EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

For one and all

A NEW facility to allow low-income earners to invest in the 1Malaysia Unit Trust Fund is in the works. The scheme was discussed by the prime minister and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), one of the country's top asset managers. Incorporated in 1978, PNB was "conceived as a pivotal instrument of the government's New Economic Policy to promote share ownership in the corporate sector among Bumiputeras". It manages some RM189 billion in various programmes and is no longer exclusive to Bumiputeras. Its accumulated capital accounts for 15 per cent of investments in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. The plan for the facility has been submitted to the Securities Commission and Finance Ministry for due diligence and approval.

The fund and the proposal for its extension add to a long list of government initiatives to encourage saving, and give ordinary people a tangible, reasonably high-yielding and virtually risk-free stake in the economy. It is aimed at broadening the base of investors and is part of PNB's effort to educate and engage citizens who might otherwise be woefully short of investment opportunities. Besides enabling the low-income investor to buy in at smaller sums, he will also be given a leg up through special loans to take part in the scheme. To the critics who will point an accusing finger at the government for fostering indebtedness, let it be known that repayment is deducted from annual dividends. To all intents and purposes, the 1Malaysia Unit Trust Fund is another wealth redistribution mechanism. Like all such measures, it does not attempt to level things up by forcibly transferring incomes from one part of society to another. Rather, gains are spread more widely by a greater sharing in a growing economy. It also has a significant psychological dimension: teaching even the poor to manage money wisely and save for the future.

Like other unit trusts run by PNB for over three decades, this fund should also bring predictably good returns. To date, PNB has paid out some RM82 billion in dividends and bonuses. Malaysia is unique among developing countries in its market-friendly strategies for aiding the low-income groups. As the frequently long queues at public offers of Amanah Saham funds attest, Malaysians are thankful for the chance to put their spare cash to good use. Whereas once PNB's agenda was to promote share ownership among Bumiputeras, now that agenda has become inclusive and focused on the low-income groups. For its part, the government is obviously demonstrating its unwavering commitment to making 1Malaysia a reality in substance as well as spirit.

EDITORIAL : THE INDEPENDENT. ie, IRELAND

This is no way to treat our children

THEY say that a loud voice can seldom compete with a clear one -- this is a point new Health Minister James Reilly should note. In opposition, Dr Reilly was a frequent flyer on the national airwaves, where he built a well deserved, no-nonsense reputation for pointing out the scandalous inadequacies of our dysfunctional health service.

Now that he is in the hot seat he has an obligation to make his actions speak louder than his words.

Yesterday, the minister told the nation he "welcomed" a damning report which shows that the three Dublin children's hospitals are significantly under-using their operating theatres.

Dr Reilly said it would be advisable to learn lessons about what is not working, before we move to a single paediatric hospital.

There were a few difficulties with Dr Reilly's approach, some of which will unnerve many who believed the new minister when he promised profound and meaningful change in his department.

Firstly, precisely why he chose to "welcome" what was a searing indictment of how our children are treated is perplexing in itself.

Equally odd was the fact that the minister had not yet seen the report.

Although practically all of its findings appeared to highlight a need for reforms in the planning and management of operations at Temple Street, Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin and Tallaght Hospital, Dr Reilly appeared to give the impression that this was all somehow positive.

The problem for parents of sick children is that they are weary of seeing their children suffering needlessly because of avoidable delays. They have seen too many reports compiled identifying glaring faults consigned to history's dustbin.

This one critically exposes the fact that Temple Street is under-using theatre time by 28pc, Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin by 28pc and Tallaght by 17pc. When it comes to caring for ill children parents already know that talk, however sincere, will not cut it. Dr Reilly needs to demonstrate exactly how he intends to tackle these and myriad other problems.

He faces a stern test to show that he can deliver where all his predecessors have fallen flat. He has vowed to radically change a department famously regarded as a graveyard of political ambitions.

Yesterday he was furnished with a 207-page report that amounted to a disgrace. It seems extraordinary that no hospital systematically operated a manual or computerised theatre management system. It also seems completely unsatisfactory that the hospitals used 'block booking' theatre allocation to a fixed surgeon and specialty.

This meant that if an operation did not happen on time, the operating slot was lost forever.

This seems especially reprehensible as current figures show that the waiting lists for planned operations for children at the hospitals are: Crumlin, 422 patients; Temple Street, 66 patients; and Tallaght, 42 patients.

Exactly what Dr Reilly found to welcome about such a dismal litany of failure is not easy to fathom.

A different kind of Easter

EASTER was traditionally a time for introspection, penitence, redemption and eventual renewal. At another time we would be aware of its arrival because of the rites and rituals that traditionally attend its coming.

These are different times, however. It is telling that we have come to a place where we have been told to look to the banks for "forgiveness," and it fell to the Dalai Lama recently to remind us that we are more than an economy, and that values are not something solely attached to the material.

There are those who might welcome the fact that the pulpit of the Catholic Church no longer casts such an imposing shadow over our society. There are others who might also argue that the baby has been thrown out with the bath-water.

They would contend that respect, trust, and compassion, characteristics that were traditionally heralded at this time of the year, seem to have been discarded.

