Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
May 15, 2017
Moon’s down-to-earth manner generates buzz
SEOUL, South Korea — Selfies, coffee, and a jacket were all that new South
Korean President Moon Jae-in needed to powerfully project an image that he’s a
down-to-earth leader. South Korean internet users shared photos of Moon
waving at a presidential employee and taking off his own jacket at a luncheon.
Images of Moon, without a jacket and holding a cup of coffee while cheerfully
talking with his aides in the presidential garden, also generated a buzz. Many
see Moon’s manner as a refreshing break from his disgraced, jailed predecessor,
Park Geun-hye, whom critics saw as aloof and autocratic. Moon began his first
full day in office by shaking hands and taking selfies with supporters near his
private Seoul home before heading to the presidential Blue House. Moon’s aides
say he will commute from his home for the first few days as workers finish
furnishing the Blue House residential space for him. In a speech after he took
the oath of office, Moon said he plans to eventually move out of the Blue House,
which was seen as part of an attempt to be a more accessible leader. He instead
plans to work at an office in nearby Gwanghwamun, near the square where
millions took part in months of peaceful protests before Park was removed from
office and arrested in March on corruption charges.
Cambodia breaks ground on first oil refinery
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia recently held a groundbreaking
ceremony for its first oil refinery, a $620-million project to reduce spending on
imported fuel. Suy Sem, the minister of mines and energy, said at the ceremony
that the refinery, being built by an engineering unit of China National
Petroleum Co., will be able to process 2 million tons of crude oil per year when it
is completed in 2019. A second phase unit set for completion in 2022 will increase
capacity to 5 million tons. The refinery, in Cambodia’s southwestern Preah
Sihanouk province, will be a joint venture between Cambodia Petrochemical Co.
and China’s Sino Great Wall International Engineering Co. Ltd. Suy Sem said
most of the crude oil for the refinery would come from the Middle East, with
some coming from Cambodia in the future. He said domestic demand for fuel is
steadily increasing, with the country importing 1.8 million tons of fuel in 2015, a
6.7 percent increase over 2014. There are 14 local and international companies
that currently import fuel oil, Suy Sem said.
Headgear approved for use by world basketball body
HONG KONG (AP) — Basketball’s international governing body has
approved a new rule that will allow players to wear headgear that complies with
their religious faith. The Switzerland-based body, known as FIBA, said the rule
will take effect in games beginning October 1. Then, players can wear hijabs,
turbans, and yarmulkes after a 20-year ban on head coverings that was initially
imposed for safety reasons. FIBA member federations passed the rule at a
congress in Hong Kong after studying the issue since 2014, and with several
conditions on design and color. Headgear will be permitted under the following
conditions: must be black, white, or the same dominant color as a team’s
uniform; not cover any part of the face entirely or partially; and have “no
opening/closing elements around the face and/or neck.”
North Korea vs. Malaysia soccer match rescheduled
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — North Korea has finally been approved
to host a 2019 Asian Cup qualifying match against Malaysia following political
tensions between the countries. The Asian Football Confederation said the
game can go ahead in Pyongyang on June 8 after the Malaysian soccer federa-
tion confirmed it was not subject to “government travel restrictions.” Diplomatic
tensions escalated amid investigations into the death of North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother in Kuala Lumpur. Both countries
imposed travel bans on the other’s citizens. The original March 28 qualifier was
postponed and a neutral venue sought. The match opens play for both teams in a
four-nation Asian Cup qualifying group that includes Lebanon and Hong Kong.
715 pounds lighter, Egyptian woman leaves India
MUMBAI, India (AP) — An Egyptian woman who lost about 325 kilograms
(715 pounds) after undergoing weight-loss surgery in an Indian hospital has left
for the United Arab Emirates for long-term treatment. Eman Ahmed, who
weighed more than 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) when she was flown to
Mumbai for treatment in February, was reportedly the world’s heaviest woman.
Doctors who reduced the size of her stomach to help her lose weight said her
treatment would continue at a hospital in Abu Dhabi. The 36-year-old from
Alexandria has lymphedema, a condition that causes body tissue to swell. She
had a stroke when she was 11, after which her weight gradually increased. A
chartered aircraft took Ahmed and a team of nine doctors to Abu Dhabi.
