Manta Rays at Risk, Extinction is Forever

Manta rays, a species close to the heart of every diver and every individual who cares about the future of our ocean, are increasingly threatened with extinction. They have roamed the ocean for 150 million years and yet we are witnessing their ecocide before our eyes.

Demand for manta ray gill rakers – or the internal feathery structures that strain plankton – has risen drastically, driving untold numbers of deaths for the Asian medicine market. The gruesome and cruel destruction of these gentle creatures is needless, tragic and extremely alarming.

As the environmental voice of the global dive community, Project AWARE is working at every turn to ensure that mantas will not disappear on our watch. Help us ensure maximum protection for these animals before it’s too late. The time is now. Make an urgent donation today to support critical conservation efforts to protect mantas globally.

FACT: Manta ray catch has nearlyquadrupled in seven years according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

FACT: Project AWARE has a track record of success on this critical issue. In 2011, in coordination with our partners and with your support, we succeeded in safeguarding this wide-ranging, globally threatened species and its key habitats under the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Project AWARE has the global reach and seasoned expertise needed to try to stop this slaughter - but we need your financial support.

FACT: Worldwide value of manta-based tourism and filming is estimated at $100 million USD per year. Manta rays top divers’ must-see list time and again. Divers around the world have of a truly special relationship with marine creatures and this means we must play a pivotal role in their protection.

Project AWARE is now targeting protection for mantas and their close relatives the devil rays under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – the world’s largest, most effective wildlife conservation agreement. CITES protections offer the best hope for controlling the manta trade globally and ensuring species recovery.

The battle ahead is going to be difficult. But our opposition is underestimating us. Dive supporters span the globe as guardians of the sea from surface to depth. We will not let manta rays die silently and needlessly. Exercise this power, make waves and join together with us in protecting mantas and devil rays today.

Visit the Manta Rays at Risk section of our website for more information on the manta gill raker trade. Thank you for your urgent support!

For the Ocean,

Alex Earl
Executive Director, Project AWARE Foundation

10,000 miles = 10,000 books in the Mongol Rally

10,000 miles = 10,000 books in the Mongol Rally:

Mongolia Rally. Photo by: Leon Logothetis

Leon Logothetis will be covering this year’s Mongol Rally for Matador.

THE TRUTH IS, I probably shouldn’t be here. Events happened last year that conspired to nearly rob me of my life. Inches I tell you. Inches. Things happened. Bad things. I had signed up for the famed Mongol Rally; an arduous trek across 10,000 miles of desert, treacherous mountain ranges, and inhospitable territory. All attempted in a car that only your granny would be proud of.

At the hospital. Photo by: Leon Logothetis

The aim was to drive from England to Mongolia. The reality was that I found myself lying on a hospital bed in a distant land. A broken collarbone and bruised ego in tow. Violent car crashes can do that to you. I never did reach Mongolia. My adventure ended on a Romanian road. My life, did not.
This year I’m trying again. Something inside just won’t give up. I guess I’m still chasing the sense of adventure lost on that dusty Romanian road. The sense of accomplishment. The daring. The cultures. The people. Life awaits. Adventure awaits. Mongolia awaits.
The 2012 Mongol Rally will see me visit 18 countries. Connect with hundreds of diverse people and drive thousands of miles. I’ve teamed up with Firstbook, and for every mile I drive I’ll be donating a book to an underprivileged child. Every mile is a book. Every book is a window into hope. Hope that a child will be inspired to live a full life. Hope that a child can grow up one day and yearn to see the world. Experiencing life. Experiencing adventure. Living outside of their box.

Rally car. Photo by Leon Logothetis

As I make my trek across a third of the world’s surface, I’ll be blogging and sending back videos daily. When (not if) I reach my destination of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, this man’s life will be changed for the better in some small way. And hopefully the 10,000 books will have a powerful effect on 10,000 kids. Here’s to hope, my friends.
You can follow my adventure starting July 14th here at Matador Network, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Best countries to do business in 2012 [infographic]

Via Infographic Labs.