This week we were given what many may regard as an uncomfortable look at how others see us. The Nyberg report on the banking crisis identified a "herd mentality" or "unquestioning consensus" where the blind pursuit of property cost us so dearly.

Whatever future should eventually be fashioned from the difficult circumstances in which we now find ourselves, a little more introspection and renewal would hardly go amiss. Happy Easter.

EDITORIAL : THE GUARDIAN, UK

           

 

Public holidays: give us a break

Why not allow counties and cities the right to allocate a locally determined public holiday?

This year England and Wales will have nine bank and public holidays, one more than the usual ration. Four of the nine are concentrated within the next 11 days. Scotland, with its slightly different public holidays, will also use up three of this year's 10 in the same period, while Northern Ireland will have four of its 11. This year is, of course, an unusual one, because the combination of a very late Easter and the extra public holiday to mark the royal wedding have created a wider window of getaway opportunity. Yet 2012 will have an extra holiday too, to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee. The government, moreover, has floated the idea of changing the May Day holiday. All in all, this is a good moment to consider the place of bank and public holidays in the national calendar.

It may, perhaps, be asked whether public holidays are not anachronistic in an era in which so much holiday is privatised, entitlements guaranteed, and in an age in which the majority of people take far more days off than they did in the 1870s, when bank holidays first became established. Should there, indeed, be fewer of them? But the answer will always be that public holidays remain important and life-enhancing occasions. The reasons for maintaining them include cultural tradition, national solidarity, the uneven provision of private entitlements, the needs of specific groups of workers who particularly rely on public holidays, and the underlying truth that there is more to life than work anyway. The original Bank Holidays Act, indeed, was introduced in an attempt to encourage more playing of cricket.

In fact there is a strong case for having more public holidays. England and Wales do not just have fewer public holidays than Scotland and Northern Ireland; provision is more generous in much of the European Union too. France by tradition has 12 public holidays, while even the United States has 10. So an extra public holiday, or even two, in the autumn would not just fill the current bank-holiday-free gap between August and Christmas, and help parents during schools' half-term break, it would also do something to make good the overall deficit.

It is important, too, not to turn public holidays into political footballs. Forget worthy but foolish plans for Britishness days. Resist the temptation to commemorate feats of arms. And leave the May Day holiday alone. It has a deep history worth celebrating – and we need more public holidays, not fewer. In which spirit, why not also give Britain's counties and cities the right to allocate a locally determined public holiday of their own if they choose? Local bank holidays were quite common a generation ago. They deserve a comeback. And we all need a few more breaks. Enjoy the next 11 days.

Gordon Brown and the IMF: An unfair race

David Cameron should make it clear that he supports a proper recruitment procedure, to be independently monitored

Consider the following scenario. A multinational corporation that has a war chest worth hundreds of billions of dollars may be about to have a vacancy at the top. Nearly everyone agrees that it needs a top-to-bottom overhaul, from the key personnel to the way it does business. But rather than having an open competition for the vacancy, a clique of insiders squabble over the top job. Some make it clear that certain names haven't a hope, whatever their qualifications. Other good candidates don't have a heavyweight patron, so don't get a look-in. The result is that leadership of one of the biggest and most important institutions in the world does not go to the best man or woman for the job, but to a compromise candidate.

The above may sound like fiction, but the sad reality is that it is how the boss of the IMF has been selected for most of the past 60 years. Much of the time it goes unremarked – a French socialist or Spanish conservative is levered into the top spot and life goes on as normal. But this week it became big news in Britain, after David Cameron declared Gordon Brown "not the most appropriate person" to run the IMF. Take out the names and the enmity that gave this story its particular piquancy, and the episode illustrates another point: an early-morning interview question sprung on Mr Cameron about the man he spent years battling is simply not the most appropriate way to choose who runs the Fund. It does not reflect the changing nature of the world economy, where power is slowly diffusing from a handful of nations in the west to a much larger group of countries in the south. And it is no help in steering the global economy through one of the most turbulent periods since the second world war.

It took a mere 54 years for the IMF to agree that it should "adopt an open, merit-based and transparent process for the selection" of top management. That decision was made in 2009, following nearly a decade of working groups, position papers and reports. It also followed decades of a gentlemen's agreement between Europe and America that Washington would choose the head of the World Bank, while the continent could select the IMF's leader. During that time, membership of the Fund has gone from 29 countries to 187. Big economies such as China and India have become vastly more prosperous, while the eurozone has lurched into an existential crisis. Nowadays a rich country – Iceland, Ireland, Greece – is as likely to tap up the IMF for a loan as a poor one: the first time since the 70s and Callaghan that that has been the case. Meanwhile, poor and middle-income countries are complaining again that their economies are being knocked off course by policies adopted by the west, as a tidal wave of hot money hits their markets. And as if all that was not enough, much of the Fund's economic orthodoxy has been shaken by the global financial crisis. IMF researchers now concede that poor countries may be helped, not hindered, by turning away foreign speculators. They talk about how a big wealth gap can prevent nations from enjoying sustainable growth. Chinks are opening up in the old dogma.

