Everst Base Camp Trek

Mount Everest

Namche Bazaar from the east

Namche Bazaar from the west

But there isn't enough water

THE world's population reached seven billion this week. The day, Monday, was marked with becoming happiness in countries that symbolically ushered in seven-billionth births. But it is the business of the United Nations Population Fund to inject realism into a statistical milestone few earthlings care about. It warns against over-consumption of resources: This was true before the fifth billion was crossed a generation ago. More optimistically, it says the crowded world could have thriving cities and productive labour that will grow economies, given the right planning and investment.

That is demanding a high threshold of proof. As 43 per cent of the seven billion are aged under 25, education and training obviously will make the difference between hope and despair.

It would have been nice if some of the increase of the past generation had been home-produced, in Singapore, for one. Or in Japan and South Korea. But what has been overlooked in the numbers lark is that falling fertility rates of the past half century - from six births per 1,000 to 2.5 - could see slower population growth than the addition of a billion every dozen years. It is possible the end-century number would be several billion short of 14-15 billion, at current rates of increase. Whatever the profile, competition for resources is the one constant that governments and the UN have to be watchful about. It is not food production. The world can feed itself. Such shortages that occur are mainly the result of questionable political choices and the machinations of food multinationals and futures markets. It is not about oil: Alternatives can be found or new industrial processes will emerge.

It is about water. Rivers cannot be transported to arid lands. 'Owners' of rich river sources and basins (China and Turkey are examples) will face increasing conflict with downstream nations as demand rises.

The World Resources Institute, a United States think-tank, calculates that water use will rise by 50 per cent in developing nations by 2025. Two representations highlight the challenges. The first: Only 2.5 per cent of the Earth's water is fresh, with two-thirds of that frozen. How soon can it be when oceans of salty water can be mined cheaply?

The second: It requires 100 litres of water to grow 1kg of potatoes, but to produce 1kg of beef takes 13,000 litres. There is scant chance of a change in eating habits when the middle-class multitudes of China and India are taking to meat-eating with gusto.

But if industry and governments would be as imaginative in seeking solutions as scientists are graphic in posing the challenge, Earth may not feel so overcrowded.

Not all inequality is created equal

While protesters and the media aim their anger at top earners, the fact that those with college degrees earn 75 per cent more than the average high school graduate is largely ignored. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Income gap a problem but bigger issue is divide between grads and non-grads

By David Brooks

WE LIVE in a polarising society, so perhaps it's inevitable that our experience of inequality should be polarised, too. In the first place, there is what you might call Blue Inequality. This is the kind experienced in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Houston and the District of Columbia. In these places, you see the top 1 per cent of earners zooming upwards, amassing more income and wealth. The economists Jon Bakija, Adam Cole and Bradley Heim have done the most authoritative research on who these top 1 per cent are.

Roughly 31 per cent started or manage non-financial businesses. About 16 per cent are doctors, 14 per cent are in finance, 8 per cent are lawyers, 5 per cent are engineers and about 2 per cent are in sports, entertainment or the media.

Jagdish Bhagwati: Does Redistributing Income Reduce Poverty?

The writer Jagdish Bhagwati suggests that the poor need greater access to education in order to increase their economic opportunities and social mobility -- PHOTO: AP

NEW YORK - Many on the left are suspicious of the idea that economic growth helps to reduce poverty in developing countries. They argue that growth-oriented policies seek to increase gross national product, not to ameliorate poverty, and that redistribution is the key to poverty reduction. These assertions, however, are not borne out by the evidence.

Spread of fast food weighs heavy in India

Proliferation of global chains changing habits and worrying both doctors and parents


NEW DELHI: Shivam Kumar, an eighth grade student, likes nothing better than a McChicken burger from McDonald's. Sometimes, he doesn't even ask his parents to get one, but just picks up the phone and orders home delivery.