Time-lapse video of Ho Chi Minh City in action

Time-lapse video of Ho Chi Minh City in action:

In a city of 7+ million people and nearly as many motorbikes zipping through the streets, the traffic situation in Vietnam’s largest city plays out like frantic, yet perfectly synchronized dance.

Rob Whitworth captured the frenetic energy of the city in a beautiful time-lapse video created using 10,000 RAW images.

All the web's top videos.

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Lao Airlines connects S'pore to all ASEAN cities - TIME TO TRY

SINGAPORE: Singapore is now connected to all nine ASEAN city states with the arrival of Lao Airlines from Vientiane, the 11th new city link for Changi this year.

Lao Airlines will have thrice-weekly services between Singapore and Vientiane.

And its direct service comes on the back of strong bilateral ties between the two countries.

Singapore is among Laos' top 10 foreign investors, with investments in sectors ranging from manufacturing to hospitality.

In the first nine months of this year, bilateral trade saw a substantial growth of 40 per cent year-on-year to reach about US$29 million.

Singapore and Laos have also been regular cooperation and exchange partners since Laos joined ASEAN in 1997, across areas such as education, healthcare and tourism.

In a statement, Changi Airport said the number of passengers travelling between the two countries has grown steadily over the last five years.

During this period, Singapore visitor arrivals into Laos grew about 8 per cent annually to about 6,100 in 2010, while the number of visitors from Laos increased by some 25 per cent every year to about 5,200 last year.

- CNA/ck

Supporting entrepreneurs around the world with Startup Weekend

Supporting entrepreneurs around the world with Startup Weekend: We recognize the transformative power of startups and the entrepreneurs behind them that have the passion and courage to pursue a dream; the impact they can make on society can be significant. Google was once a startup in a garage, and Google Ventures is a testament to our ongoing commitment to entrepreneurialism. As we head into Global Entrepreneurship Week, it’s clear that having a robust community of entrepreneurs, mentors and educational resources can be a key ingredient in a startup’s success, and we’re excited to be part of that.



Today, we’re announcing a partnership with Startup Weekend—a global organization committed to promoting real entrepreneurship in local communities. In more than 200 cities and across six continents, Startup Weekend holds 54-hour startup creation events, bringing together entrepreneurs from engineering, product, design, marketing and business backgrounds. Participants gather on Friday, and by Sunday afternoon, they launch a product.



This partnership will help Startup Weekend expand to dozens of additional cities around the world and launch new vertical competitions focused on specific themes such as education, health or gaming.



In addition, we’ll be working to bring in Google’s developer community in the form of Google Technology User Groups as an additional resource to Startup Weekend participants. Started in early 2008, there are now more than 280 GTUGs in 86 countries that bring tech enthusiasts together via hundreds of events each month. GTUG members will receive discounted registration for Startup Weekend events and will help run pre-weekend local bootcamps on Google’s developer platforms and tools (e.g., App Engine, Android, Chrome).



We’ll start rolling out our product training and community events at Startup Weekends in the coming weeks and months. To learn more or find the next event happening in your city, visit startupweekend.org/google. Hope to see you at a weekend event soon!



Posted by Mary Himinkool, Head of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach

Highest Mountain in the World: Mount Everest has some rivals !

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Mount Everest from Gokyo Ri. , ©iStockphoto.com by Grazyna Niedzieska

Mount Everest:
  The "Highest Altitude" 

Almost everyone knows that Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world and climbers from everywhere travel to Everest hoping to earn the distinction of climbing the "World's Highest".

The peak of Mount Everest is 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) above sea level. This high elevation gives Mount Everest the distinction of being the mountain with the highest altitude. 







An altitude of 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) makes
Mount Everest Earth's highest mountain.

Mauna Kea - observatories in the Hawaiian snow   © iStockphoto.com by Dan Schmitt

Mauna Kea:
  The "Tallest Mountain" 

Mauna Kea has an altitude of 4,205 meters (13,796 feet) - much lower than Mount Everest. However, Mauna Kea is an island and if the distance from the bottom of the nearby ocean floor to the peak of the island is measured, then Mauna Kea is taller than Mount Everest.