The job of running the IMF should never have been treated as a bauble to be handed around rich European countries. That always looked ridiculous; amid this crisis it now appears dangerous. The irony is that one of the few people who has consistently pushed for reform of the IMF is none other than Gordon Brown. Ever since he was chancellor, Mr Brown has been an articulate expositor of ideas for a new global financial architecture. The notion that Mr Cameron would allow his former adversary a bully pulpit in Washington to criticise the coalition's economic policies was always a non-starter. But the prime minister should make it clear that he supports a proper recruitment procedure, to be independently monitored. That is no more than one would expect for such a big job at such an important organisation.

In praise of … llamas

Long valued for their fleeces, llamas have also been helping in efforts to save two threatened species of Lake District fish

The llama and its fluffier, smaller relative the alpaca are among the most successful immigrants to the United Kingdom in modern times. They marked their arrival by going to the very top, grazing for Queen Victoria at Windsor. For years a source of high-quality textiles, following Sir Titus Salt's breakthrough in spinning alpaca weft with a cotton warp in Bradford in the late 1830s, the animals have long been valued for their fleeces. Now they have earned a bigger niche in their own right. At dozens of tourism sites, they add to the interest of petting farms (their spitting is largely exaggerated, except at each other) or carry baggage for hikers, an occupation which the llama seems particularly to enjoy. Unlike sheep or cattle, llamas appear interested in human activities. They are drawn to noise and movement, standing, wrote Thornton Wilder in The Bridge of San Louis Rey, with ears curved like question marks, apparently on the brink of joining in a conversation. This month they have shown another aspect of their versatility, and in the process helped an ancient but challenged native species. Climate change has made life uncomfortable for the vendace, one of two curious fish endemic to the English Lake District (the other is the schelley of Helvellyn's Red Tarn). Thousands of young fish from Derwent Water have therefore been moved to Sprinkling Tarn, much higher and colder – on llama-back. Sure-footed, comfy and quick, says the Environment Agency. And greener and cheaper than a jeep.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

Rethinking Their Pledge

 
Senator Tom Coburn, a conservative Republican from Oklahoma, has had the good sense to demand an end to the $5 billion annual tax credit to makers of corn ethanol, a wasteful subsidy to farm states that is also dubious environmental policy. For his outspokenness, Senator Coburn was pilloried by anti-government activists of his own party who cannot stand the idea of more revenues flowing into the federal Treasury. But he and a few others in the Senate are holding fast, suggesting that at least some Republicans are willing to break with party orthodoxy to reduce the long-term budget deficit.

The loudest criticism came from Grover Norquist, whose group, Americans for Tax Reform, is the author of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge that has become a sacred covenant for virtually anyone wishing to run as a Republican. More than 95 percent of the Republicans in Congress have signed it (including Senator Coburn), as have many Republican governors and state lawmakers.

The pledge is often thought of as an agreement never to vote for raising taxes for any reason, but it goes even further than that. Those who sign it also vow never to eliminate any tax deductions or credits (like the handout to ethanol makers), unless the resulting increase in revenues is offset, dollar for dollar, by further tax cuts.

The pledge is really less about keeping taxes low than it is about holding down government revenues, which prevent the growth of government services. Mr. Norquist has famously said his goal is to shrink government “down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”

Mr. Norquist can afford to be candid about his fierce aversion to government services, since he does not have to run for office with the votes of people who like those services. The Republican lawmakers who have joined his congregation, however, are less forthright about the effect of their policies. They go around lulling constituents with phony mantras like “Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem,” as if cutting spending is the only conceivable solution to lowering the deficit.

This purity finally ran into a tough-minded pragmatist in Senator Coburn. Though his zeal to eliminate many worthy government programs is still excessive, he is right to see the wastefulness in the ethanol giveaway — and the extremism of Mr. Norquist’s position. Senator Coburn’s spokesman has even described Mr. Norquist as “the chief cleric of Sharia tax law.”

Senator Coburn is also a member of the “gang of six” senators that has been trying to find a bipartisan way to reduce the nation’s debt. He and the two other Republicans in the group, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Michael Crapo of Idaho, say they are opposed to raising tax rates but hope to rewrite the tax code in a way that brings in more revenue by eliminating many unnecessary tax breaks and broadening the tax base.

That, at least, represents the beginning of a useful conversation. It could very well mean that the rich would pay more in taxes. Which is why Mr. Norquist, in full grand-inquisitor style, has demanded that Senator Coburn drop out of the gang.

His influence, happily, seems to be on the wane. The three senators have reminded Mr. Norquist that their highest oath is not to him or some abstract pledge, but to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. 

 

A Hole in the Endangered Species Act

As part of its budget bill, Congress approved a brief rider, 11 lines long, that removes gray wolves in Idaho and Montana from the protections of the Endangered Species Act. The rider overturns a recent court ruling, prohibits further judicial review and cannot be good for the wolf. But the worst part is that it sets a terrible precedent — allowing Congress to decide the fate of animals on the list.

The law’s purpose is to base protections on science. Now that politics has been allowed to trump science when it comes to the gray wolf, which species will be next?

The rider’s sponsors, Senator Jon Tester of Montana and Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho, were responding to the demands of ranchers, who sometimes lose livestock to wolves, and hunters, who complain that wolves reduce deer and elk populations.

