My BruHealth code turned red last week and like all others I panicked.
I was just out of quarantine after returning from overseas and I was already given the greenlight by the Ministry of Health that my report for the swab test was negative.
I contacted a colleague who instructed me to contact the Health Advice Line at 148. Every time I dialled, the number was busy.
However, after several attempts I did manage to get through. The person who picked up the phone was very polite, accommodating and friendly. She answered all my questions very professionally.
This letter is to thank her and all the other frontliners who are doing an excellent job.
THE JAPAN NEWS – Japan’s Drive My Car won Best Non-English Language Film at the 79th Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.
The movie, starring Hidetoshi Nishijima, is based on a short novel by Haruki Murakami and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 43. It is about a theatre director who is tormented by grief after the sudden death of his wife and how he overcomes it.
The film won Best Screenplay at the 74th Cannes Film Festival last July, the first such award given to a Japanese movie, and also won four awards – Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Actor – at the 56th United States (US) National Society of Film Critics Award.
This year’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony was held without spectators or live TV broadcast, and the winners were announced on the host’s website and elsewhere.
A scene from the movie ‘Drive My Car’. PHOTO: SEISAKU IINKAI
TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese football star Kazuyoshi Miura extended his decades-long playing career at the age of 54 yesterday with a move to a fourth-tier club managed by his older brother.
Miura, known as ‘King Kazu’, said he would “strive to help the team win on the pitch” after joining Suzuka Point Getters.
The move was announced at 11.11am yesterday – with the former international forward set to wear the number 11 shirt next season.
Miura, who turns 55 in February, said last month that he had offers from several clubs in Japan and overseas, after turning out for Yokohama FC last season in the J-League’s top flight.
He managed just one minute of league action as his team finished bottom of the table.
File photo of Yokohama FC forward Kazuyoshi Miura. PHOTO: AFP
He hopes to make more of an impact for his new side, who are managed by brother Yasutoshi.
Miura has been at more than a dozen clubs spanning Brazil, Japan, Italy, Croatia and Australia.
“I’m thankful that I’ve been given the chance to play here,” he said in a statement released by his new club.
Miura said last month he had been offered a new deal by Yokohama but wanted more playing time.
Miura said he wants to keep playing until he turns 60.
One of Asia’s best-known footballers in the 1990s, he helped put the game in Japan on the map when the professional J-League was launched in 1993.
Miura left Japan for Brazil in 1982 and signed a contract with Santos FC in 1986 to make his professional debut.
He made his Japan debut in 1990 and was famously left out of his country’s squad for their first World Cup finals appearance in 1998, despite scoring 55 goals in 89 games for the national side.
Suzuka made headlines in 2019 when they became the first Japanese club to appoint a female manager in Spain’s Mila Martinez.
TOKYO (AP) – European benchmarks rose yesterday but Asian shares mostly declined following a retreat on Wall Street.
France’s CAC 40 added 0.6 per cent in early trading to 7,160.56, while Germany’s DAX added 0.7 per cent to 15,882.28. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 per cent to 7,474.60. United States (US) shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures inching up less than 0.1 per cent to 35,965.00. S&P 500 futures rose nearly 0.1 per cent to 4,664.50.
Investors are keeping an eye on rising numbers of coronavirus cases, especially in China, where a third city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes to about 20 million people.
“In China, upward momentum quickly faded and reversed as COVID-19 restrictions were tightened once again in some Chinese cities,” said senior market analyst at Oanda Jeffrey Halley.
Such disruptions can have regionwide implications for trade and other activity. Major companies, including automakers such as Toyota, had been counting on a recovery in the supply of semiconductor chips and other products from China and the rest of Asia, as vaccinations and other coronavirus prevention efforts has advanced. The recent surge in infections by the Omicron variant of coronavirus has shaken such hopes.
Men nearby an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo. PHOTO: AP
Japan is also seeing a dramatic surge in reported COVID cases, which experts said are mostly Omicron. Japan decided to keep strict border controls through next month, which ban the entry of travellers except for returning residents and citizens. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the large-scale facilities run by the Japanese military to give vaccinations, which had closed last year, will re-open to speed up booster shots. So far, fewer than one per cent of the population have received boosters.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 per cent to finish at 28,222.48, coming back from a national holiday on Monday. South Korea’s Kospi picked up less than one point to 2,927.38.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.8 per cent to 7,390.10. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched down less than 0.1 per cent to 23,739.06, while the Shanghai Composite index sank 0.7 per cent to 3,567.44.