Mauna Kea is over 10,000 meters tall compared to 8,848 meters for Mount Everest - making it the world's tallest mountain. 







Mauna Kea rises over 10,000 meters above
the ocean floor making it taller than Everest.

Chimborazo mountain in Ecuador   © iStockphoto.com by Loic Bernard

Chimborazo:
  "Highest Above Earth's Center" 

Chimborazo in Ecuador has an altitude of 6,310 meters (20,703 feet). Mount Everest has a higher altitude and Mauna Kea is "taller". However, Chimborazo has the distinction of being the highest mountain above Earth's center.

This is because Earth is not a sphere - it is an oblate spheroid. As an oblate spheroid, Earth is widest at its equator. Chimborazo is just one degree south of Earth's equator and at that location it is 6,384 kilometers from Earth's center or about 2 kilometers farther from Earth's center than Mount Everest.






Chimborazo is located near the equator where earth's diameter is greatest.

Earthscraper takes Architecture Underground

From a architect's perspective, several problems impede the development of Mexico City, one of the world's largest cities with a population teeming around 21.2 million. A scarcity of new construction plots, height restrictions that limit new edifices to eight stories and laws that prohibit demolishing historic structures leaves little room for building up.

The solution: build down.

NEWS: Builing Green Houses From Garbage

Up to the task is BNKR Aquitectura and their ambitious 'Earthscraper' project. The Mexico City urban architecture and research firm has proposed building an inverted pyramid underneath the Plaza de la Constitución, the heart of the Mexico City's historic district, commonly known as The Zócalo.

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY

"The historic center of Mexico City is in desperate need for a pragmatic make-over," says BNKR's website.

Capped with a glass roof to filter natural light down to its lowest levels, the 2,542,650 square foot sub-structure would descend 65 stories below The Zócalo. Proposed for the first 10 stories is a museum filled with Aztec and Mayan artifacts, with the the next 10 stories offering retail and residential spaces. The remaining 35 stories are outlined for office space.

NEWS: Green Building Too Quiet For Comfort

"The Earthscraper is the skyscraper's antagonist in an historic urban landscape where the latter is condemned and the preservation of the built environment is the paramount ambition. It preserves the iconic presence of the city square and the existing hierarchy of the buildings that surround it," says BNKR.

BNKR Arquitectura's "Earthscaper" design was a 2010 finalist in the eVolo Magazine's Skyscraper Competition.

[Via GizMag]

Photo: BNKR Aquitectura

Saudi tycoon to build world's tallest tower

RIYADH: Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal launched on Tuesday a project to build the world's tallest tower at more than 1,000 metres in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

The project to built a tower topping Dubai's world's highest building, Burj Khalifa, "will soon see the light after the signing of a $1.2 billion agreement" between Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Co and construction giant Bin Laden Group, the Saudi tycoon told reporters.

It will take 36 months to build the tower, said the Saudi businessman, a nephew of King Abdullah and one of the kingdom's wealthiest men. He did not say when construction will begin.

Alwaleed said the tower was intended to "send a message of strength" reflecting the OPEC kingpin's economic and political stability.

"Our message is political," he said.

Saudi Arabia has been spared a wave of protests that has rocked the region, leading to the downfall of autocratic rulers in Tunisia and Egypt despite sporadic small protests staged by Shiites in the Eastern Province.

The tower, which will be part of a $20 billion project north of Jeddah, would top Dubai's 828-metre Burj Khalifa, which was opened last year.

It will include a hotel, apartments and offices occupying an area of

500,000 square metres.

- AFP/de

Kolkata - The 'second London' wannabe

KOLKATA, India - Kolkata, once capital of British India, on Tuesday began work to transform the congested and fading city into a "second London" complete with a London Eye ferris wheel.