Sadly and surprisingly, they were abetted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who declared last month that he would accept what he called a “legislative solution” to the status of the wolf in the Rocky Mountains. One Interior Department official has argued that without this concession, the rider might well have been far more radical — possibly removing wolves everywhere from protection.

The wolf has been a subject of litigation ever since it was reintroduced in the mid-1990s. One of Mr. Salazar’s first acts as secretary was to de-list the animal in Idaho and Montana, arguing that populations had recovered and that the states could now manage them. A federal judge overturned his ruling, as well as a compromise plan that Mr. Salazar worked out with environmental groups.

Idaho and Montana plan to allow controlled hunts. The best hope for the wolves is that the states adhere to their management plans and not let the hunts get out of control. The courts can only stand by, but the Interior Department must hold the states to the terms of a five-year review process required by their management plans.

As for Mr. Salazar, he has made it harder to uphold the integrity of a law that has withstood attacks from industry, ranchers, real estate developers and their political allies. Other protected species like the grizzly bear could now face their own “legislative solution.” For the sake of his own reputation as a conservationist, Mr. Salazar has to hope that Congress’s meddling stops with the wolves.  

Do You Think It’s Because They Liked Florida?

House Republicans are seeking to abolish the federal Election Assistance Commission — as if the nation is fully recovered from the hanging-chad nightmare of 2000. The 9-year-old commission was created in bipartisan Congressional resolve to repair the nation’s crazy quilt of tattered election standards and faltering machinery.

The commission was charged with upgrading the mechanics of voting by certifying electoral equipment, channeling needed federal aid and guidance to states, and developing a national mail-in voter registration system. After a slow start, it has made progress as the 2012 elections loom. But there is still a lot more that needs repairing.

Representative Gregg Harper, a Mississippi Republican and the elections subcommittee chairman, nevertheless insists that the commission “is no longer essential” and is leading the drive to flat-line it for a savings of $18 million. Surreally, a related Republican bill would transfer the agency’s mandate to the Federal Election Commission — Washington’s nonpareil in agency dysfunction. That would only invite partisan standoff and voting scandal.

The Election Assistance Commission should have been focused earlier on pushing all states to require a paper trail with their post-chad electronic voting machines. But it has tested voting systems for accuracy, and it oversees the special requirements of military and disabled voters. It could make more progress if turf-minded state officials were more open to its valuable studies on better ballot design. Far from going out of the business, the commission needs renewed support from Congress. For the sake of credible elections, the House gambit should be rebuffed.

EDITORIAL : THE GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA

Redefining Australia-China ties

With Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard visiting China next week, the two countries now have an opportunity to boost their relations.

Australia's foreign policy has long been close to the US. Its Chinese-speaking former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd once expressed his interest in focusing more on Asia, especially on China. However, ideological considerations then urged him to distance himself from China and take a tougher stance than his predecessor, John Howard.

Over the past few years, conflicts between Australia and China have become more frequent – Rebiya Kadeer's visit to Australia, tension over Rio Tinto and the Rudd administration's 2009 defense white paper among others. Nevertheless, it was during these years that bilateral economic and trade relations grew to new heights. China is Australia's top trade partner at the moment. All these seem to show Rudd's China policy went against the interests of the Australian people themselves.

In such context, Gillard's adjustment in dealing with China does not seem to be a very difficult task. However, will the so-called adjustment merely be a temporary diplomatic posture?

Australia's China policy has been influenced by two forces. First is the US-Australia alliance together with the so-called Western values. This brought about Australia's inertia in prioritizing ideology when dealing with China. Second is the emergence of Asia, especially China, which has given Australia colossal practical interests. The Asian appeal now spurs Australia to adjust its diplomatic framework.

The Chinese public can understand Australia's inertia in its national strategy, and China does not seek to make Australia pick a side, the US or China.

Beyond considering studying and traveling aboard, ordinary Chinese rarely think of Australia in their everyday lives. Chinese society wants to see a moderate and normal relationship with Australia.

However, if Australia keeps stating China's importance, yet reinforces the US-Australian alliance as its national strategy for the 21st century, the Chinese public will feel uncomfortable. On the one hand, they may think Australia is trying to help the US in managing Beijing; on the other hand, they will see Canberra's emphasis on China's importance as pragmatism.

What is especially unacceptable to the Chinese people is Australia's challenging of Chinese values. The two countries are vastly different in their national situations, especially in term of population. If China has no right to make light of the Australian model, Australian should not belittle the 1.3 billion Chinese people's right to choose their own political path, either.

We hope Gillard can bring some changes. The Australian government should at least show basic respect to China. This is one of the fundamental rules of this civilized world.

Moreover, Canberra should be more tolerant toward a rising China. This will also make Australia happier.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

       

 

Use awareness of risks to prepare for disasters

The Yomiuri Shimbun

In addition to its own continuing aftershocks, the Great East Japan Earthquake has set off many other earthquakes in locations around the country.

Many experts say the unimaginably gigantic main shock of the quake on March 11 dramatically changed the crustal situation of the Japanese archipelago.

The government's Earthquake Research Committee warns that a major earthquake could strike Japan at any time and in any place. Moreover, this state of heightened risk may last for years, the panel says.