'He goes out with friends and they end up eating at some fast-food restaurant. At home, too, some days we just end up ordering in,' said his mother Rita, an education consultant.

On average, Shivam eats at McDonald's at least three times a week - and that is not counting Domino's Pizza or Pizza Hut at least once a week as well.

4E2 Thursday Mock Test on River

4E2,
Please click the link for inserts in my previous post and study Photograph B and C for Question 4(a) (i) and (ii) on rivers. You'll be tested only on rivers.

4E2,
please click here, to look at the figure for your mock exam on Tuesday. Only need to look at the first figure, which are photograph A and B that show two different coasts.

Girl Effect

Content's Page for File Check

Anti-logging activist murdered in Amazon

I remember when I taught some of you about the conservation of the rainforests and illegal loggers actually killed some of the environmentalists as they obstruct their activities. Many were surprised that such a thing could happen. José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva, also known by his nickname of "Ze Claudio" in Brazil, a anti-logging activist was recently killed on 24 May because of his strong objection to the illegal logging carried out at the Amazon forest. Click here and here to read more. It's a very sad day for Amazon and Amazon is crying ...

When money is not the key to happiness

May 24, 2011

MEMO FROM BEIJING

Study finds relatively poor Shijiazhuang is China's happiest city

By Grace Ng, China Correspondent

Women forming the word 'happy' at a Guangzhou bikini contest in southern Guangdong province earlier this month. The Chinese Communist Party leadership is on a drive to make citizens happy as it strives to keep social stability by showing it cares about their well-being. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE people of Shijiazhuang, capital of northern Hebei province and an industrial hub, have reason to cheer.

This month, the city with a population of about 11 million was named China's happiest city.

Job-seekers willing but unqualified

May 29, 2011

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN INDONESIA

Growing pool of young people lacking in skills and education

By Zubaidah Nazeer, Indonesia Correspondent

An ILO report said job openings for the young had not improved since the 1990s. They are typically low-paying or may be temporary. -- PHOTO: AFP

Jakarta: Diploma holder Yuni Sugrondo has jumped from one contract job to another in the last three years.

Her stints as administrative assistant paid up to 1.5 million rupiah (S$220) a month, just enough to buy food and contribute to her family's expenses for their house.

The 24-year-old, who studied management at a private institute in Jakarta, has not been able to find a permanent job. Employers tell her she lacks specific skills for the jobs in human resources that she really wants.

'That is why I want to take a course in human resources so I can get into that industry. But first I need to earn enough to save money,' she said.

Be happy! It's not all about economic growth

OECD launches 'happiness index' to better measure quality of life

PARIS: Perhaps a country's success is not just a matter of economic growth after all.

The tacit acknowledgement came from no less than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which yesterday launched a so-called 'happiness index' to better measure the quality of life.

SA 1 Results

Osama bin Laden dead

"Justice has been done," President Obama says in a televised speech to the nation. Bin Laden, mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks and Al Qaeda leader, was killed by a CIA-led team at a compound inside Pakistan

Illegal logging, mining and forest fires cost Indonesia $45b

An aerial shot taken last year shows a massive oil palm plantation (left) beside shrinking natural forest cover in Central Kalimantan. Reports of the stripping of forests come even as lawmakers remain deadlocked over how to preserve them. -- PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

JAKARTA: Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry said illegal logging, land clearance, forest fires and mining have devastated Kalimantan and cost the country an estimated 311.4 trillion rupiah (S$44.5 billion).

Tamil Tigers, govt troops 'both guilty of war crimes'

Tens of thousands died in last days of civil war in Sri Lanka: UN report

A file picture (above) supplied by the pro-rebel organisation www.WarWithoutWitness.com shows what it says are injured Tamil civilians at a makeshift hospital inside the 'no fire zone' in northern Sri Lanka. The photo was taken in May 2009. A UN report says both sides may have been guilty of war crimes in the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka two years ago. -- PHOTOS: REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

UNITED NATIONS: A United Nations report has painted a barbarous picture of the final days of the civil war in Sri Lanka two years ago, saying that both sides in the conflict may have been guilty of war crimes.

