Instant pot lemon chicken delight!

Lifestyle

September 27, 2023

onthefridge — Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Potatoes. PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST

THE WASHINGTON POST – I hate the expression “dump dinners.” Every time I hear it, I recoil because it sounds so unappetising to me. And, yet, I’m so drawn to the concept: Put all of the ingredients in a baking dish, on a sheet pan or in a Dutch oven, skillet or multi-cooker, and then step away while it cooks.

Even if the vessel changes from recipe to recipe, I prefer to call this one-pot cooking, if that’s okay with everyone.

I’ve never fully embraced the slow-cooker function on my multi-cooker, but I make frequent use of its pressure-cooker function for one-pot, weeknight suppers, especially when the weather starts to turn cool and I want something convenient, cosy and saucy without the wait.

I’m a big fan of the bright flavour of lemon as the days grow shorter, too, so this Lemon Chicken with Potatoes from “Instant Pot Miracle Mediterranean Diet” by Urvashi Pitre sounded just right for welcoming autumn.

Along with lemon juice, a whole lemon – peel and all – is thinly sliced and added to the multi-cooker with the chicken, broth and seasoning. The potatoes are added last to keep them on top and prevent them from overcooking.

The result is a luscious stew with a thin broth that has a slight pleasantly bitter note from the lemon pith. The cooked lemon calls to mind preserved lemons, but without the extra step, Pitre writes in her cookbook.

(If you want a richer sauce, she says to remove the chicken, potatoes and lemon and whisk in a bit of butter.)

In her cookbook, Pitre extols the virtue of eating a Mediterranean diet, and she writes about how her Instant Pot helps her continue to cook even while dealing with a degenerative disease that can limit her mobility.

The cookbook is a good one for the multi-cooker novice because she offers insights into Instant Pot terms – quick release vs natural release, for example – and descriptions of what all the buttons do. She also gives general tips for using a multi-cooker:

Factor the time it takes for a pot to come up to pressure into your cooking equation, keeping in mind that a fuller pot takes longer to reach pressure.
Don’t worry about browning proteins and vegetables. She says that pressure cooking delivers flavour without that step. (This is a hard one for me to give up because I like the look of browned meats, but I did as she instructed with this chicken dish and it was delicious.)
Consider using frozen vegetables. This slows the cooking so that you don’t end up with mush.

Each recipe offers active time and total time, the functions you will use, and the kind of release you will use for the dish.

I tried several of her recipes. Each worked just as she described. I chose to feature this one because I liked it best among the ones I made, and because it is was a good belly-warming recipe for any novice cook who wants to dip a spoon into one-pot cooking using a multi-cooker.

The recipe takes 15 to 20 minutes to prep; the rest of the time – about 25 minutes – is hands-off. That gives you enough time to clean up the kitchen, and maybe slice up a cucumber salad and make a quick dressing if you feel like it.

Or, you could just go pet the cat and call your sister for a quick catch-up like I did.

A whole, sliced lemon goes into the pot, followed by the potatoes styled by Lisa Cherkasky. PHOTO: SCOTT SUCHMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Potatoes

Four servings

Active time: 20 minutes; Total time: 45 minutes

Lemon looms large in this fragrant chicken and potato dish, where the broth has a slight pleasantly bitter note from the pith. Along with lemon juice, a whole lemon is thinly sliced and added to the multi-cooker.

The dish takes only 20 minutes to prep; the rest of the time is hands-off. We tested this recipe in a 6-quart Instant Pot.

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

INGREDIENTS

A quarter cup water or chicken broth

Two tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Three large cloves garlic, chopped

Two tablespoons fresh lemon juice

One teaspoon dried oregano

One teaspoon dried rosemary

One teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Half a teaspoon fine salt

One pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, halved

One medium white or yellow onion (8 ounces), halved and thinly sliced

One large lemon, ends trimmed and thinly sliced

One pound unpeeled baby new potatoes

Chopped fresh parsley or basil, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In the multi-cooker, combine the water or broth; olive oil; garlic; lemon juice; oregano; rosemary; pepper; and salt. Add the chicken, stir to coat it with the oil and herb mixture, and let rest while you slice and chop the other ingredients.

Add the onion and stir to combine. Arrange the lemon slices on top of the chicken, then scatter the potatoes over the lemon, making sure to leave the potatoes on top so they don’t overcook.