Measures to minimize the possible damage from future quakes must be reexamined not only in the quake-hit areas where aftershocks are continuing but in other areas, too.

In just over a month since the March 11 quake, the number of aftershocks measuring magnitude 5.0 or greater topped 400. There were even five quakes recording magnitude 7.0 or greater. Normally, magnitude-5.0 or larger quakes occur about 150 times a year on average in this country.

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Another huge tsunami possible

The reason for the current frequent occurrence of earthquakes is that the main shock of the great earthquake caused the Japanese archipelago to move as much as five meters to the east. Before March 11, the archipelago was being pushed westward from the Pacific side as the Pacific plate was plunging underneath Japan, causing strain to build up.

This huge strain was released in a burst when the main shock hit the country, causing faults across the nation, movement of which had been suppressed until then, to move more easily.

Especially worrisome now is the possibility of another huge tsunami. The crustal situation near the main shock's focal zone has not stabilized yet. Therefore, the possibility of destructive crustal movements causing additional earthquakes is very high.

Quakes of this type, even if they are small in scale, are likely to generate big tsunamis, several seismic experts warned.

In the disaster-hit areas, measures to prevent tsunami damage are now weaker than they were before the great quake, for reasons including the destruction of protective embankments by the March 11 tsunami.

In Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, ground subsidence has been observed in a wide range of areas along the coastline. There are many areas on high ground where tremors have dangerously loosened the soil.

The number of people working near coasts has increased due to reconstruction activities. Some evacuees have left shelters to restart their lives at their homes. In this situation, they must secure evacuation routes for emergencies.

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Entire nation must be ready

Even outside the disaster-hit areas, relatively strong earthquakes have been observed in 16 areas including the Tochigi-Gunma prefectural boundary and Tokyo Bay. The Meteorological Agency and other organizations have been on a special alert in monitoring the situation. Concern is mounting about an earthquake centered directly under the Tokyo metropolitan area. If such an earthquake occurs, it is predicted that about 13,000 deaths would result.

When the main shock of the great earthquake hit on March 11, a huge number of people in the Tokyo area faced difficulty getting home, for instance. Various weak points in the area's disaster preparedness were revealed. Measures to cope with major disasters need to be formulated.

Western Japan is not free from crustal changes. According to the agency, seismic activity at volcanoes from Hokkaido to Kyushu has increased.

Japan is frequently hit by disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and typhoons. Without being afraid of them, we should thoroughly prepare to strengthen the nation against future disasters.

Kids in disaster zones need fresh start at school

The Yomiuri Shimbun

We have to return to a time when our children can run about the school yard, free from fear.

Although schools are at last being reopened in areas hit by the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami, there remain fears in Fukushima Prefecture about exposure to radioactive materials leaking from the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry on Tuesday announced safety standards for radiation levels at primary and middle schools and other places. Under the standards, outdoor activities will be restricted if the amount of radiation in the school yard exceeds 3.8 microsieverts per hour.

Levels being monitored at 13 primary and middle schools and kindergartens in three Fukushima Prefecture cities--Fukushima, Koriyama and Date--currently exceed the safety limits. Accordingly, outdoor activities are to be permitted for only about an hour a day.

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Parents' radiation worries

In the same prefecture, even in areas where residents have not been advised to evacuate, an increasing number of schools have refrained from holding outdoor classes since the new term started this month. It is essential for the central government to explain the basis for the safety standards and dispel the people's concerns.

The important thing is to continuously monitor radiation levels at schools and to ensure the children's safety.

The education ministry plans to check the amount of radiation every week at these 13 facilities, where the amount exceeded the safety levels. But many parents of children at other schools must be concerned about the radiation levels in their school yards, too.

The monitoring of radiation levels should be conducted at as many schools as possible, and the results should be made known so parents can feel reassured.

It is also essential to distribute dosimeters among schools as soon as possible to put into place a system under which schools can check radiation levels constantly themselves.

Many children were forced to evacuate their homes and move to new schools in unfamiliar localities due to the nuclear power plant accident. The local governments hosting such children must take great care to ensure they are accepted and are not hurt by harmful rumors.

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Classes resume in tsunami area

Meanwhile, the opening ceremony for the new school year was held earlier this week at many schools along the coast of Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, hit hard by the massive tsunami. School officials have made tremendous efforts to secure space for children by, for instance, borrowing vacant classrooms at other schools.

Some schools are unable to use their kitchens and cannot provide enough meals for children. There are also many areas where mountains of debris are scattered along the roads children use to commute to school. We should ensure the children's safety by operating school buses.

Teachers must be feeling the weight of fatigue. Extra teachers should be recruited to ease their burden.

For instance, if college students who have completed a teacher-training course are utilized as volunteer teachers, they would be able to immediately make an effective contribution. We encourage universities to proactively consider such cooperation.

The resumption of school will offer a good chance for children to regain their psychological equilibrium.

We urge the government to do its utmost in offering manpower and material support to help schools in disaster-affected areas to get back on track.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

GOOD FRIDAY: THE PATH TO LASTING PEACE AND JUSTICE

More than one billion people all over the world today commemorate Christianity’s holiest day – Good Friday, the day the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified at Calvary. While taking part in solemn ceremonies, the Christians will also deeply reflect on why Jesus died and the eternal significance of it.