Mamata Banerjee, the feisty new chief minister of the state of West Bengal, made an election pledge to turn the dysfunctional and poverty-stricken Indian metropolis into a world-class city.

The planned facelift marks the first major urban renewal effort in the state by Banerjee, who became known as "the giant killer" after she ended 34 years of uninterrupted Communist rule in West Bengal in May.

"My dream is to beautify the 10-kilometre riverfront of the city of Kolkata on the lines of London," Banerjee said as she laid the foundation stone of her project at the city's Millennium Park, on the banks of the river Hooghly.

"Never say no. Let us try for a better tomorrow for our city. The project will be green and environmentally-friendly," she said to hundreds of onlookers.

Kolkata, a bustling metropolis of 15 million people, whose name was officially changed from Calcutta in 2001, began as a cluster of villages on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River and grew into the capital of the British Raj.

Towards the end of the 19th century, it was one of the world's wealthiest cities, leading to a building spree that left a rich legacy of grand colonial buildings.

The architecture in many parts of the city, particularly around the central Maidan, which was inspired by Hyde Park, resembles the British capital.

A huge memorial to Queen Victoria remains a city centrepiece and tourist attraction to this day.

But after decades of under-investment and neglect, Kolkata's infrastructure is crumbling and the city's grandeur faded long ago in the fierce climate of heat, humidity and monsoon rains.

The British moved their capital in India from Kolkata to New Delhi in 1911.

Banerjee's transformation will initially focus on the scruffy waterfront along the Hooghly, which separates Kolkata from its twin city Howrah, once known as the "Sheffield of the East," a reference to the one-time British manufacturing hub.

A "Kolkata Eye" inspired by the London Eye will later be built to give visitors a bird's eye view of the city and river, Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee told AFP.

"We have plans to transform the riverfront into a heritage cultural zone as part of the project to beautify Kolkata along the lines of London," Chatterjee said.

"There will be landscaped paths, places for meditation, food outlets, parks and an art gallery and museum."

He said city officials were aiming to complete the work by January 2013.

The pavements will be made of herring-bone bricks and lamp posts will be replaced with ones resembling those used during the colonial era.

The government has also banned billboards around heritage structures to restore a colonial look to the city centre.

"It's a challenge to dream of such a project. But we are determined to make it a reality," Banerjee added on Tuesday.

The mercurial local leader, known for her feisty rhetoric and spartan lifestyle, has other ambitious plans for parts of West Bengal and critics accuse her of making exaggerated promises that can never be fulfilled.

Touring the tea-growing northern area of Darjeeling in the run-up to the local election in May, she promised to turn the impoverished region into the Switzerland of India.