Secure the lid on the pot and close the pressure valve.

Select PRESSURE (HIGH) and set to six minutes. It takes about 10 minutes for the appliance to come to pressure before cooking begins.

Once cooking is complete, cover your hand with a towel or hot pad and release the pressure manually by moving the pressure-release handle to “Venting.” Never put your hands or face near the vent when it’s releasing steam. Let the pot sit undisturbed for five minutes.

Transfer the chicken and potatoes to a platter, sprinkle with the parsley or basil, and serve.

Nutrition per serving (1 1/4 cups): 333 calories, 100g carbohydrates, 100mg cholesterol, 16g fat, 5g fibre, 24g protein, 4g saturated fat, 406mg sodium, 4g sugar

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Potatoes styled by Lisa Cherkasky. PHOTO: SCOTT SUCHMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Closer ASEAN cooperation needed for renewable energy growth

Southeast Asia

September 27, 2023

solar-sunset-solar-energy-windmills-green-energ-2022-11-16-10-04-44-utc — PHOTO: ENVATO

JAKARTA (ANN/THE JAKARTA POST) – Southeast Asian nations need to enhance their collaboration in order to establish a regional power grid and other critical infrastructure that can interconnect renewable energy sources.

This was said by Peerapat Vithayarichareon, who serves as the Principal Consultant for Energy Systems in the Asia Pacific region at DNV, noting that the initial step in this process must involve the improvement of transmission grids.

He highlighted that insufficient policy support and limited access to capital are currently hindering the expansion of clean energy throughout the region.

“Speaking from the technical perspective, there are concerns related to the potential impact of the cross-border power grid on the power systems within the countries,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

A file photo of the 3.5-megawatt Nusa Penida hybrid solar power plant, built on 4.5 hectares of land in Klungkung regency, Bali. PHOTO: ANN/THE JAKARTA POST SOURCE

ASEAN member states need to invest in transmission grid upgrades to integrate electricity from intermittent electricity generators, such as solar and wind, which require power systems to be more flexible.

“Countries cannot just shift from coal-fired generation to renewable energy. We need to prepare the system to accommodate the increasing share of wind and solar power generation, for example. These are challenges for system operators,” Vithayarichareon said.

Southeast Asia must retire more than five gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power plant capacity annually over the next two decades to phase out the fossil fuel in the region, according to a report from San Francisco-based non-profit organisation Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, the top coal-consuming countries in the region, operate a total of approximately 90 GW of coal power, despite cancelling 12.7 GW of proposed projects in 2022, the same report shows.

The herculean task of upgrading the regional electricity grid lies in the establishment of sufficiently appealing trade terms for member countries, according to the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

While ASEAN countries understood that only multilateral trade would leverage the economies of scale, the existing arrangements so far were bilateral, wrote the institute’s senior researchers Ryan Wong and Lee Poh Onn in an article published by Fulcrum in 2022.

“Southeast Asian countries are in general insular in their policy thinking. Therefore, it takes strong political will for them to look beyond national borders and immediate needs,” the article reads.

Different market structures of ASEAN countries, which influence how stakeholders negotiate prices, standards and regulations, remain one of the toughest challenges, according to DNV’s Vithayarichareon.

Indonesia is already involved in bilateral electricity trade. Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation (SESCO), a subsidiary of Sarawak Energy Berhad, in Sarawak, Malaysia, for instance, supplies electricity to North Kalimantan.

SESCO operates a hydropower plant, making its electricity much cheaper than diesel-generated power from West Kalimantan. Meanwhile, an existing multilateral electricity agreement in the region involving the Laos-Thailand and Malaysia-Singapore (LTMS) transmission network covers the western side of Southeast Asia.

UN urged to declare ‘gender apartheid’

World

September 27, 2023

Afghanistan Women — File photo of Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, May 23. PHOTO: AP

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The UN’s most powerful body must support governments seeking to legally declare the intensifying crackdown by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on women and girls “gender apartheid,” the head of the UN agency promoting gender equality said Tuesday.

Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, told the Security Council that more than 50 increasingly dire Taliban edicts are being enforced with more severity including by male family members.

That is exacerbating mental health issues and suicidal thoughts especially among young women and is shrinking women’s decision-making even in their own homes.

“They tell us that they are prisoners living in darkness, confined to their homes without hope or future,” she said.