North 'running out of food soon'

WASHINGTON: Parts of North Korea are expected to run out of food in less than two months, even if foreign donors agree to provide aid, a United States relief group said.

The US and South Korea have reacted cautiously to reports of dire food shortages in the North, with some officials suspecting that the isolated communist state is exaggerating the problem to win assistance.

But Samaritan's Purse, one of five US groups that visited North Korea in February, said on Wednesday that a harsh winter has reduced crop yield by up to half.

Mr Ken Isaacs, the group's vice-president for programmes and government relations, said the groups want to provide 160,000 to 175,000 tonnes of food to North Korea, but it would be impossible to arrange shipments in time. 'If a green light was given today, that food probably isn't going to be in North Korea for about three months,' he said.

Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans died in a famine in the 1990s. But North Korea, which prides itself on its philosophy of self-reliance, abruptly kicked out US aid groups in 2009.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Half of China's population live in the cities

Number of 'floating' migrants up by 83%

By Ho Ai Li, China Correspondent

A migrant worker having his lunch at a construction site in Hefei, Anhui province. There are 665 million people living in China's urban areas, reflecting the former agricultural country's rapid transformation. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING: One in two Chinese people now lives in a city, the country's latest census released yesterday revealed. It also showed population growth has slowed and the population is ageing.

Food price rises in Asia threatening growth

A woman looking at price tags of vegetables at a supermarket in Seoul yesterday. South Korea is one of several Asian countries where food price inflation has already risen by double digit figures. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

MANILA: Sharp rises in food prices are threatening economic growth in Asia and could push millions more into extreme poverty, the Asian Development Bank said in a report released yesterday.

Malaysia's worsening brain drain

World Bank report says loss hinders goal to be high-income economy

By Leslie Lopez, Senior Regional Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR: There are common threads that connect Mr Tang Kok Yew, chief executive of Affinity Capital, with Mr Richard Ong of RRJ Capital and Mr Cheah Cheng Hye of Value Partners.

All are stars in Asia's financial marketplace. All are Malaysian-born. And all left the country long ago.

A wealth of knowledge in the humanities

Apr 21, 2011

By Tony Golsby-Smith

HOW many people in your organisation are innovative thinkers who can help with your thorniest strategy problems? How many have a keen understanding of customer needs? How many understand what it takes to be assured employees are engaged at work?

If the answer is 'not many', welcome to the club. Business leaders around the world have told me that they despair of finding people who can help them solve wicked problems - or even get their heads around them. It's not that firms don't have smart people working with them. There are plenty of MBAs and even PhDs in economics, chemistry or computer science in the corporate ranks. Intellectual wattage is not lacking. It's the right intellectual wattage that's hard to find. They simply don't have enough people with the right backgrounds.

Top JI operative in custody in Pakistan

Mar 31, 2011

Indonesian terrorist Umar Patek involved in 2002 Bali bombing

By Lynn Lee, Indonesia Bureau Chief

JAKARTA: Pakistan yesterday confirmed that it had arrested top Indonesian terrorist Umar Patek. The confirmation came shortly after the Indonesian police said they would dispatch a team to Pakistan to confirm the arrest.

'Yes, it is confirmed we have arrested him, he is in Pakistan and he is being interrogated,' a Pakistani security official told Agence France- Presse (AFP).

But there was no word on when or where exactly he was nabbed.

Pakistani security officials, quoted by the Associated Press (AP), said he was caught after a tip-off from the US Central Intelligence Agency.

'The CIA tipped us off that he might be travelling here,' one official said, but he stressed that it was a 'solely Pakistani operation'.

Another official said Patek was being questioned by Pakistani agents, but that he would 'eventually' be handed over to the Indonesians. 'It is our policy to send them back to their country of origin,' he said.