Theologians and scripture scholars tell us that from the beginning of time God spoke of his unending, unfailing, ever merciful gracious and unconditional love for all people. This he said repeated and reiterated in book after book and chapter after chapter of the Holy Bible. For instance the Book of Psalms says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.”

At one period of history God intervened directly and dramatically to free the Hebrew people who were then the poorest of the poor, the most ill treated and marginalized. That was why He chose them, because they were the poorest of the poor so that through them He could demonstrate His selfless and unconditional love for all people. But over the centuries the religious leaders of these chosen people formulated hundreds of laws to replace God’s offer of unconditional love for all who accept it. The Bible tells us and Christians believe that God then decided to demonstrate this love for the people through his son Jesus Christ. The best known and most widely quoted scriptural verse to explain what happened is found in the Gospel of St. John – for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that anyone who accepts that love will have everlasting happiness and eternal life. (John 3/16)

During His life and ministry the Lord Jesus demonstrated the full magnitude of God’s love, how high, deep and wide it is. Eventually in the climax at Calvary, the Lord Jesus showed us that even if people betray, deny or desert Him, even if people whip and strip him and hang him on a cross like a criminal of criminals, He still loves them for God is love. Another verse in the New Testament conveys the message powerfully: “I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, were they from heaven or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever will separate us from the love of God, which was demonstrated to us by Jesus Christ when He died for us on the cross.” (St. Paul’s letter to the Romans – Chapter 8, vs. 38 and 39)

As we believe, accept, experience and act on this incredible love of God, it changes our nature from self-centredness and selfishness to other centredness and sincere, sacrificial service to others. As we freely receive God’s feet-washing love, we are called upon to give it to others by giving and giving and forgiving, thus transforming ourselves and transforming others. This, the Bible tells us, will give us the power to love our enemies, help those who hurt us, bless those who curse us and pray for those who persecute us. Then there will be miracles, amazing signs and wonders in our lives and in the lives of others bringing about a new world order where there is more care and concern for each other’s needs and wishes, understanding of each other’s faults and weaknesses and appreciation of what is good and nice in each other together with a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources. Then we will have lasting peace, justice and unity in the world.

EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

Repeal the sedition law

“I have no desire whatsoever to conceal from this court the fact that to preach disaffection towards the existing system of Government has almost become a passion with me,” declared Mahatma Gandhi in 1922, while pleading guilty to sedition as charged. “Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law,” he went on to say memorably, describing Section 124A as the “prince among the political sections of the Indian Penal Code designed to suppress liberty of the citizen.” The case, which related to two articles penned in Young India, ended with a reluctant judge, bound by the letter of the law, sentencing the Mahatma to six years in prison; in the same breath, he noted that no one would be “better pleased” were the man he sentenced released earlier. If Gandhi thought it was a “privilege” to be charged under Section 124A, it was because “some of the most loved of India's patriots have been convicted under it” — most famously, Bal Gangadhar Tilak who, when prosecuted for his speeches and writings twice, asked each time whether he was guilty of committing sedition against the British government or against the people of the country. That this is an archaic colonial-era law that has no place in any democracy that values freedom of expression was recognised by no less than Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who told Parliament in 1951 that he found Section 124A “highly objectionable and obnoxious.” “The sooner we got rid of it the better,” was his opinion of the broad and inexact provision that punishes those who, by use of words, signs or visible representation, “bring into hatred or contempt” or “excite disaffection” towards the government with a maximum of life imprisonment.

This raises the obvious question: why does the provision still remain in our statute books? And just as pertinently: why is it used to threaten and prosecute our thinkers and social activists because of an opinion they express or an ideology they may have some sympathy with? The conviction by a Sessions Court of civil rights activist Binayak Sen under Section 124A for his alleged links with a Maoist ideologue, and the sedition case registered against writer Arundhati Roy over a speech she made in Kashmir, are just two high-profile cases of the outrageous misuse of the law. Ms Roy is right in saying that “little pinholes of light” have emerged from the recent Supreme Court order granting bail to Binayak Sen, in which it said “no case of sedition has been made out” and where it drew a distinction between merely sympathising with a movement and committing an offence under Section 124A. Within hours of the order, Law Minister Veerappa Moily declared there was a need to review the sedition law and that the Law Commission of India would be asked to take a fresh look at it. While this is a positive development, the important thing is to scrap Section 124A — and quickly.

A climate in which it is permissible to express political dissent and question —– even savage — government policy is integral to the idea of free expression. The Supreme Court may have upheld the constitutional validity of Section 124A in Kedar Nath Singh vs. State of Bihar (1962), but made it more than clear that sedition does not apply to mere “criticism of government action, however strongly worded.” The operation of the provision, the five-member bench ruled, would be limited to cases where what is said or spoken incites violence and public disorder — a line of thought that broadly conforms to John Stuart Mill's famous ‘harm principle,' which suggests that the only justification for curbing a person's expression against his will is to prevent him from causing harm to others. Unfortunately, our prosecuting authorities and the lower judiciary have failed to understand that the scope of the sedition law is severely limited. Otherwise, a magistrate would not have ordered a sedition case against Ms Roy for saying, at a seminar, that Kashmir's status was not settled despite accession to India. And a sessions court would not have held that possessing Maoist literature, as Binayak Sen was charged with having, would constitute a ground for treating the person as a subversive. As the Supreme Court sarcastically observed, “If a copy of Gandhi's autobiography were found in somebody's place, can he be called a Gandhian?”