Under international law, apartheid is defined as a system of legalized racial segregation that originated in South Africa. But a growing consensus among international experts, officials and activists says apartheid can also apply to gender in cases like that of Afghanistan, where women and girls face systematic discrimination.

File photo of Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, May 23. PHOTO: AP

“We ask you to lend your full support to an intergovernmental process to explicitly codify gender apartheid in international law,” Bahous urged the 15-member council including its five permanent members: the US, Russia, China, Britain and France.

There is no existing international law to respond to “mass, state-sponsored gender oppression,” Bahous said. But she said the Taliban’s “systemic and planned assault on women’s rights … must be named, defined and proscribed in our global norms so that we can respond appropriately.”

The Taliban took power in August 2021 during the final weeks of the US and NATO forces’ pullout from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

As they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban gradually reimposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, barring girls from school beyond the sixth grade and women from almost all jobs, public spaces, gyms and recently closing beauty salons.

The Security Council meeting on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest report on Afghanistan took place on the final day of the annual meeting of world leaders at the 193-member UN General Assembly.

No country has recognised the Taliban, and the assembly’s credentials committee hasn’t either, primarily over its effort to relegate women to their homes and failure to form an inclusive government.

This has left UN recognition with the now-ousted previous government led by Ashraf Ghani. For the third year, its representative did not speak at the high-level gathering.

Bahous said that over the past year, UN Women collaborated with the UN political mission in Afghanistan known as UNAMA and the UN International Office for Migration to interview over 500 Afghan women.

Among their key findings, she said 46 per cent think the Taliban should not be recognised under any circumstances and 50 per cent think the Taliban should only be recognised after it restores women’s and girls’ rights to education, employment, and participation in government.

The women interviewed said the dramatic shrinking of their influence on decision-making, not just at the national or provincial level but also in their communities and homes, is driven by increased poverty, decreasing financial contribution and “the Taliban’s imposition of hyper-patriarchal gender norms,” Bahous said.

In a grim sign of women’s growing isolation, she said, only 22 per cent of the women interviewed reported meeting with women outside their immediate family at least once a week, and a majority reported worsened relations with other members of their family and community.

Bahous said the restrictions on women have led to an increase in child marriage and child labor, and an increase in mental health issues.

“As the percentage of women employed continues to drop, 90 per cent of young women respondents report bad or very bad mental health, and suicide and suicidal ideation is everywhere,” she said.

Roza Otunbayeva, the UN special envoy for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, welcomed the recent visit of a group of Islamic scholars from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s member nations to Afghanistan to focus on girls’ education, women’s rights and the need for inclusive governance.

The scholars stressed that these requirements are “integral to Islamic governance around the world,” she said. “We urge that these visits continue. They are part of a vital conversation between the de facto authorities and the international community helpfully mediated by the Islamic world.”

Otunbayeva told reporters afterward that compared to the last visit of Islamic scholars, this time they left Afghanistan “quite satisfied.”

“We’ll see what will be resolved” at the upcoming International Conference on Women in Islam, she said. That converence, co-sponsored by the OIC and Saudi Arabia, will take place in Jeddah in November.

The UN envoy was asked whether any change in the Taliban’s hardline policies on women and government functioning is possible as long as its leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, makes the final decisions.

“He’s the producer of decisions,” Otunbayeva replied. She said she heard from a Cabinet member that more than 90 per cent of its members support allowing girls to study, but as soon as such views get to the southern city of Kandahar, where Akhundzada is based, they are blocked.

“So, far he is unreachable,” Otunbayeva said. She said she tried to bring the entire ambassadorial corps to Kandahar for meetings with the provincial governor and others, but the meeting was canceled.

The UN envoy said the mission is in constant contact with Taliban officials in the capital, Kabul, “even as we continue to disagree profoundly and express these disagreements.”

Tecently, Otunbayeva said, provincial councils composed of religious clerics and tribal elders have been created in each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, aiming to provide accountability and listening to local grievances, but they also report to the Taliban leader.

It’s too early to judge their performance, but Otunbayeva noted that the councils for the predominantly Shiite provinces of Bamiyan and Daikundi have no Shiite members.

She appealed to donors to support the USD3.2 billion humanitarian appeal for the country, which has received just USD872 million, about 28 per cent of the needed funding.

