Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
February 6, 2017
Drug crackdown in the Philippines faces court challenge
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — A survivor of an alleged Philippine police
raid that killed four other drug suspects has asked the Supreme Court to stop
such operations and help him obtain police records to prove his innocence in a
test case against the president’s bloody crackdown. Lawyer Romel Bagares says
his client, Efren Morillo, a survivor of the August police raid in Payatas village in
metropolitan Manila, and other petitioners also asked the court to order police to
stop threatening witnesses. Bagares says four policemen shot Morillo and four
other men whom they accused of being drug pushers. Morillo survived and
denied police allegations that he and his friends were drug dealers and that they
fought back during the raid.
Defector says his two sons were a reason to flee
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The highest-level North Korean diplomat ever
to defect to South Korea says he decided to flee because he didn’t want to see his
children living “miserable” lives. Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North’s
embassy in London, said his two sons were one of the main reasons why he came
to South Korea last year. Thae says his sons complained about being made fun of
by their classmates in London because of the nature of their homeland. Thae
subsequently told them the truth about the North and concluded his sons would
have “miserable” lives when they returned home later because they came to
know the truth of the North. His disappointment with leader Kim Jong Un was
another reason given to defect.
Vietnam to allow locals in casinos under test project
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese gamblers will soon be allowed into local
casinos because of a three-year pilot project. Under a decree signed by Prime
Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc that takes effect in mid-March, Vietnamese over 21
years of age with a monthly income of at least 10 million dong ($440) will be
allowed in casinos. After three years, the government will decide whether to
continue the arrangement. There are about a dozen casinos in Vietnam, but only
foreigners are allowed entry. The latest decree only includes entertainment and
hotel complexes with investment of at least $2 billion. Vietnam has long banned
most types of gambling, but bets on European soccer championships or World
Cups are common.
India’s low-cost airline to buy up to 205 new Boeing planes
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s low-cost airline SpiceJet plans to buy up to 205
next-generation Boeing planes worth $22 billion in a major deal to expand its
domestic and international operations. A joint statement by the two companies
said the planes booked at the end of 2016 include 100 new Boeing 737 MAX 8s, 42
MAXs, 13 additional 737 MAXs, as well as purchase rights for 50 additional
planes. SpiceJet is India’s fourth-largest airline by number of passengers
carried with a market share of 12.9 percent. It flies more than 300 daily flights to
41 Indian and international destinations. Ray Conner, a top Boeing official, said
the economics of the 737 MAXs would allow SpiceJet to profitably open new
markets and expand connectively within India and beyond. India’s booming
economy and growing middle class have helped make it the world’s
fastest-growing air travel market. The number of passengers grew 20 percent
last year and airlines are announcing flights to new destinations in the country
almost every week. The number of domestic air passengers is expected to jump
from the current 70 million to 300 million by 2022, and to 500 million by
2027.
Indo narcotics chief blames pilots on drugs for crashes
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The head of Indonesia’s narcotics agency says
most of the country’s airline accidents have involved pilots on drugs, including a
Lion Air jet that slammed into the sea four years ago while trying to land on Bali.
Budi Waseso made the comments at a ceremony inaugurating Bali’s traditional
village security guards as anti-drug volunteers. “Almost all air accidents in
Indonesia, whether it was just a skid or whatever, the pilots are indicated to be
positive for drugs,” he told reporters. He said the Lion Air pilot hallucinated that
the sea was the runway. The comments came after a video circulated online
showing an apparently intoxicated pilot in the cockpit of a passenger plane.
News reports said two other pilots recently tested positive for drugs.
Lawyer for Myanmar ruling party assassinated at airport
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A legal adviser for the National League for
Democracy (NLD) was assassinated at an airport in Myanmar (also known as
Burma) after returning from a trip overseas, according to the government. Ko Ni
was the Supreme Court advocate for the NLD and a longstanding adviser to the
country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The unidentified gunman made a close shot
to the head while Ko Ni walked out of the arrival gate at Yangon’s airport, the
Ministry of Information said in a video posted on state-run MRTV. A friend of Ko
Ni who witnessed the shooting said the suspected assassin also shot a taxi driver
known as Nay Win who tried to stop him from fleeing. The taxi driver’s condition
was not clear. The Ministry of Information identified the suspect as Kyi Linn
from Mandalay. The motive was not known. Kyee Myint, a former chairman of
the Myanmar Lawyer Network who has a close relationship with Ko Ni, also
confirmed his death. “It is a big loss for us that Ko Ni, our beloved friend, has
been killed. He is the face of the democracy in our country and this is a big loss for
us,” Kyee Myint said. Ko Ni was a Burmese Muslim and as a practicing lawyer
had handled more than 900 criminal cases and more than 1,400 civil cases. In
1995, he established the Laurel Law Firm with two other advocates.