- AFP/ir

South Sudan - The world's newest country

Growing urban population strains Chinese cities

CHONGQING, China : A forest of buildings and cranes rises through thick fog above roads jammed with cars in a Chinese city the size of Austria and home to more than 32 million people. The southwestern megacity of Chongqing is bursting at the seams as authorities struggle to keep pace with its rapidly growing urban population -- a situation seen repeatedly across the vast country of 1.3 billion people. Lifelong resident Zhou Dechong, 80, says he is stunned by the speed of development in the teeming metropolis which, like many Chinese cities, is plagued by chronic traffic jams, dirty air and the deafening sound of jack-hammers. "In every aspect, the pace of development has been very fast," Zhou told AFP. More than 350 million people are expected to move to Chinese towns and cities in the coming years, boosting the country's urban population to one billion by 2030, according to a report by consultancy firm McKinsey & Company. The unprecedented urbanisation will more than double the number of cities with one million residents to 221 and require the construction of five million buildings, including 50,000 skyscrapers -- equivalent to 10 New Yorks, it said. The staggering expansion is putting enormous strain on China's already depleted natural resources and could trigger more social unrest as millions of people leave the countryside to live in densely populated urban areas. "There's going to be more volatility and uncertainty," Jonathan Woetzel, a Shanghai-based director for McKinsey, told AFP. "Urbanisation essentially picks you up and moves you to a place where you don't know anybody nor do you have as many formal rights as you would have had in your previous residence." It means living "cheek by jowl with other people who they have never met and literally don't share a common language with nor do they have the same sense of rights and responsibilities," Woetzel said. University of Sydney professor Lu Duanfang said the massive human migration would also have "huge ecological implications" as valuable farmland near urban areas is used for high-rise buildings, and demand for energy and water soars. "As more peasants convert to the modern urban living style, it will cost more energy" as more people use microwaves and washing machines, said Lu -- a specialist in architecture, design and planning. Land sales -- a key source of revenue for cash-strapped local governments -- also threaten China's food security by reducing the area available for growing crops and grazing animals needed to feed the world's most populous country. Demand for resources is likely to double while air pollution -- already severe in many cities -- could reach "critical levels" without further investment in green technology, the McKinsey report said. The burgeoning urban population has sparked a nationwide building boom as China spends billions of dollars developing new cities, power plants, roads, high-speed rail networks and airports to accommodate the masses. Authorities -- anxious about the widening wealth gap -- have pledged to reform the controversial household registration system so migrants can access public services such as health insurance and free education when they relocate. After 30 years of rapid growth, Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are starting to groan under the strain of populations the size of Australia's at more than 20 million. Officials are trying to relieve the pressure by restricting the number of cars allowed on the roads and urging people and companies to move inland. But analysts say the key to successful urbanisation will be maintaining the country's rapid economic growth -- a blistering 9.7 percent in the first quarter -- so enough jobs can be created for the new urban dwellers. "China is very much an expectations-driven environment -- as long as people feel like it is getting better, then the base for fundamental social stability is there," said Woetzel. "If you are out of work for a long period, one loses the expectation of things getting better." Lu agreed, saying, "As long as the growth rate is high, it doesn't matter how many are moving into the cities. Density itself is not a problem; what matters is whether the economy can sustain itself." So far, the government has done "pretty well" moving more than 300 million people into urban areas in the past three decades, said Paul Kriss, a World Bank urban specialist based in Beijing. "You don't see the major slums like you see in India, Cairo or Lagos or in South America," Kriss told AFP. "Having said that, they do have mega-challenges." - AFP/ir

This Hotel Is Going To Be A New Landmark In Beijing

The creator, Emergent named this “Beijing National Hotel”. It will be the largest, the most abstract looking, and the most eco-friendly hotel in Beijing. Locate near the Beijing International Airport. Well, I never want to live at anywhere near an airport though, the aircraft is very disturbing when landing! Hope the creator had already taken this into consideration. So what else is so special about this hotel?

The building is 2.3 million square foot, composed by three volumetric rings, seems to signify the three different parts of this hotel.

It will include 1,500 rooms (Provides views of the city and the rainforest), international conference halls (Of course you know what is this used for), a 107,000 square foot indoor rainforest and a sky restaurant located at the highest level of the building (all direction of the view of the Beijing city).

The building enclosed by a double skin system where the outer layer is a weather break and the inner layer is the weatherproof enclosure, which creates a thermal buffer zone.

Its outer layer is made from a lightweight cable-net structure with many windows. Therefore, it allows a certain amount of natural light penetrated into the interior of the building and the rainforest. Within this layer, it embedded with system of solar thermal pipes and grey water capture grooves which hybridizes the base diamond pattern with a sporadic weaving pattern.

Source: Emergent via Gizmodo

Tourists could see Southeast Asia on single visa

JAKARTA: Travellers could soon be able surf in Bali, shop in Singapore and eat spicy street food in Thailand before crossing into Cambodia and cruising the Mekong in Vietnam -- all on a single tourist visa.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is working on a plan that would open the region to foreign tourists in the same way Europe's unified visa system has streamlined travel.

"You would just have to apply for one visa and you could then visit all the countries using that visa," said Eddy Krisneidi, an official at the Jakarta-based ASEAN Secretariat, which recently released its Tourism Strategic Plan for the next five years.

