Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
May 1, 2017
Veteran guide who first scaled Everest 10 times hospitalized
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Nepalese mountaineering official says a
former Sherpa guide who was the first person to scale Mount Everest 10 times
has been hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Ang Tshering of the
Nepal Mountaineering Association said Ang Rita was rushed to a hospital in
Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, after he fell unconscious. The 68-year-old Ang Rita
scaled Everest 10 times from 1983 to 1996. He quit climbing because of pressure
from his family and health-related problems. Several other climbers have
passed his record, but he remains one of the most famous Everest climbers.
China launches country’s first cargo spacecraft
BEIJING (AP) — Preparations are underway for the launch of China’s first
unmanned cargo spacecraft on a mission to dock with the country’s space
station. The Tianzhou 1 blasted off atop a new generation Long March 7 rocket
from China’s latest spacecraft launch site at Wenchang on the island province of
Hainan. It is programmed to conduct scientific experiments after reaching the
now-crewless Tiangong 2, China’s second space station. A pair of Chinese
astronauts spent 30 days on board the station last year. Since China conducted
its first crewed space mission in 2003, it has staged a spacewalk and landed its
Yutu rover on the moon. The two Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” space stations
are considered stepping stones to landing a rover on Mars.
Companies not complying with Bangladesh garment plan
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — An international rights group says dozens of
global clothing companies are not complying with a plan to ensure better safety
in Bangladesh garment factories following the deadly collapse of a building four
years ago. Human Rights Watch said in a report that only 29 out of 72 recently
contacted companies are releasing information about how they source their
products in Bangladesh. It said many brands have held out completely.
Bangladesh’s garment industry has invested more than $1 billion in safety
improvements since April 24, 2013, when the Rana Plaza garment factory
complex collapsed outside Dhaka, killing more than 1,130 workers and injuring
2,500. The collapse highlighted grim conditions in the country’s garment
industry, the second largest in the world with about 4,000 factories employing
about 4 million workers.
Blogger found stabbed to death in the Maldives
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Police in the Maldives say they are
investigating the stabbing death of a prominent blogger and social-media
activist. Police said in a statement that Yameen Rasheed was found with
multiple stab wounds in a house in the capital of Male. He died at a hospital. The
motive for his killing was not immediately known. Rasheed was an advocate of
human rights and freedom of speech. He discussed politics and other social
issues on the internet, including health, migrant labor rights, and policing. He
was a friend of journalist Ahmed Rilwan, who went missing in 2014 after being
abducted, and has been on the forefront in the campaign to locate him. The
opposition Maldivian Democratic Party called for an investigation with foreign
assistance into Rasheed’s death, saying the country’s police do not have the
capacity or impartiality to conduct such an investigation. It said Rasheed had
recently filed a case against the police over their inaction in determining
Rilwan’s fate.
Indonesian military threatens news site after coup story
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s military said it reported an online
news site to the police after it wrote about an Intercept story alleging current
and retired generals plotted to overthrow President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The
Intercept, co-founded by Glenn Greenwald, a journalist known for his stories
about the U.S. National Security Agency’s mass surveillance, had published the
coup article by freelance journalist Allan Nairn. Citing intelligence documents,
unnamed generals, and other figures, it alleges that huge protests in Jakarta
against the capital’s minority Christian governor were a front for a movement to
unseat Jokowi. Separately, amid protests in December and March, Indonesian
police arrested a total of 16 people for suspected treason, including a former
general and Islamic radicals. The military’s statement said an account of the
Intercept story published by the Indonesian site Tirto was either “not true” or a
“hoax.” It said it was reporting Tirto so it could be “investigated and proceeded
against in line with existing laws.” On its website, Tirto said it had permission
from Nairn and Intercept to translate the article and had interviewed Nairn in
detail about his reporting. Decades of army rule in Indonesia ended in 1998 with
the ouster of late dictator Suharto during mass protests sparked by an economic
crisis. The military, however, remains one of the Muslim majority country’s
most powerful and respected institutions.
