanese bloggers to this project:
Qifa Nabki, in one of his posts, goes out to investigate whether the project is a hoax, because of many considerations which are explained in the post, and found out that the project was real:
The more time one spends on the website of Noor Holding, the firm that is allegedly developing Cedar Island, the more one begins to get the creeping suspicion that this is one of the most brilliant hoaxes pulled off in recent memory.[…]After scratching my head about this for a few minutes, I picked up the phone and called the number listed on the website. The fellow who answered assured me that it was real.
“The crazy cedar tree island is real?”
“Yes, of course.”
“The company is real? The enormous building shaped like a chair, and the Canadian Town near Baghdad airport? These are all happening?”
“Inshallah.”
Truth stranger than fiction?
- UPDATE
I’ve just received heard from my contact in the Tourism Minister’s office that the project is, in fact, real. It was first floated (no pun intended) a few years ago, and is now gathering steam.
In another post, Qifa Nabki almost screams “Stop Cedar Island” and explains that Lebanon should not stoop to being a soul-less tourist trap like other countries because:
Far from demonstrating such gauche sensibilities, we Lebanese have culture, history, and taste. We have cafes, newspapers, intellectuals, universities, people who speak Arabic, service taxis, Sayyed Hasan, Abou l-Abed, and Fairouz. How can we be Dubai? We’re Lebanon!
Lebanos writes [Ar] about the call made by the Naqib (leader) of the Divers Union. The Naqib called on all environmentalist and fishermen to stand against this project. He was quoted as saying that the project will destroy the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen, in addition to destroying the richest marine resources in the Lebanese sea.
Liliane does not see the need to create an artificial land with trees in a country that is endowed with mountains, forests and green areas. She does not believe the claim of the project representatives that it will not destroy the marine life too:
Thank you but NO THANK YOU. We already have trees and green and mountains and a great beach and a great weather and a great location in Lebanon, we do not need to go by imitating Dubai (who originally imitated us in the first place) and create fake things by killing the maritime life.
We still have a little bit of great nature in Lebanon, forests, mountains and a very nice sea. We do not need to fake things.
Dr. Saleh, are you sure this project takes into consideration the protection of the maritime environment? How is that possible? It is going to take up a lot of space in the sea, are you going to send a note to all the fish and turtles and algae and everything to move to a new section in the sea?
Nihil Declaro is “partially amused by all the attention this “project” has received on Facebook.” He links to the Facebook groups that are “for” and those those that are “against”.
Urban Memories calls it the “Island of Dr. Moron” and criticizes the spokesperson of the project who claims that it will not disturb the environment:
I am sure that by now, many Lebanese across the world have seen this image that has been circulating in emails. At first I thought it might be a hoax, but then I got it many times, from different sources… And this mass advertising scares me.
Now pardon my arrogance and maybe my pretense, but with my multiple architectural degrees, and in all modesty, I can sincerely say that I would tend to have thoughts regarding this.
So here’s my educated opinion:
What the F*** do you think you’re doing!
So you’re telling us, that you are going to claim 3.5 M.sq.m of marine land, and not disturb aquatic life? Or the planet? I don’t care how many environmentalists you’re going to hire, but I don’t buy into that… not one bit.
Rami also questions the environmental impact of the project.
The Lebanese Inner Circle wrote a lengthy post about the project. In this post, both the owners' view and the criticisms are mentioned in addition to some updates on the numbers in Facebook groups that are with and against it:
Noor International Holding is planning on building this massive island covering an area of 127.8 squared miles in the touristic coastal area of Lebanon, the Cedar Island lends itself as a luxurious residential, commercial, and touristic project. Its geographical location along the Lebanese coast allows it to play a vital role in attracting tourists and savvy residents looking for an exotic lifestyle or escaping from the city.
Update (30/01/2009): As you can see from the comments, and the rage over at facebook, many seem to be pleased by the candy colored plan for this massive project, and many seem to be keen on preventing it from happening, if ever the capital for such a project is secured. Till now, facebook’s Cedar Island - Lebanon has 7,345 fans and counting, while those opposing it, hosting a page called No for Cedar Island has 1,848 members.