With attractions ranging from jungle-covered temples at Angkor Wat in Cambodia to five-star beach resorts in Bali, Southeast Asia is a region that tempts travellers from all walks of life.

ASEAN countries recorded more than 65 million foreign visitor arrivals in 2009. Malaysia led the field, followed by Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei.

Analysts say visitor numbers could be boosted by slashing the time-consuming and confusing visa requirements for each of ASEAN's 10 countries, which range from vibrant developing democracies to isolated, military-dominated Myanmar.

While some allow foreigners to simply purchase visas on arrival, others require wads of paperwork, photos and up to a week to issue the required stamp.

"One of the major concerns of the industry, as well as visitors, is the difficulty of obtaining visas, a series of widely differing regulations and information needs for visas," ASEAN's strategic plan states.

It is a view shared by Stuart McDonald, who runs an online travel forum for Southeast Asia.

"One of the most common questions that we see on travelfish.org is people asking visa questions: What kind of visa can I get? How long is it valid for? What does it cost?," said the Australian who travels extensively in Asia.

"The rules change all the time and it introduces a level of uncertainty and confusion that the industry can do without."

The concept of a single visa has wide support among tourism bodies across Southeast Asia.

"It would definitely benefit all the countries in this region, especially Thailand," Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Suraphon Svetasreni said, noting that Thailand is a "good strategic location" for overland travelling as it acts as a bridge to other countries.

Svetasreni said it is only a matter of time until the region's visa system is liberalised.

"ASEAN will be considered as a single destination, so it makes sense to apply for a single visa to travel to any country in ASEAN," he said.

Despite its appeal, others are less optimistic that a single visa will become a reality anytime soon.

"Travel procedures have to be simplified but it is not going to be easy because each country may have their own foreign policy," Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel inbound tourism vice president Arul Das said.

ASEAN is yet to outline the cost or length of stay for its planned single tourist visa. But it acknowledges it could take several years to introduce.

"The establishment of such a visa will not likely occur in the next five years due to barriers of technology, political issues, concerns of sovereignty and security and the different visa systems in the member states," its strategic plan states.

The single visa is one of several initiatives being worked on by ASEAN to boost tourism in the region.

The organisation is also overseeing the creation of regional tourism standards which would apply to things such as accommodation, food and public toilets.

"There are already clear indications that major tour operators are now very much concerned with a wide range of standards in a destination," the plan states.

"Those destinations that are able to satisfy those increasingly high standards will have a distinct position of advantage."

-AFP/ac

Top10 most liveable cities in the world

CITY OF LIFESTYLE: Aucklanders enjoy living in one of the world's 10 best cities, the Economist survey confirms.

Vancouver topped the list of the world's most liveable cities for the fifth straight year, while Melbourne claimed second place from Vienna and Australian and Canadian cities dominated the list's top 10 spots.

Auckland was in 10th place.

In the annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Canadian west coast city and 2010 Winter Olympics host scored 98 per cent on a combination of stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure - a score unchanged from last year.

Vancouver has topped the list from 2007.

"Mid-sized cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to score well by having all the cultural and infrastructural benefits on offer with fewer problems related to crime or congestion," said Jon Copestake, editor of the report, in a statement.

Pittsburgh was the top US city with 29th place - just ahead of Honolulu - while Los Angeles moved up three places to 44th and New York held onto the 56th spot.

London moved up one place to 53rd while Paris came in at number 16.

The top Asian city was Osaka at number 12, tying Geneva, Switzerland and beating out the Japanese capital of Tokyo, which came in at 18.

Hong Kong came in at 31 but Beijing, capital of the world's most populous nation and No 2 economy, straggled in at 72.

There was also little change at the bottom, with Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, once again claiming the worst position with a rating of 37.5 percent, narrowing beating out the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka.

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey ranks cities based on 30 factors such as healthcare, culture and environment, and education and personal safety.