Many programmes have been forced to close just as winter is approaching and people are most in need, Otunbayeva said. “This means that 15.2 million Afghans now facing acute food insecurity could be pushed towards famine in the coming months.”

Shakira charged with tax evasion again

Entertainment

September 27, 2023

Spain Shakira Taxes — A file photo of the Colombian performer Shakira arriving at court in Madrid, Spain, March 27, 2019. PHOTO: AP

BARCELONA, SPAIN (AP) – Spanish prosecutors have charged pop star Shakira with failing to pay EUR6.7 million (USD7.1 million) in tax on her 2018 income, authorities said Tuesday, in Spain’s latest fiscal allegations against the Colombian singer.

Shakira is alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying the tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a statement.

She has been notified of the charges in Miami, where she lives, according to the statement.

Shakira is already due to be tried in Barcelona on November 20 in a separate case that hinges on where she lived between 2012-14. In that case, prosecutors allege she failed to pay EUR14.5 million (USD15.4 million) in tax.

Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged the Grammy winner spent more than half of the 2012-14 period in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes in the country, even though her official residence was in the Bahamas.

Spanish tax officials opened the latest case against Shakira last July. After reviewing the evidence gathered over the last two months, prosecutors have decided to bring charges. No date for a trial was set.

The public relations firm that previously has handled Shakira’s affairs, Llorente y Cuenca, made no immediate comment.

Last July, it said the artist had “always acted in concordance with the law and on the advice of her financial advisers.”

Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has been linked to Spain since she started dating the now-retired soccer player Gerard Pique. The couple, who have two children, lived together in Barcelona until last year, when they ended their 11-year relationship.

Spain tax authorities have over the past decade or so cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes. Those players were found guilty of tax evasion but avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.

A file photo of the Colombian performer Shakira arriving at court in Madrid, Spain, March 27, 2019. PHOTO: AP

Apple defends Google as default search engine

Technology

September 27, 2023

A cursor moves over Google’s search engine page. PHOTO: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) – A top Apple executive defended the tech giant’s decision to make Google the default search engine on Apple iPhones and Macs, saying there was no “valid alternative.”

Testifying in the biggest antitrust trial in a quarter century, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, said Tuesday that there wasn’t “anybody as good” as Google at helping phone and computer users search the internet.

The US Department of Justice has accused Google – a company whose very name is synonymous with scouring the web – of smothering competition by paying Apple, Verizon and other tech companies to make its search engine the first users see when they open their devices.

Google counters that it dominates the market because its search engine is better than the competition, a position Cue supported in his testimony. Google also argues that users can, in any event, switch to other search engines with a couple of clicks.

The antitrust case, the biggest since the Justice Department went after Microsoft and its dominance of internet browsers 25 years ago, was filed in 2020 during the Trump administration. The trial began September 12 in US District Court in Washington DC.

Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft’s head of advertising and web services, testified Tuesday that Google’s dominance feeds on itself. The more searches Google processes, the more data it collects that can be used to improve future searches.

“The more data you have, the better the results are,” he said, echoing one of the government’s arguments.

Dominating the market helps in other ways, Parakhin said. For example, restaurants are more likely to make sure their location and hours are accurate in results on the leading search engine, while they are far less likely to bother correcting information on smaller search engines.

Experience shows, he said, that search engines need 20 per cent market share to survive. Otherwise, “their quality degrades rapidly, and they disappear.”’

Parakhin also recounted his experience battling Google in his previous job as chief technology officer at the Russian search engine Yandex. After Russian regulators required Android phones to let users choose their search engine – instead of letting Google hold the default position – Yandex’s market share rose from 30 per cent to 55 per cent, he said.

Earlier in the proceedings, the government called a behavioural economist, who testified that Google’s default status discourages users from switching search engines, partly because they are reluctant to change ingrained habits.

Last week, the founder of the search engine DuckDuckGo, which has about 2.5 per cent of the search market, testified that his company struggled to compete because of Google’s revenue-sharing agreements with Apple and other companies.

US District Judge Amit Mehta likely won’t issue a ruling until early next year. If he decides Google broke the law, another trial will determine how to rein in its market power. The Mountain View, California-based company could be stopped from paying Apple and other companies to make Google the default search engine.

Scaly surprise: New pangolin species revealed

Southeast Asia

September 27, 2023

Scales and parts of a previously unrecognised pangolin species discovered from seizures. PHOTO: YIEN MO

BANGKOK (AFP) – The small, scaly, and highly endangered pangolin has been keeping a secret: it comprises not eight species but nine, with a new one discovered through analysis of confiscated scales.