The CIA would presumably like to have access to Patek, AP said, but the Pakistani officer said this would happen only with the written consent of Indonesia.

Uncertainty over fate of rice fields

Mar 27, 2011

A sofa is part of the debris left in a rice field in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. The field was flooded by the tsunami which followed the March 11 earthquake. -- PHOTO: AP

Sendai (Japan) - The rice paddies on the outskirts of this tsunami-hit city are ankle-deep in a black, salty sludge. Crumpled cars and uprooted trees lie scattered across them.

His house destroyed, rice farmer Shinichi Shibasaki lives on a square of blue tarp on the top floor of a farming cooperative office with others like him. He has one set of soiled clothes. But all he can think about is getting back to work.

'If we start washing the soil out now, we can start growing our rice seedlings at the end of April at a different location, and plant them here a month later,' the 59-year-old said.

That may prove overly optimistic but agriculture experts say a quick recovery is possible, maybe within a year.

A key factor will be how long it takes for the salt to wash out from the fields, some still flooded with seawater. There are no official estimates yet of how much farmland was affected. A rough calculation based on last year's harvest in tsunami-hit towns indicates that, at most, 8 per cent of Japan's 1.6 million ha of rice farms has been hit, affecting about 4 per cent of total production.

A greater concern may be manpower. 'I'm worried that a lot of these elderly farmers are just going to leave their fields and not come back,' said Mr Masao Takahashi, an official in the Miyagi office of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives, a politically powerful national network of farming groups.

In Natori, 60-year-old rice farmer Kikuo Endo points to a shed full of ruined farm equipment, which he estimates was worth 10 million yen (S$155,000). 'People shouldn't give up but I don't think I will farm again.'

AP

Healthier hawker fare at no extra cost

Apr 3, 2011

Wholegrain noodles, brown rice among options at all hawker centres in three years

By Poon Chian Hui

In three years' time, you will be able to choose healthier versions of local dishes like char kway teow made with wholegrain noodles at all hawker centres in Singapore - and at no extra cost.

The Health Promotion Board (HPB) unveiled these plans yesterday at the launch of its new Healthier Hawker Programme, which aims to stem the rising obesity rates here. The latest National Health Survey last year showed that one in 10 Singaporeans is obese.

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan Part II

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

More heat than light at US hearing on radical Muslims Organisers accused of going on a witch hunt

Mar 12, 2011

By Chua Chin Hon, US Bureau Chief

Mr Peter King, who convened the hearing, said Americans cannot live in denial, referring to recent terror attempts by radicalised American Muslims.

WASHINGTON: A controversial hearing on the radicalisation of American Muslims has produced sharply divergent views as United States lawmakers clashed on a heated issue drawing increasing attention as the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks neared.

Republican lawmaker Peter King, who convened Thursday's hearing as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and his supporters said their intention was to 'inform, not inflame'.

'(We) cannot live in denial which is what some would have us do,' Mr King said in reference to a recent spate of home-grown terror attempts by radicalised American Muslims.

40% of Americans link Islam to violence: poll

A Pew poll says that four in 10 Americans believe that Islam is more likely to encourage violence than other religions. -- ST FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON - FOUR in 10 Americans believe Islam is more likely to encourage violence than other religions, up sharply from March 2002, six months after the September 11 attacks, according to a new Pew poll.

The figure is lower than July 2004, when a post-9/11 high of 46 per cent of respondents said the Muslim faith is more likely than others to foment attacks, but it marks a significant rise from the 25 per cent recorded in March 2002 and 35 per cent from just seven months ago.

In the latest national poll conducted February 22 to March 1 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 42 per cent of respondents said Islam does not encourage violence more than other ideologies, down from 51 per cent in March 2002.

Parsing its own findings, the center reported that Tea Party conservatives and conservative Republicans were most likely to link Islam to violence, with 67 per cent and 66 per cent respectively, while just 29 per cent of liberal Democrats were.

