Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
October 5, 2015
Metro Manila traffic costing Philippines $64 million a day
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Metropolitan Manila’s notorious traffic
jams are costing the Philippine economy at least 3 billion pesos ($64 million) a
day and infrastructure projects need to be fast-tracked to address the problem,
the country’s chief economic planner said recently. A study in 2012 by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency found that time lost by people stuck in traffic
and the extra cost of operating vehicles in gridlock in metropolitan Manila and
nearby areas amounted to 2.4 billion pesos ($51 million) a day, Economic
Planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan said. With a bigger population today and
more vehicles on the roads, and taking into consideration other costs including
to the health of commuters, Balisacan said 3 billion pesos is a conservative
estimate. The cost over a year is 0.8 percent of gross domestic product.
2.3 million answer Indian state’s post for 368 menial jobs
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — When a northern Indian state announced a few
hundred job openings for low-level office workers who run errands and make tea,
the response was staggering. About 2.3 million people applied for the 368 jobs
with the government of Uttar Pradesh. Hundreds of candidates with doctorates
and other advanced degrees applied for the jobs that pay about 16,000 rupees
($240) a month and require a fifth-grade education. The massive number
seeking the menial jobs reflects high unemployment levels in the state — India’s
most populous — and across much of the country. Senior administrative officer
Prabhat Mittal said the state government is conducting a written exam to screen
the applicants because interviewing all of them would take four years. At least
255 applicants had earned a doctorate and more than 200,000 had graduate
degrees. At least 30 trained computer engineers were also in the fray. Job
creation is an urgent requirement in the nation of 1.2 billion where 13 million
young people enter the job market each year. According to government data,
about 6.6 percent of India’s workers are jobless. That doesn’t count the tens of
millions who eke out a subsistence-level existence in menial, unsafe, and
backbreaking jobs. The situation is worse for young job-seekers, with govern-
ment statistics placing the number of unemployed at about 10.5 percent.
China inks deals worth $38 billion to buy 300 Boeing jets
HONG KONG (AP) — Boeing says Chinese companies have agreed to buy 300
jets and build an aircraft assembly plant in China. The deals, worth about $38
billion, were signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the
United States. China Aviation Supplies Holding Company, ICBC Financial
Leasing, and China Development Bank Leasing inked the jet purchase
agreement after Xi’s arrival in Seattle. Boeing said the orders were mostly for its
737 models. State-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, which is
better known as Comac, also signed a cooperation agreement with the U.S.
plane maker to build a 737 aircraft assembly center in China. Boeing said the
new facility will paint the jets and finish their interiors. Xi visited Boeing’s
Paine Field assembly plant during the Seattle leg of his trip before moving on to
Washington, D.C. to meet President Barack Obama. The assembly plant would
be Boeing’s first in China and signals its attempt to match its European rival
Airbus’s Chinese presence as the two rivals step up their efforts to win more
business in the country’s lucrative aircraft market. Boeing said the Chinese
facility won’t reduce employment levels at its plants in Washington state.
South Korea to probe Volkswagen diesel vehicle emissions
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says it will investigate emission
levels of Volkswagen diesel vehicles after the world’s top-selling automaker
admitted cheating U.S. tests. Park Pan-kyu, a deputy director at South Korea’s
environment ministry, said four models — Golf, Jetta, Beetle, and Audi A3 —
are subject to the probe, which is expected to end in November. About 6,000
vehicles made in 2014 and 2015 were sold under those nameplates in South
Korea. Volkswagen AG admitted it rigged U.S. tests so it would appear that its
diesel-powered cars were emitting fewer nitrogen oxides, which can contribute
to ozone buildup and respiratory illness. Park said Volkswagen could be fined up
to $3.4 million and required to recall the vehicles if wrongdoing is found. Some
$15 billion was wiped from Volkswagen’s market value after the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency announced the violations. The automaker faces up to
$18 billion in penalties in the U.S. alone. Volkswagen overtook Japan’s Toyota
Motor Corp. as the world’s top-selling automaker in the first half of the year.