Scientists previously believed there were four Asian and four African varieties of the shy, nocturnal creature, which is often described as the world’s most trafficked mammal.

However, even as the species was discovered, there are signs it may be disappearing, according to research published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pangolin scales are coveted for use in traditional medicine, despite being made of keratin, just like fingernails, and the diminutive creature is also hunted for its meat.

More than a million are believed to have been poached from the wild in the decade to 2014, according to conservationists, and all international trade has been banned since 2016. Despite its elusive nature, there have been suggestions before that the pangolin family might be bigger than believed.

Analysis of 27 scales confiscated in Hong Kong in 2012 and 2013 suggested a lineage unrelated to the eight known species.

But only limited gene fragments were available, and no definitive conclusion could be reached.

Picking up that trail, researchers analysed scales from two confiscations in China’s Yunnan province in 2015 and 2019 and compared them against whole genome data from all previously known species.

They found a lineage “distinct from all eight currently known pangolin species”, with signs it belonged to the Asian or Manis branch of the pangolin family.

They assigned the new species the tentative name Manis mysteria in a nod to its enigmatic nature and found it likely diverged from the Philippine and Malayan pangolin species about five million years ago.

The newly described animal’s existence only came to light through samples seized from traffickers, and the research suggests the new species is already under pressure. Analysis “showed genomic signatures of a declining population, including the relatively low genetic diversity when compared to other pangolins… (and) high levels of inbreeding and genetic load”.

Just where Manis mysteria roams remains… something of a mystery.

Family legacy

Features

September 27, 2023

ABOVE & BELOW: Ann Wong crafts leather items like wallets, handbags and belts; and Wong learnt the tricks of the trade of the tannery business from her father, Shang Teck. PHOTO: ANN WONG

ANN/THE STAR – Ann Wong used to assist her father’s tannery in Port Klang, Selangor in Malaysia when she was in primary school.

She said she and her siblings would spend their school holidays by helping her father at his factory back in 1980s.

She added that they grew up in a conventional Chinese home and their family is very close.

“Our parents worked hard and we (children) would help with simple tasks like typing, packing leather goods, and measuring or cutting leather strips. My siblings and I practically grew up rolling in leather,” said Wong, 42, in an interview at her workshop in Port Klang, Selangor.

Wong’s journey, from helping out in her father’s workshop to becoming a pivotal part of the family-run business, Kelang Leather, is inspiring. She holds a degree in accountancy but her interest in the family business led her to decide to leave her corporate career to focus on the tannery.

“I have always been fascinated by the leather business and how to make it profitable.

“I’ve to look at global raw hide prices, imported leather tanning and finishing chemicals, leather machinery and most importantly, how to produce leather.

“To me, this is much more interesting than a desk job. Ironically, till today, my job still sees me doing costing every day,” she said.

Wong aims to teach more people the skill of leather crafting. PHOTO: ANN WONG

ABOVE & BELOW: Wong working on a product; and closer look at the tools used. PHOTO: ANN WONG

Today, Wong crafts a range of leather items like wallets, handbags, and belts and the fact that the industry is male-dominated doesn’t faze her one bit; instead she talks about the increasing number of women breaking out in the leather trade.

“Being able to make leather products is a great privilege. And many women are breaking barriers and showcasing exceptional design, crafting, and management skills.

“As with any field, women are proving their mettle, crafting high-quality goods, leading businesses, and sharing their creativity with others.

“In this day and age where everything moves very fast, leathercrafting has taught me to be patient and resilient; sort of like turning a leather sheet into a usable product… it is a long but very rewarding process.”

FROM TANNERY TO ARTISTRY

Established in 1983, Kelang Leather was founded by Wong’s father, German-trained leathersmith and tanner Wong Shang Teck.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the tannery used to employ almost 100 workers, producing footwear for the Royal Malaysia Police and other small leather goods.

“Fast forward 40 years later, the demand for leather raw materials has diminished as manufacturing of leather and leather goods for the commercial market is no longer economically feasible in Malaysia due to the rising cost of labour and material.

“Many consumers find it cheaper to buy leather products from China. The situation is very much affected by the limited supply of factory workers in our country too,” shared Wong, who currently runs the business with only eight staff.