Six in 10 white evangelical Protestants were likely to do the same, while 'by nearly two to one (56 per cent to 30 per cent), the religiously unaffiliated say that the Islamic religion does not encourage violence more than others,' Pew said.

The survey results were released ahead of controversial congressional hearings held on Thursday in Washington on homegrown Muslim terrorism. The independent, non-partisan Pew interviewed 1,504 adults by telephone in the United States for its poll, which did not report a margin of error. -- AFP

Mar 8, 2011

AUSSIE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY

Lessons from Singapore's fair, not welfare, approach

By Noel Pearson

AFTER 10 years looking to North America and Britain for reform inspiration in the fight against poverty, I have come to the conclusion we are looking in the wrong places. There is a country in our own region from which we have more to learn: Singapore.

Failing the World's Lungs

Rubric for 5A2 and 5A3 on Natural Vegetation

c) For a named tropical rainforest area you have studied, describe the way in which afforestation and reforestation can be encouraged.

How effective is this as a method of protecting the forest. [8]

Level 1 (0-3 marks)
Describe briefly what reafforestation is but no detail. No place reference given or very general e.g Indonesia. No supported effectiveness, or ultra simple, e.g ‘it worked’, ‘it was effective’.

Level 2 (4-6 marks)
Some description of reafforestation and how it works. Place reference given by little detail. E.g Kalimantan in Indonesia. Brief statements of effectiveness, e.g ‘ reafforestation has helped to restore some of the forest’.

Level 3 (7 – 8 marks)
Detail description of how reafforestation work.Place reference given fairly specific, e.g East Kalimantan. Clear statement of degree of effectiveness, e.g ‘in 2000, up to 90 0000 km2 of forest were replanted.’

Gapminder: Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact based world view.

Development is one of my favourite Geography topics because this topic allows me to understand why different countries struggle to improve and how as a world we can work towards a better future.

Check out this website, Rosling has made statistics so much more interesting and alive. The best thing is this is a freeware that you can download and learn more. What are you waiting? ;)

4E2: Descriptors for Development Question

Describe with examples, strategies intended to reduce uneven development between developed countries and less developed countries. How effective have these strategies been?
[8]
Level 1 (0-3 marks)
Describe briefly what the international organisations do to help. No clear link how the work helps to improve the standard of living. No clear examples given or mere mentions of countries. No evaluation of the success of the work done.

Level 2 (4-6 marks)
Examples given and description of the work done and link to how it helps to improve standard of living. Some extent of evaluation of the success of the work done.

Level 3 (7 – 8 marks)
Detailed examples of countries that were helped by international organisations. Names of international organisations given and their work described in details. Link how the work done help to improve the standard of living. Detail evaluation of the success of the strategies used.

Over 90% of Singaporeans happy with quality of life

Feb 1, 2011

But many surveyed express concern over cost of living

By Rachel Chang

SINGAPOREANS have higher levels of confidence in the country's future and economy, but a new survey found them concerned about issues such as affordability of public housing and employment opportunities for the elderly and needy.

Commissioned by Reach, the Government's feedback arm, the survey last year saw more than 90 per cent of the 2,013 respondents express satisfaction with their overall quality of life, compared to 2009.

When asked if they were satisfied with the way Singapore was being run, 96 per cent of respondents, who were aged 17 and above, said 'yes'.

A high percentage were also satisfied with the Government's economic policies, the quality of the public service, their living environment and issues such as the education system.

But the survey also found that a larger proportion of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with aspects of public transport and housing compared to a year earlier.

China's Annual Reunion Rush Begins

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2011

Travellers waiting at Changsha Railway Station in Hunan province yesterday. The world's largest annual movement of people officially began yesterday in China, as hundreds of millions of migrant workers in the cities head back to their rural hometowns for Chinese New Year. -- PHOTO: XINHUA

BEIJING: The world's largest annual movement of people officially began yesterday, when millions of Chinese started on their long march home in time for the yearly reunion dinner with their families.