Body of 85-year-old climber recovered from Mount Everest
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The body of an 85-year-old climber who died
attempting to regain his title as the oldest person to scale Mount Everest was
flown to Kathmandu where family and supporters held a funeral. The death of
Min Bahadur Sherchan has also revived concerns about allowing elderly people
to attempt to scale mountain peaks where the conditions are harsh and oxygen
levels are low. Sherchan’s body was flown by helicopter to Kathmandu, a day
after the Nepali died at Everest base camp. At a community center, his family,
friends, and supporters offered flowers and a colorful scarf as Buddhist monks
chanted a religious hymn and burnt sandalwood incense. Sherchan first scaled
Everest in May 2008 when he was 76 — at the time becoming the oldest climber
to reach the top.
TACKLING TAISHAN. Tourists watch the sunset at the top of Mount Tai in Shandong province, China’s most sacred
mountain. For centuries, emperors climbed Mount Tai to pay homage to heaven and earth. Philosopher Confucius is said
to have stood at the towering top, looked down, and pronounced the world a small place indeed. (AP Photo/Louise Watt)
Climbing Mount Tai: 6,000 steps
up China’s sacred mountain
By Louise Watt
The Associated Press
AISHAN, China — Taishan, or Mount
Tai, is China’s most sacred mountain.
For centuries, emperors climbed it to
pay homage to heaven and earth. Philosopher
Confucius is said to have stood at the towering
top, looked down, and pronounced the world a
small place indeed.
While it isn’t one of China’s tallest
mountains, the way to the top is still a
challenge consisting of more than 6,000 stone
steps, with the option of taking a cable car
halfway. Walking the whole way can take
anywhere from three to seven hours.
I’d heard stories about elderly groups and
others resolutely marching up the mountain in
the dark and arriving in time to see the
sunrise, but I decided, with some friends, to
start in the afternoon and see the sunrise after
spending the night in a hotel at the top.
We entered through the Red Gate at the
south foot of the mountain, stopping to look in
temples with burning incense and at some of
the hundreds of stone tablets that dot the way
up. We were surrounded by serene greenery,
punctuated every so often by a rousing round
of mainland or Taiwanese pop music from
tourists carrying personal stereo systems for
all to hear.
Two seven- and nine-year-old brothers
offered me a welcome excuse to rest from
climbing when they asked “auntie,” one of the
few foreigners on the mountain, to pose for a
photo with them.
Then I continued to follow in the footsteps of
the emperors. In 219 B.C.E., Qin Shi Huang,
T
the founder of the Qin Dynasty, held a
ceremony on the summit to announce to the
gods that he had successfully unified China.
For thousands of years, Taishan has been a
source of inspiration for poets and thinkers,
and a place to worship. The mountain is the
most venerated of China’s five sacred moun-
tains. This is because it is the easternmost,
and in Chinese culture east is regarded as a
sacred direction because that is where the sun
and moon rise.
Confucius, whose hometown of Qufu is not
too far away, declared from the summit:
“Climb Mount Tai and the whole world looks
small.” His words express how Mount Tai
looks large against its low-lying surroundings,
and also the more philosophical musing that
the higher you climb, the greater your vision.
For me, the higher I climbed, the more steps
I saw, until finally I got to the steps leading up
to the cable car station. Of course, Confucius
wouldn’t have taken the cable car, but I wasn’t
Confucius. And two hours of climbing steps
was enough of a climbing experience for me.
On top of the 5,069-foot mountain, lodging is
limited. There are a few basic hotels, and
travellers also come equipped with camping
gear. We stayed in a hotel and paid 100 yuan
($15) per person to sleep on mattresses in a
room with 13 people. Outside our door, other
guests slept in tents or rows of beds lining the
corridors.
Another likely difference between my
experience and that of Confucius: He probably
didn’t climb the mountain at the same time as
thousands of other people.
Continued on page 7
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81.6
4022.8
6.8995
2.1135
7.7939
64.31
13330
32464
113.38
8199.9
4.3457
102.94
104.8
3.243
49.767
57.087
3.7505
1.4039
1127.5
152.57
30.172
34.66
22857