In 2018, due to poor health, Shang Teck passed the business down to Wong and her younger brother, Alec.

Wong concedes that promoting local leather products for the global market has significant challenges.

For one, established luxury brands from countries like Italy, France, and Britain boast heritage, craftsmanship, and prestige synonymous with luxury.

“Also, for big brands, a majority of its cost is spent on marketing and advertising, aside from maintaining the quality of the products they sell.”

She is thankful for government campaigns like Buy Malaysian Products which encourage consumers to support local businesses and products, thereby boosting the domestic economy. When people buy Malaysian-made products, it directly contributes to job creation and economic growth within the country.

“Many homegrown companies have a policy of buying from Malaysian manufacturers.

“For example, the Buy Malaysian Products campaign and tax incentives for manufacturers can help lower the cost of manufacturing.”

The mother of two adds that this will enable local leathersmiths to sustain their production, using high-quality leather and not man-made “lookalikes”. Real leather, she said, is not just more versatile but also more durable.

“Leather is not expensive if you consider how long-lasting it is if well maintained.

“If leathersmiths choose to use alternative materials, they will not be considered leather crafters,” said Wong, who shares photos of her products on Instagram.

The rawhide used in Kelang Leather’s creations are sourced from different countries that specialise in specific types of leather.

For example, India offers buffalo leathers suitable for heavy-duty applications such as for making boots and shoe soles.

“Italy uses top quality leather hides – with vegetable tanning (plant-based chemicals) – which are more widely used for high street fashion products. These items can fetch a higher selling price.

“Meanwhile, France and Pakistan export goat and sheep leather – thin and fine-grained – suitable for many types of small leather goods and garments.”

She added that leather products are sustainable as they are byproducts of the food industry that are up-cycled.

“If these leathers were not processed and repurposed into belts, bags and shoes, these skins will end up in the landfills.

“So, in the spirit of sustainability and environmentally-friendly purchases, buy something made out of genuine leather today,” she said.

Over the years, the family-owned tannery has diversified its operations and now specialises in leather sheets, tools, accessories, adhesives, and leather care products.

They also run workshops and training sessions for leather crafters. Aside from managing the business and crafting leather goods, Wong conducts workshops that cover the nuts and bolts of leather crafting, from identifying leather types, introducing crafting tools, pattern-making, stitching, to finishing techniques.

CRAFTING LEATHER MASTERY

“We have been running workshops since 2018. So far, we have trained over 100 students from all walks of life, from students to fashion designers, craft lovers and retirees.

“Our aim is to teach more and more people the skill of leather crafting.

“Aside from being a hobby, this is a trade that can be done from home. With the right tools and tabletop-sized machines, you can custom make any product or design that you heart desires – from horse saddles, quivers for archery, knife sheaths, to wallets, belts, handbags and shoes. The possibilities are endless and finished products are easily sold through online craft stores like Etsy, or at local craft markets.”

Leather crafting, she said, provides an outlet for one’s creativity and artistic skills that we otherwise may not have a chance to express.

“The sense of achievement from creating a product by hand is very fulfilling and satisfying. Some say it is therapeutic.”

Wong’s journey in the tannery her father built stands out and is one of the few remaining time-honoured crafts that are standing proud.

Her story is a reminder that innovation can flourish even in the most traditional of crafts. – Sheela Chandran

Top Thai protest leader jailed on royal insult charges

Southeast Asia

September 27, 2023

BANGKOK (AFP) – A Thai court yesterday jailed one of the leading figures in the kingdom’s youth-led pro-democracy protest movement for four years on royal insult charges.

Thailand has some of the world’s strictest royal defamation laws, which shield King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family from criticism and which critics say have been weaponised to silence dissent.

Anon Numpa, a 39-year-old human rights lawyer and activist, was convicted yesterday at Bangkok Criminal Court over a speech he made during the protests in 2020.

At their peak the demonstrations drew tens of thousands to the streets, with some making unprecedented calls for reforms to the monarchy, and for changes to the lese-majeste law, which carries a 15-year prison sentence. Yesterday’s case was first of 14 lese-majeste charges against Anon.

“Loss of personal freedom is a sacrifice I’m willing to make,” Anon told reporters as he entered the court with his partner and their baby, ahead of the sentence.

He raised a three-finger salute as he walked in – a symbol adapted from the Hunger Games films that became synonymous with the demonstrations.