Fertility figures hit all-time low

Shortage of babies a key hurdle to achieving a sustainable population

By Li Xueying, Political Correspondent

SINGAPORE'S baby shortfall worsened last year when the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) sank to a historic low of 1.16.

That is down from 1.22 in 2009, and way below the replacement level of 2.1.

Speaking at an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) conference yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng identified the low TFR, which is a preliminary estimate, as the key hurdle to Singapore achieving a 'sustainable population'.

Such a population, he said, has a strong citizen core, a stable ethnic mix, enough manpower for economic growth, and mitigates the impact of ageing.

TFR measures the average number of children that a woman would bear in her lifetime, in this case, a woman resident in Singapore.

On the uphill task of persuading Singapore residents to have more children, Mr Wong said: 'The going is hard, but we have not given up. We will continue to support couples' decisions to get married and have children, and create a pro-family environment.'

The veteran minister, who now heads the National Population and Talent Division, said that to be realistic, Singapore also has to accept that boosting fertility will take time.

'For the foreseeable future, we will need to tap on immigration to augment our population, to support economic growth and to mitigate the impact of ageing,' he added.

Last year also saw the effect of the Government's tightened immigration framework of late 2009, designed to better manage the inflow and quality of new immigrants.

It granted only 29,265 new permanent residence passes last year, half of the 59,460 it granted in 2009.

But the number of new citizens held steady at 18,758 last year, just shy of the 19,928 in 2009, because Singapore attracted migrants 'of good quality', Mr Wong said.

On the need to balance staying open to foreigners and addressing the concerns of its citizen core, he said: 'Ultimately, it is about navigating a path that allows us to grow as a global city, yet remain a distinctive and endearing home.'

The preliminary estimate of a TFR of 1.16 for last year places Singapore below Japan and South Korea, which have estimated TFRs of 1.2 and 1.22 respectively.

Taiwan now has the lowest TFR in the world at 0.91.

The latest drop in Singapore's TFR comes after almost 30 years of government incentives to get Singaporeans in the mood for love - and babies.

In particular, the last decade has seen it redouble its efforts, by introducing the Baby Bonus and longer, paid maternity leave, among other things.

But some population experts think that last year's dip might be a blip and could be reversed this year.

Two factors could explain last year's new low of 1.16.

The first was the recession of 2009, which put a damper on family planning.

Said Dr Yap Mui Teng of the IPS: 'People were feeling a lot of uncertainty. We were talking about how it was the worst recession since the Depression.'

The second factor was the Chinese zodiac year of the Tiger falling last year. It is believed by some to be an unlucky year for having children.

With the economy having rebounded strongly and the more auspicious years of the Rabbit and Dragon coming up, the TFR is likely to stabilise - or even rise this year

'2010 was a boom year and I wouldn't be surprised if the TFR sees a bit of pickup in 2011,' said Dr Gavin Jones, a population specialist at the Asia Research Institute (ARI).

Dr Leong Chan Hoong of IPS said the TFR could also have been pulled down by successive waves of new PRs since 2005, who have fewer children than citizens.

Young Singaporeans interviewed said they were reluctant to have children because of the 'very high' financial cost of raising children in Singapore.

Take lawyer Tania Chin, 26, who plans to marry soon but has no intention of having children as yet.

'It's a question of opportunity cost, and I can't afford the downtime from my career,' she said. 'Furthermore, speaking from my own experience as an only child, children are really expensive.'

Dr Jones said one option is for the Government to increase its child allowance, but the increase would have to be 'by quite a lot for it to have much impact on fertility'.

Sociologist Jean Yeung, also of ARI, said another reason for the low TFR could be Singapore's patriarchal family system and policies.

'It will be useful for men to become more active and engaged as a co-parent rather than just a helper to the mother,' she said.

xueying@sph.com.sg