Following is a list of the top 10 most liveable cities as ranked by The Economist Intelligence Unit:

1. Vancouver, Canada
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. (equal) Perth, Australia
8. (equal) Adelaide, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand

The bottom 10 cities were:

1. Harare, Zimbabwe
2. Dhaka , Bangladesh
3. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
4. Lagos, Nigeria
5. Algiers , Algeria
6. Karachi, Pakistan
7. Douala, Cameroon
8. Tehran, Iran
9. Dakar, Senegal
10. Colombo, Sri Lanka

- Reuters

'Little Italy' rises on Philippine hillside

MABINI, Philippines: On an isolated hillside in the Philippines, a tiny slice of Italy has risen from among the vegetable patches and coconut trees, the product of thousands of overseas workers.

Large stone houses - often with brand-new vehicles in their driveways - cover the district, even though the narrow streets can barely accommodate more than one car at a time.

This is a sharp contrast to the lifestyle in the 1980s, recalled district chairman Raymundo Magsino, 63.

"Back then, we depended on farming: vegetables, fruit and corn. We were the poorest district in the province. These were all just thatch huts," Magsino said, pointing to the pastel-coloured houses that dot the hilly area.

This new wealth comes from the remittances of residents - including entire families - who have gone to Italy to work, turning a district of subsistence farmers into a relatively prosperous community in a generation.

About 6,300 people from the town's total population of 47,000 have made the trip, said Aileen Constantino-Penas, programme director of a non-government organisation for migrant workers in Mabini.

The money sent home from Italy by Filipinos doing mostly domestic work and labouring has completely changed the face of Mabini town, located about 65 kilometres south of Manila.

Those who have left have brought touches of Italy back with them.

"The accents of their homes are no longer typical of Filipino homes," Constantino-Penas said.

Italian-style large terraces or wrap-around porches with marble balusters proliferate in Mabini, some with exteriors covered with artificial stone. Other houses look like mini-Pantheons, complete with Roman-style columns in front.

Traces of Italy can also be found inside the houses, even in the bathrooms. Bidets are common here even though they are unheard of elsewhere in the Philippines.

And when speaking among themselves, those from Italy sometimes use Italian words including the occasional "Mama Mia" exclamation, said Constantino-Penas, whose relatives are also among the workers in Italy.

Going abroad to seek higher-paying work is nothing unusual in the Philippines: nine million people, or about 10 per cent of the population, are currently labouring abroad.

They work as sailors, nurses, construction workers, musicians, maids and in dozens of other professions in almost every country in the world.

But the people of Mabini have found Italy to be especially welcoming.

District chairman Magsino said some people made the journey to Italy as early as 1977, at a time when this meant sneaking into the country illegally.

Working in Italy really caught on in the 1980s as word spread of the opportunities there, luring even more Mabini residents.

"People who have relatives there talked to (prospective) Italian employers and told them that (their relatives) will work for you so they fixed the papers to bring them in," Magsino said.

Luciana Hernandez, 81, said she was one of the pioneers of the exodus to Italy, having helped arrange for her daughter to go there to work in 1986, back when that meant sneaking into Italy from Austria or the former Yugoslavia.

"An agency took her by plane (to Europe). Then by speedboat, then they crossed the mountains on foot, hiding all the time," she recalled.

Once her daughter was established in Italy, she was able to petition for the rest of her siblings to go there, where they also obtained jobs, said Hernandez.

Eventually all but one of Hernandez's 10 children went off to work in Italy. Most of them are still there and have taken their own children with them, she said.

"When they first left, I cried every time I thought of them. But I am used to it now and these days, they can call very easily with these new phones," she said.

Life as a foreign worker in Italy is easier than in other countries, say those who have worked there. While tales of abused Filipino maids proliferate in many countries, Filipinos in Italy enjoy legal protection and many of them get along well with their hosts, they say.

"Italy is a better place, even if you are just a domestic helper. They treat you well and even give you insurance for hospitalisation," said Alona Solis, 39, who first went to Italy when she was 16 years old.

"They are not allowed to hurt you. You can complain about abuse, unlike some other countries."