“We’ve come a long way and we’ve seen lots of changes in the Thai political scene since the movement back in 2020,” he said. “If I get sentenced to prison today, it might be many years but it will be worth it.”

The court also fined him THB20,000 (USD550) for violating an emergency decree in effect at the time.

Following the verdict, his lawyer Krisadang Nutcharas described Anon as an “innocent man” and said they would probably appeal.

“The family and friends are trying to submit bail for a temporary release,” he told reporters outside court. Anon is one of more than 150 activists who have been charged under lese-majeste laws, often referred to as “112” after the relevant section of the criminal code.

Ahead of the hearing, dozens of young political activists – many wearing shirts emblazoned with “No 112” – waited to show support. Andrea Giorgetta of the International Federation for Human Rights told AFP the jail time was “severe”, describing it as “a long prison sentence for exercising your rights”.

“It is certainly a dark day for justice,” he said outside court.

He said the conviction rate under 112 remained close to 100 per cent.

“The only question remains how many years you will get, and whether the court will decide if you can be awarded bail.”

Amnesty International’s regional researcher for Thailand Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong also condemned the verdict.

“Today’s conviction is yet another indicator that Thailand’s space for freedom of expression is vanishing,” he told AFP.

Chanatip said more than 1,800 people had faced broad criminal charges since the demonstrations.

“These charges are the shameful legacy of Thailand’s previous administration that has yet to be remedied by the new government.”

In a general election in May, the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) won the most seats partly on a promise to reform lese-majeste laws.

But MFP was shut out of government by conservative pro-royalist forces in the Senate.

Indonesia’s efforts to tackle human trafficking not enough, say activists

Southeast Asia

September 27, 2023

Police present human trafficking suspects during a press conference in Jambi, Indonesia. PHOTO: THE JAKARTA POST

ANN/THE JAKARTA POST – Activists and members of humanitarian organisations criticised the Indonesian government’s response to human trafficking during a lecture, claiming that more needed to be done.

The conference, ‘Justice and Mercy: Uniting to Eradicate Human Trafficking,’ organised by the Rumah Hati Suci orphanage and the Women Gospel Community was held in South Jakarta, Indonesia. The three keynote speakers were Mia Marina from the non-governmental organisation Integritas Justitia Madani Indonesia, Irena Handayani from Talitha Kum Indonesia, an organisation of Catholic nuns fighting human trafficking, and Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, better known as Romo Paschal, a priest and human rights activist in Batam, Riau Islands province.

Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, better known as Bintang Puspayoga, also participated in the event. She opened the seminar with a speech focusing on the current state of human trafficking in Indonesia.

“Indonesia has the greatest number of victims of human trafficking in Southeast Asia. And yet, when we look at the cases, we only see the tip of the iceberg. There are many other cases that likely go unreported,” she said.

The urgent need to act prompted the government, acting on Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instructions, to overhaul a human trafficking task force in June to scale up its efforts to stop exploitation and to protect vulnerable jobseekers.

The changes include transferring the task force’s leadership from Bintang to the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), because the Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry did not have the authority to conduct criminal investigations into human trafficking cases.

This reflected the government’s “strong commitment to ending human trafficking”, Bintang said. “But it cannot be done alone without the help of the public. These kinds of communities (like the one formed by the seminar) are important so that we can work together.”

Since taking over the task force, the police have named over 900 suspects and rescued 2,425 victims as of August.

Candy company in Japan finds a sweet sustainable solution

Features

September 27, 2023

A display of cacao husks and products made from them. PHOTO: JAPAN NEWS

THE JAPAN NEWS – Major confectionery maker Meiji Holdings Co launched a brand of home goods made of cacao husks, the inedible shells of the cocoa fruit not used when chocolate is made.

The Cacao Style brand includes eight products, such as accessory cases, paper-cup holders and flower vases. The products are characterised by the sweet aroma of chocolate.

About 500,000 tonnes of cacao husks are generated annually worldwide. The husks are removed during the process to manufacture chocolate. They were previously used only as animal feed or fuel, among other purposes.

“We want to create a system that will enrich both our customers and workers in the cacao industry,” said Chief Operating Officer of Meiji’s food segment Katsunari Matsuda.

Borneo Bulletin OnlineThe Independent Newspaper in Brunei Darussalam, Sabah and Sarawak

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