Air China resumes booking flights to North Korea
BEIJING (AP) — China’s state-owned airline is resuming flights from Beijing
to North Korea that had been suspended because of poor ticket sales. Tour
companies in China have reported waning interest in trips to neighboring North
Korea amid safety worries and tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons
program. Chinese state media reported April 14 that Air China was suspending
its flights to North Korea’s capital beginning April 17. On April 25, the airline
was offering twice-weekly bookings between Beijing and Pyongyang beginning
May 5 on its website. Air China did not immediately respond to requests for
comment. North Korea’s Air Koryo is the only other airline operating flights
between Pyongyang and Beijing.
ARTISTIC PREPARATIONS. Artisans clean the royal funeral chariot (top photo) to be used as part of the crema-
tion of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the Office of Traditional Arts in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand. In the
bottom photo, an artist sculpts deities and creatures from ancient Indian epics to decorate the royal crematorium. The
cremation is planned for late October. (AP Photos/Sakchai Lalit)
Artisans prepare for
Thai king’s funeral
By Kaweewit Kaewjinda
The Associated Press
AKON PATHOM, Thailand — In a
large workshop about an hour west of
the Thai capital, fans ease the
stultifying heat beating down on artisans hard
at work fashioning ornate articles, large and
small, to be used at the cremation of King
Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The work — weaving
embroideries,
restoring artifacts, and making sculptures, all
in the royal style — is overseen by the Culture
Ministry’s Department of Fine Arts, but
around 100 volunteers have signed up to help
the experts, demonstrating their devotion to
the beloved monarch.
Thailand’s military government has
allocated 1 billion baht ($28.6 million) for the
funeral of Bhumibol, who died October 13 at
age 88 after seven decades on the throne.
Bhumibol’s funeral is scheduled for this
October in a ceremony that will take place over
several days. A huge crematorium is being
erected at Sanam Luang, a large field close to
the Grand Palace that is a traditional public
gathering space.
Thailand’s last royal funeral was held at the
same place in 2008, when Buddhist and Hindu
rites were held for the king’s sister, princess
Galyani Vadhana.
The scene was unforgettable as crimson-
clad soldiers pulled a gilded chariot containing
the body of the princess to a seven-story
funeral pyre. More than 2,000 soldiers in dress
uniform marched alongside in a slow
procession that included rows of drummers,
trumpeters, and conch-blowers.
Several such golden chariots are in the royal
inventory, including one around 38 feet tall
with a pinnacle at the top symbolizing the
ascent to heaven that will bear the king’s body
N
this year.
Supaporn Saiprasith, a Department of Fine
Arts official supervising 50 volunteers who are
refinishing artifacts, said she has to make sure
the royal chariot looks as if it was just made,
“to make sure it is restored well enough to suit
the honor of our late king.”
“The people who come here, their hearts are
in it 100 percent,” she said of her team. “They
come to help without any sort of compensation
from us.”
Other items being worked on include
larger-than-life-sized sculptures and decora-
tions that use traditional embroidery tech-
niques.
Assadayuth Yooyen, a Thai volunteer
sculptor, said eight sculptures will surround
the main golden chariot, each around 6.6 feet
tall. The funeral proceedings will include
around 100 other smaller sculptures that
depict images from Thai mythology and former
kings and other figures.
“I am very happy and proud that I can be a
part of this,” said Kasideth Choodam, 19, a
student volunteer from the Golden Jubilee
Royal Goldsmith College, who is an expert at
embossing. “I have the skills, so I wanted to
help.”
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Exchange Rates
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83.214
4029.7
6.8935
2.0866
7.7784
64.246
13329
32399
111.49
8237.9
4.341
102.93
104.75
3.2021
50.105
56.928
3.7501
1.397
1137.7
152.5
30.21
34.591
22775