Filipino in Singapore jailed for sedition through Facebook
SINGAPORE (AP) — A Filipino nurse working in Singapore has been
sentenced to four months in jail for describing Singaporeans as losers on his
Facebook account, and subsequently providing false information to police
investigators. Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, 28, pleaded guilty to a charge of promoting
feelings of ill-will and hostility under the country’s sedition act, and two charges
of providing false information to the police. An additional charge under the
sedition act, and another for lying to the police, was also considered during
sentencing. In a Facebook post on January 2 that received more than 600 hostile
replies, Bello called Singaporeans “loosers (sic) in their own country.” Singapore
will soon be the “new Filipino state,” he wrote. He added: “We take their jobs,
their future, their women, and soon, we will evict all SG loosers out of their own
country.” The Filipino also stated that he was “praying that disastors (sic) strike
Singapore and more Singaporeans will die,” and that he would “celebrate” if this
happened. Following the hostility his comments generated, Bello deleted them
and lodged a police report, claiming that someone logged into his Facebook
account without permission.
RISING INFLUENCE. A screen shows Afghanistan actress Marina Golbahari, right, and South Korean actor Song
Kang-ho on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Busan International Film Festival at Busan Cinema Center in Busan,
South Korea. Asia’s largest movie festival kicked off at a time when the region’s influence on the global movie industry
is on the rise. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Asia’s largest movie festival
set to kick off in Busan
By Youkyung Lee
The Associated Press
USAN, South Korea — Asia’s largest
movie festival kicked off October 1 at a
time when the region’s influence on
the global movie industry is on the rise.
Entering its 20th year in the South Korean
port city, the Busan International Film Festi-
val has seen its influence and size expand in
stride with the growth of box-office sales in the
region.
Asian countries fuelled growth in the global
film industry last year, while box-office sales
in the U.S. and Canada declined. With
box-office sales of $12.4 billion in 2014, the
Asian region is the biggest and fastest-growing
movie market in the world, according to the
Motion Picture Association of America.
Despite the growing influence of Asian
cinema in the world, the non-competition
movie festival has kept its bar of pretense and
hierarchy low, unlike the historic yet
hierarchical Cannes Film Festival, which
turned away some women in flat shoes from a
premiere this spring.
Busan cinemagoers — in flats or heels, part
of the media or not — do more than just gaze at
award-winning directors, K-pop stars, and
B
Hollywood celebrities gracing the red carpet.
They happily stay in queues from the wee
hours to get tickets, ask questions to
filmmakers and actors after screenings, and
join public talk shows with them on the beach.
While the glamour and glitz will not be lost
in Busan, most moviegoers and industry
officials travel to South Korea’s second-largest
city to discover the next-generation Wong Kar
Wai or Ang Lee. The festival’s New Currents
section, which premieres Asian feature movies
from novice directors, has broken major
talents, including Venice Film Festival Golden
Lion winner Jia Zhangke. Its Asian Cinema
Fund program has provided financial lifelines
to promising filmmakers.
“There are a lot of movies completed by
support from the Asian Cinema Fund,
introduced in Busan for the first time in the
world and then went on to international
acclaim,” said Kim Jiseok, the Busan Film
Festival’s executive programmer.
The festival has not been without challenges
during its 20-year ride. The most recent
setback was the budget cut by South Korea’s
government after the festival went ahead with
the screening of a controversial documentary
Continued on page 7
Nepal mulls new restrictions for Everest climbing permits
By Post Bahadur Basnet
The Associated Press
K
ATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal is
considering placing new age and
fitness restrictions on people who
want to climb Mount Everest, according to
officials, as the country looks to enhance safety
on the mountain after several disasters in
recent years.
Retirement
The government is mulling barring people
under 18 and over 75, as well as those with
disabilities, said Mohan Sapkota, a
spokesman for the Himalayan country’s
ministry of tourism. The new rules could also
require that climbers attempting to scale the
29,035-foot mountain have experience on
medium-size peaks.
Continued on page 15
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77.775
4073.0
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2.1575
7.7501
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14646
29956
119.19
8152.0
4.415
104.76
104.5
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46.737
66.419
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1180.5
141.25
32.964
36.56
22480