Section 124A was not a part of the original Indian Penal Code 1860. It was introduced 10 years later and then amended in 1898 to include seditious libel (bringing the government into hatred or contempt). It is distressing that we are slapping sedition cases on people when the offence has been rendered obsolete in many countries, either through a formal scrapping of the sedition law or by rendering it virtually toothless because of judicial rulings. Over the years, the United States has had a slew of laws making it an offence to bring its government into hatred or contempt. Some like the Sedition Act of 1918 have been repealed; others like the Smith Act, which was enacted in 1940, have been made a dead letter thanks to Supreme Court intervention. The last completed trial in a case of sedition (a common law offence) in Britain dates back to 1947. Even so, the British government thought it fit to abolish the offences of sedition and seditious libel in early 2010. One of the reasons cited for scrapping these offences — obsolete though they had become — was that their formal existence in Britain was used by other countries to justify their retention and use them to suppress political dissent. There is no place in a democracy for a law that conflates disaffection with disloyalty and regards trenchant criticism as a form of treason. What was once an instrument by British colonialism to suppress the freedom struggle cannot be retained by the state to silence the voices of its own people. It's time Section 124A was sent to where it really belongs — to the scrapheap of repealed laws.

EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

More sparring

WHATEVER hope there may have been that Adm Mike Mullen`s visit to Pakistan would help reduce tensions between Pakistan and the US eva-porated when the admiral trotted out the Haqqani-ISI links to criticise the security establishment here in unusually specific language for public statements. The response from the Pakistani side was swift, with the army chief, Gen Kayani, rejecting the “negative propaganda” of the US and the American claim that the army lacks “clarity” on the way forward in the fight against militancy. The back-and-forth between the American and Pakistani military principals appears to suggest that the tussle to renegotiate the rules on American activities in Pakistan is far from being resolved. Unhappily, then, the potential for a further deterioration in ties remains high.

What prompted Adm Mullen to make the speci-fic allegations against the ISI at this point? In the murky intelligence world, particularly looking in from the outside, nothing can be said with certainty. But it would appear that as the ISI has pushed fiercely following the Raymond Davis incident to limit the American presence and the sphere of activity inside Pakistan further, the American national security establishment is seeking to push back against the ISI in order to preserve, to the extent possible, US activities inside Pakistan. However, Adm Mullen`s comments have had the unfortunate consequence of broadening the immediate dispute to once again bring in longstanding problems on Afghanistan. Given the intractable nature of some of the problems between the two countries, anything which broadens an immediate source of disagreement is unwelcome. Indeed, on Afghanistan there has been a more positive atmosphere between the US and Pakistan in recent times. The US has not shut down attempts by the Pakistan security establishment and political government to engage the Karzai government on the issue of reconciliation with the Taliban, while in Pakistan analysts familiar with the army`s views have been keen to drum up the `convergences` between the thinking of the American and the Pakistani sides on Afghanistan as the American endgame in that country approaches.

When the highest echelons of two states seem willing to spar, is there anything that can be done to bring down the temperature? Perhaps only when reality reasserts itself. Unhappy as the US administration and the Pakistani establishment may be with one another, the relationship is ultimately one of interdependence. And to a large extent there remains a common enemy: militancy. The militants of most concern to the US may differ from the ones of most concern to Pakistan, but the more the US and Pakistan disagree, the more the militants as a whole may benefit.

Wealth of information

THE customary disclosures of lawmakers` assets and liabilities always make for interesting reading. As per a report in this paper, the financial details of members of the National Assembly furnished to the Election Commission show that many of our lawmakers are extremely well-off. In fact, the prime minister has shown that even in these dire financial times it is possible to save — he has managed to save more than half a million rupees from his annual salary, which, apparently, is his only source of income. While Mr Gilani manages to make ends meet with his salary of just under Rs1m, other members of the house appear to be financially much better off. Several MNAs have assets worth billions of rupees. One of them, Mehboobullah Jan of the PPP, represents Kohistan, one of the nation`s poorest and most under-developed districts. And while opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar has not declared the value of his assets, the fact that he owns several plots, considerable acreage and two luxury vehicles indicates that his assets are significant Also, as many Pakistanis struggle with financial hardship, lawmakers such as Faryal Talpur and Shah Mehmood Qureshi have seen the value of their assets rise by tens of millions of rupees. Other disclosures are clearly farcical. Several powerful politicians have said they do not own cars while some have said they have no cash in the bank.

While those lawmakers who have declared their assets deserve praise, clearly a lot about the origin and extent of MNAs` wealth has gone unsaid. Though such declarations are essential for the creation of a transparent democratic culture, many questions remain about what has and has not been disclosed. Such figures show that moneyed individuals are well represented in the legislatures. The question is: would these people be interested in changing the status quo and, for example, widening the tax net so that the state can more equally distribute wealth? We are a nation of contradictions; one of these is that the representatives of the people lead lives the majority of the population can only dream of. Unless these contradictions are addressed, change for the better is unlikely.