BLACK GOLD. A worker sorts through peppers by hand in Kampot, Cambodia. Lauded by celebrity chefs and exorbi-
tantly priced, Cambodia’s Kampot pepper is enjoying a renaissance, aided by special recognition and protection from the
European Union in 2016. (AP Photo/Denis Gray)
Cambodia’s “perfect pepper”
conquering world’s taste buds
By Denis D. Gray
The Associated Press
AMPOT, Cambodia — A nearby sea,
flanking mountains, and quartz-rich
soil: It’s the perfect spot on earth,
devotees say, to yield a product they describe
in that rapturous vocabulary usually reserved
for fine wines: “aristocratic, virile, almost
aphrodisiacal,” with subtle notes of caramel,
gingerbread, and mild tobacco.
Celebrity chefs from Paris to Los Angeles
swear by Kampot pepper, a southwestern
Cambodian spice with a tragic past that is now
reclaiming its global pre-eminence. It is also
proving to be “black gold” for some of its
once-impoverished farmers, thanks in part to
Kampot pepper last year being awarded a
Protected Geographical Indication by the
European Union (EU). This identifies unique
products — like Stilton cheese, Champagne or
Darjeeling tea — as originating in a very
specific region.
So far Kampot pepper production is a mere
dusting — just 70 tons last year. Vietnam, the
world’s top pepper producer, churned out some
145,000 tons of the spice. But more plantations
are springing up while Kampot quality is rated
as high as ever and hitherto slack markets,
like the United States, are getting hooked on
the spice. A New York chef has even concocted
a Kampot pepper ice cream while Michelin
three-starred French chef Olivier Roellinger
rhapsodizes about its “olfactory richness” and
broad spectrum of flavors.
The spice’s EU designation “has permitted a
renaissance of pepper in Kampot. ... This not
only recognizes the singularity of this pepper
but helps protect it from imitations,” said
Nathalie Chaboche, a Frenchwoman who with
K
her Belgian husband, Guy Porre, owns La
Plantation, where pepper plants entwine
20,000 posts on a rolling green landscape
fronted by the Gulf of Thailand.
The couple, who started the enterprise four
years ago after lucrative careers in the
computer industry, aim to boost production
from 6 tons last year to 50 tons in 2018. They
intend to grow without weakening quality
control or endangering Kampot’s status as a
“premier cru,” a French term for wine and
other produce signifying impeccable quality —
and hefty price.
Kampot red pepper was recently selling in
Germany for as much as 378 euro per kilogram
($185 per pound), compared to an average im-
port price of about $8 for one pound in Europe
for Vietnamese pepper. The farm gate price for
the three pepper varieties — red, white, and
black — averages around $10 per pound.
Believed to have originated in southern
India, pepper became a widely traded item
across Asia and Europe. Pepper farming in
Cambodia was first recorded by a Chinese
traveller in the 13th century, and energized
centuries later by French colonialists. By the
early 1900s, annual production peaked at
8,000 tons.
War disrupted the industry and after their
1975 victory, the murderous Khmer Rouge
turned farmers into slave laborers. Deeming
the “king of spice” too decadent for their ultra-
revolution, the regime left plantations to
decay.
A Japanese aid worker, Hironobu Kurata,
pioneered a revival in the mid-1990s, but the
scars of the Khmer Rouge era took long to heal.
As late as 2000, only 2 tons were grown
annually, but now about 450 farms produce
Continued on page 13
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 2/03
Bangladesh Taka· ·
Cambodian Riel · ·
China Renminbi · ·
Fijian Dollar · · · ·
Hong Kong Dollar ·
Indian Rupee · · · ·
Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
Laos New Kip · · ·
Malaysian Ringgit ·
Nepal Rupee · · · ·
Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
Philippine Peso· · ·
Russian Ruble · · ·
Saudi Riyal· · · · ·
Singapore Dollar · ·
South Korean Won ·
Sri Lankan Rupee ·
Taiwan Dollar · · ·
Thai Baht · · · · ·
Vietnam Dong · · ·
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79.54
4036.0
6.8672
2.0488
7.7576
67.316
13343
32403
112.61
8190.0
4.428
107.69
104.77
3.2773
49.802
59.003
3.7504
1.4099
1135.7
150.45
31.02
35.033
22814