Since she left for Italy in 1986, she has returned to the Philippines only twice: once in 2005 to get married and last December for a vacation that she is still enjoying. But she plans to go back to Italy soon.

"I am used to working there. My boss there already sees me as his child," she said.

Her husband also has a job in Italy and they share an apartment with her two young children, said Solis, who can speak Italian.

Solis can earn as much as 1,000 euros a month (1,350 dollars) as a domestic helper if she works overtime, far more than she could ever get in the Philippines as a high-school drop-out.

"If the educated people have trouble finding a job here, how much more the uneducated," she said.

Despite the wealth brought by the Italian ventures, officials concede that there are costs to having so many people from the community working outside the country.

Magsino, the district chairman, said family members left behind had become dependent on the remittances of their relatives.

"Many don't want to work in the farms anymore. They just play cards and go to cockfights," he lamented.

Constantino-Penas said her non-government organisation, Atikha, had been working to teach the overseas workers how to manage their money and to make sure their relatives at home didn't suffer the ill-effects of separation.

"There is a social cost of migration. Children left behind don't want to study. Their mindset is they should go abroad and not study. We see a lot of drop-outs, most of them among overseas workers' children," she said.

Her organisation is teaching children to stay in school, to save their money rather than spend it, while also helping their guardians learn how to budget and invest the money that is sent home from Italy.

Meanwhile, Mabini tourism officer Pacencia Casapao has struggled against the apathy lingering over the town in her effort to give it more touches of Italy.

"I've been asking for someone to come back and set up an Italian restaurant for tourists. But no one wants to do that," she said

- AFP/fa

Photos: Inside Qatar, Host of the 2022 World Cup

Photos: Inside Qatar, Host of the 2022 World Cup

Technorati Tags: foto, lorenzo, zanirato

Christchurch big quake photos

Check them out here

http://www.crashbang.co.nz/quake040910/index.html

Half of apartments in Shanghai, Beijing vacant

At least half of the apartments in Shanghai and Beijing are empty, the China Daily reported yesterday, citing an online investigation by volunteers conducted in 100 Chinese cities.

About 51 per cent of Shanghai apartments, 66 per cent of Beijing flats and more than 70 per cent of units in Hainan are vacant, according to the survey, based on counting the number of apartments observed to have no lights on at night. It was conducted on more than 1,000 real-estate projects and was organised by news website Sina.com, according to the report.

The finding comes as Shanghai Securities News reported yesterday that Shanghai property sales by floor area jumped 26 per cent last week from the previous week

“Investors and speculators are the owners of the vacant houses” as they wait to sell their properties at an appropriate time, said Mr Lu Qilin, a Shanghai-based researcher at Uwin. “It’s important for the government to introduce more measures to curb speculation,” he added.

Property prices in 70 major Chinese cities climbed 10.3 per cent last month from a year earlier, according to China Information News.

Source : Today – 18 Aug 2010

Malaysia may close more dive sites hit by coral bleaching

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia may close three more popular dive sites in the South China Sea which have been hit by coral bleaching blamed on global warming, an official said Wednesday.

Last week authorities announced the closure of nine dive sites on the tropical islands of Tioman and Redang until the end of October in an attempt to relieve stress on the fragile marine ecosystems.

The two islands are located off the east coast of Malaysia in the South China Sea.

Marine authorities said they were studying a proposal to shut down three more sites on Redang island after resort operators said they detected coral bleaching and wanted the diving spots closed.

"We have received the proposal, we will study it and verify the matter," a marine park official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The dive sites will only be closed if more than 60 percent of the coral has been damaged, she added.

The closure would give the coral a chance to regenerate and would remove stress caused by tourism-related activities such as diving.

Coral bleaching, which can eventually kill corals, occurs when stresses such as rising sea temperatures disrupt the delicate, symbiotic relationship between the corals and their host organisms.

The marine department has said 60 to 90 percent of the coral in some areas of the closed sites has been damaged.

The reefs in Redang and Tioman island attract some 500,000 tourists annually.

- AFP/ir