Bahrain: need for restraint

WITH its roots in what is basically a domestic issue, the Bahrain crisis could aggravate if regional states do not exercise restraint. The expulsion of some Iranian diplomats by Kuwait, the support which the European Union has lent to the Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran`s sharp criticism of the Bahrain government`s handling of the pro-democracy stir have served to heighten tensions. In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the GCC and the EU called for respecting “the sovereignty of GCC member-states” and, more ominously, said the latter had the right to “take all necessary measures to protect their citizens”. At the same time, Bahrain and Kuwait government leaders have displayed considerable harshness in their diplomatic rhetoric and accused Tehran of trying to dominate the Gulf region and threatening Bahrain`s sovereignty. While the Kuwait foreign minister accused some Iranian diplomats of spying, the Bahrain foreign minister said Tehran had adopted “a sustained campaign” against the sheikhdom. Reacting to Tehran`s criticism of the Saudi-led GCC force in Bahrain he said the force was there to “deter an external threat” — a clear reference to Tehran. However, like the GCC and EU, he ignored Nato air strikes in Libya.

The pro-democracy protests in Bahrain are part of the larger freedom wave that has rocked the Arab world and seen the fall of such strongmen as Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, with Muammar Qadhafi fighting for survival. As in Yemen, Syria and Jordan, so also in Bahrain the uprising is an internal issue, and the Bahrain monarchy should try to address the cause of the stir through internal reforms. The involvement of the EU and other non-regional actors in the Bahrain situation will only aggravate the crisis, while Iran should know that an escalation of the Iran-GCC tension will divert attention away from the opposition`s just struggle for democratic reforms.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

              

 

We hail Press Council verdict

Media must maintain highest ethical standards

WE hail the verdict of the Press Council (PC) regarding some recent false, fabricated and motivated reports in the daily Kaler Kantha. We are happy to note the clarity and emphatic manner in which the Press Council reached its decision. Indeed, it is refreshing to observe that the body has reasserted its ability and capacity to adjudicate matters concerning the media. This surely augurs well for journalism especially given the fact that recourse to the PC holds out the promise of the proceedings being less time consuming and decisive. We would like to advise everyone involved with the media and also readers that in cases where media houses and individuals might feel aggrieved by other media reports, they can take the perfectly logical step of recording their grievances with the Press Council. Such a step, besides preventing journalists from being harassed unnecessarily, will be a spur to future activism on the part of the PC. The council's potential should now dawn on those needing it in future.

Now that the PC has acted, it is our hope that the management of daily Kaler Kantho will go for serious introspection of its role and what damage yellow journalism can do to healthy journalism. The daily should eschew the egotistical and revisit the issues raised by the PC judgement from an ethical and professional point of view. For in the media world today, it is hugely important that we discard unethical journalism and return to being the voices of truth, a fundamental objective of journalism. Unfortunately, too often some individuals indulge in personal vendetta and character assassination through misusing journalism and media houses. This must come to an end. All media organizations must uphold the highest standards of ethics in their presentation of news and comments. We must remember that as “watchdogs” of the public interest, newspapers are often subjected to the wrath of those who exercise power. And powerful quarters have never been loath to come down heavily on the press. In such moments of crises, it is the people, the readers, who stand by newspapers and vindicate their cause. It is thus not acceptable that this public support be squandered by a recourse to unethical practices by a section of the media. Public trust is a strength that will fritter away if we indulge in unethical and yellow journalism. We must not let that happen.

Let this seminal judgment of the Press Council be a beacon highlighting intellectual honesty and integrity in journalism. Let this ethics and morality-based, forward-looking verdict be a guideline for the future.

Relocation of chemical depots

Act on task force recommendations

SOME 10 months after the devastating fire from a chemical warehouse and about eight months after the formation of a taskforce to find out means to stop recurrence of such incidents, the government seems to be swinging into action. It has decided to relocate chemical depots and factories from their present locations to the other side of the Buriganga.

There are some 1000 chemical factories and warehouses in the city, and of them, only 127 have any licences whatsoever.

We must thank our stars that Nimtoli-like tragedies have not occurred so far. But the situation is much more serious than the concern we have shown in taking a prompt decision on shifting such hazardous establishments away from the city centres.

Earlier, especially after the Nimtoli fire tragedy we had advised the government on more than one occasion to take immediate measures to remove these factories from within the heart of the city. But as usual the bureaucratic machinery took this long to take such an important

decision.

The long delay notwithstanding, we commend the government for having taken a firm decision after all to relocate the warehouses of flammable chemicals as well as the plastic factories that use such flammable chemicals to a designated spot outside the city.

The task force on whose recommendations two committees have been formed tasked with relocation and rehabilitation of the chemical warehouses and factories, has also stressed intensification of the drives against such illegal establishments in the city. As recommended, the government should not delay in launching such drive. And as in every other case of drive by the law-enforcers to carry out any government or statutory order, utmost care will be necessary to ensure that the enforcers of the law remain above board and incorruptible.

The committee constituted to see through the relocation process will be expected to complete the job within a specific time frame