Criticism has also come from environmentalists, who have raised concerns that building a giant artificial island will affect marine and coastal bird life. Amir Shahab works on research for the project, and counters that they are finding a site for land reclamation, which will “not have a coral reef, we are making sure there will be no bird habitat and no fishermen whose livelihood depends on fish stocks.” It will, in the long run, he said, become an artificial reef environment for fish, and the water treatment facility will prevent stagnation.
Wishing you a happy and fruitful surfing for more news from Lebanon.
China: Shanzhai Spring Festival Blocked
In the evening of 25 of January 2009, most Chinese people in mainland China were at home, enjoying the year end dinner while waiting for the Lunar New Year. A usual entertainment for the night among family members was to watch the Spring Festival Gala broadcasted by CCTV. This year, they could have an alternative, however…
A netizen, Lao Meng planned to organize an alternative Spring Festival Gala online, called Shanzhai Spring Gala 山寨春晚 (The meaning of Shanzhai is home-based factory or mountain village), in November 2008. He openly called for participation and had successfully recruited 35 performances. The Gala was scheduled to broadcast online via video hosting websites, Tecent and UUSee, in the evening of 25 of January. However, in early January, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) issued a notice demanding all the media stop reporting on the Shanzhai Gala. Moreover, due to some unknown reasons, the venue booking on that night was canceled and Lao Meng had to record the performances and turn the “public performance” into gathering and celebration among friends.
Lao Meng and his friends had finished recording their performance on 22 of January. However, they failed to upload the video, if the clips are tagged as “Shanzhai Spring Gala”. Even if they don't tag the clips, the uploading would be intercepted in the middle of the data transmission. On 2 of February journalist from Beijing News reported that he failed to find any video clip concerning Shanzhai Spring Gala on 56 major online video hosting websites in China. Lao Meng speculated that the performance was blocked by the government under the pretext of anti-Smut campaign.
Which sectors are to responsible for this blocking? Gowers points out:
可是，为什么视频网站没播呢？没办法，谁让视频网站有着广电总局、文化部这样的BOSS呢？视听许可证是广电总局发的，那是托关系、找人，费了九牛二虎之力才混到的。所以，广电告诉你“不参与、不炒作‘山寨’”，谁敢播？加上近期文化部等又在搞反低俗，要是因为播个山寨春晚就被弄成了低俗，也不值得。
The Shanzhai Spring festival Gala's slogan is “Spring Festival Gala for the people, by the people”, and the performances were designed for rural migrant workers, students and Diasporas who fail to return home for family gatherings. It is very likely that the CCTV and propaganda department see it as a challenge to their status.
In 163.com, there are more than 200 comments on the blocking of Shanzhai Gala, most of them criticize CCTV's monopoly status. Below are some selected comments:
这分明是个阴谋，偶年三十搜山寨春晚，有关链接全部连不上
cctv真缺德，没本事真刀真枪的干，只能玩阴的
结果今年的春晚办的果然不负众望，还是那么烂！
央视真可怜,一个山寨给吓成这样.
连一个小小的山寨春晚都无法容忍，更何况别的！中国！终国！
很央视…很中国…..
You can access the Shanzhai Spring Festival Gala in youtube(however, it is difficult to distinguish which are the genuine Lao Meng production as many use the Shanzhai tag to increase the video’s popularity). For mainland Chinese, they can access via Proxy and TOR. Here is a production by mainland Chinese students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, using the Shanzhai in their title:
More information from DANWEI and hollywoodreporter.
This article is cross-posted in Globalvoices Advocacy with slight changes.
Links for Thu, 2009-02
Eternal Remont reports on the release of the MV Faina crew by the pirates, “a deep discount” on the ransom paid - and the future of the ship's cargo: “T-72s and assorted weapons” to be delivered to “Sudan, er, ‘Kenya.' Shipping weapons to Sudan would violate the U.N. arms embargo. That would be illegal.”
Jhay supports the inclusion of chess in the school curriculum of the Philippines.
Vladimir Azriyan, an Armenian participant in DOTCOM, comments on visiting a photo exhibition in Yerevan on environmental destruction. The teenage blogger particularly decries the destruction of Armenia's forests while another DOTCOM blogger, 15-year-old Nare, says that all of the Armenian participants attended.
“Living in Haiti brings me face to face with the most urgent and painful result of our environmental crisis: the death of children and the elderly in a village where environmental degradation has led to poverty and starvation”: Konbit Pou Ayiti takes a trip to Baie d’Orange.
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