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ASIA / PACIFIC October 1, 2018 THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5 Charles Kao, Nobel-winning optical fiber pioneer, dies at 84 MIRACULOUS SURVIVAL. In this undated photo, 18-year-old Aldi Novel Adilang is seen on a wooden fish trap floating in the waters near the island of Guam. The Indonesian teenager survived about seven weeks adrift at sea after the floating wooden fish trap he was employed to mind slipped its moorings. Aldi’s parents and the Indonesian Consulate in Osaka, Japan, said he was rescued August 31 by a Panamanian-flagged vessel off Guam, about 1,200 miles from his original location. (Indonesian Consulate General in Osaka via AP) Indonesian teenager rescued after drifting 49 days at sea By Ali Kotarumalos The Associated Press AKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian teenager who survived 49 days adrift at sea after the wooden fish trap he was employed to mind slipped its moorings says he ran out of food within a week and survived on fish and seawater he squeezed from his clothing. Aldi Novel Adilang told The Associated Press that he turned on a lamp every time he sighted another ship and can’t remember how many passed by “unaware of my ordeal.” The Indonesian Consulate in Osaka, Japan, said the 18-year-old was rescued by a Panamanian-flagged vessel off Guam on August 31, about 1,200 miles from his original location, and returned to Indo- nesia with officials earlier in September. He was employed since age 16 in one of the world’s loneliest jobs: lamp lighter on a rompong — a wooden raft with a hut on top that’s lit at night to attract fish — moored about 78 miles off the coast of North Sulawesi. The coastline is not visible from the fishing rafts and the numerous rompong are miles apart, said Adilang’s mother, Net Kahiking. Supplies including food and fuel for a generator are dropped off about once a week. The minders, who earn $130 a month, communicate with fishing boats by handheld radio. “I was on the raft for one month and 18 days. My food ran out after the first week,” J said Adilang. When it didn’t rain for days, “I had to soak my clothes in the sea, then I squeezed and drank the water.” The boy’s father, Alfian Adilang, said the family is overjoyed at his return but angry with his employer. It was the third time the teen’s raft had drifted. The previous two times it had been rescued by the owner’s ship, the boy said. The rafts are anchored with ropes and Aldi Adilang said strong friction caused them to break. “I thought I will never meet my parents again, so I just prayed every day,” he said. Adilang’s portable radio, known as a handy-talky or HT in Indonesia, would prove to be a lifesaver. “It was early morning on August 31 when I saw the ship and I lighted up the lamp and shouted ‘help’ using the HT,” he said. “The ship had passed about one mile but then it turned to me. Might be because I used the English word,” he said. “Then they talked on the HT.” The MV Arpeggio, which rescued Adilang off Guam, contacted the Indonesian mission in Japan when it docked in Tokuyama and officials from the Osaka consulate collected him on September 6, the consulate said in a statement. He returned to Indonesia on September 8. Adilang, who is the youngest son of four siblings, said he no longer wants to work on a rompong. “My parents agree,” he said. Rare Sumatran tiger caught in animal trap dies JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A critically endangered Sumatran tiger pregnant with two cubs was found dead in the Indonesian province of Riau after being caught in a pig trap, according to authorities, in the latest setback to a species whose numbers are estimated to have dwindled to about 400. The head of the local conservation agency, Suharyono, said the tiger, about Summer Run four years old, was reportedly trapped earlier in the week, escaped, then was found dead in a ravine about 500 feet from the trap with part of the snare wrapped around its body. It was pregnant with male and female cubs, said Suharyono, who uses a single name. He said the snare rope had ruptured its Continued on page 8 HONG KONG (AP) — Charles K. Kao, who shared a 2009 Nobel Prize in physics for pioneering work in optical fiber technology that helped to lay the foundation for modern telecommunica- tions, has died. He was 84 years old. Kao, a former vice chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, died in hospice care, according to the Hong Kong government and news reports. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease but no cause of death was announced. Kao was a researcher at ITT Corp. when in 1966 he and a colleague published a paper that showed pure glass fibers could be used for communication. That tech- nology, along with developments in lasers, gave rise to a new industry. Kao’s work “made the internet possible,” the South China Morning Post newspaper said in an editorial. Charles Kuen Kao was born November 4, 1933 in Shanghai, according to a bio- graphy released by the Nobel Foundation. His mother wrote poetry and his father was an American-educated judge. The family left in 1948 for Hong Kong, where Kao finished high school. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical PIONEERING PRINCIPLE. Nobel Prize laure- ate in physics professor Charles K. Kao, right, sits with his wife, May W. Kao, during the opening ceremony of the Nobel Exhibition at Chinese University of Hong Kong, in this February 5, 2010 file photo. (AP Photo/ Kin Cheung, File) engineering from Woolwich Polytechnic in London. Kao was vice chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1987-1996. He helped to found its department of electrical engineering in 1970 during a leave from ITT’s British subsidiary. Kao was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2004. He and his wife, Gwen, set up a foundation in 2010 to raise awareness of the disease and promote support for people who care for sufferers. 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