High inflation is taking a toll on American families, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged in remarks delivered at yesterday’s congressional hearing on Powell’s nomination to a second four-year term.
Higher interest rates make stocks of expensive tech companies and other pricey growth companies less attractive to investors, and the sector has been slipping as bond yields rise.
The tech sector has been the biggest weight on the market through January and is coming off of its worst week since October 2020.
Water pipe valve replacement works on the Bukit Barun Water Treatment Plant will cause low water pressure and reduce the supply of clean water to several areas today, said the Public Works Department (JKR).
The replacement works will be carried out from 9pm until completion that might take at least four hours.
The affected areas are – Kampong Batong, Kampong Masin, RPN Kampong Lugu, Jalan Pasir Berakas, RPN Lambak Kanan, Mukim Lumapas, and part of Mukim Pengkalan Batu, Kampong Subok, Kampong Belimbing and its surrounding.
BERLIN (AP) – Police in western Germany raided offices and homes yesterday in connection with the floods last summer in which more than 180 people died and hundreds more were injured.
The public prosecutor’s office in Cologne coordinated the searches that were executed by 140 police officers and involved more than 20 offices and homes, German news agency dpa reported.
Investigations were allegedly focussing on the the owner and lessor of an opencast mine in Erftstadt, near the city of Cologne, as well as five people of the operating company and four people with the regional district council, dpa reported. The suspects’ names were not given in line with German privacy policies.
During the July floods, the grounds near a gravel pit on the River Erft slipped away after heavy rain had flooded the pit. Several buildings were subsequently swept away, but nobody was killed.
SINGAPORE (CNA) – A small ground orchid that was presumed extinct in Singapore and a species of liverwort that is “new to science” were among the botanical discoveries recorded in the country in 2021, the National Parks Board (NParks) said on January 10.
A total of nine such plant, fungal and algal discoveries were recorded last year: One new species, five new records of species that have not previously been seen in Singapore, and three rediscoveries of species that have not been seen or collected for at least 30 years.
More than half of these discoveries were made in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, said NParks.
A small ground orchid known by the scientific name Hetaeria oblongifolia was among the rediscovered plants.
It was found in Tengah Forest more than 120 years after the last specimen of it was collected by Henry Nicholas Ridley, the first scientific director of the Singapore Botanic
During an environmental baseline study at Tengah Forest in 2020, scientists collected “a patch of herbs that superficially resembled the ornamental Dracaena species”.
“On closer examination, several inflorescences in bloom revealed that these plants belonged to a species of ground orchids,” said NParks.
Gaolejeunea hoi. PHOTOS: CNAHetaeria oblongifolia
Specimens were sent to the Herbarium of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, where the plant was identified as Hetaeria oblongifolia.
Previously considered extinct in Singapore, the orchid is now assessed to be critically endangered, as there are “very few plants” left, said NParks.
“As part of efforts to conserve this species, some of the plants have been collected and planted in the Gardens’ orchid nursery, where propagation by rhizome cuttings seems to be effective,” it added.
Tengah Forest is designated for redevelopment in the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan, and is set to provide about 42,000 new homes when fully developed.
Apart from Tengah Forest, two other rediscoveries were recorded in 2021 at a reclaimed site in Tuas and at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
The new species, Gaolejeunea hoi, is a tiny plant measuring no more than one cm long and one mm wide. A species of liverwort, it grows on tree bases and exposed roots in the forests of Bukit Timah and Nee Soon.
The plant was first collected at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve during a survey of the area from 2015 to 2017.
Initially, researchers were unable to categorise it into any known genera of the Lejeuneaceae family in Singapore, which account for about half of all liverwort species reported in the country, said NParks.
“Upon further research, it was confirmed that this is a new species record to science and a second species in the genus Gaolejuenea that was formerly considered to be endemic to China,” the authority said.
The new liverwort species is currently considered endemic to Singapore, added NParks. It is named after Dr Boon-chuan Ho of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, who collected the first specimens of it.
With the botanical discoveries recorded in 2021, a total of 124 new plant species, new records and rediscoveries in Singapore have been published over the past five years, said NParks.
Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said the discoveries were possible due to in-depth field surveys and taxonomic research led by the Singapore Botanic Gardens, supported by local and international collaborators.
He highlighted the work of the Gardens’ Herbarium, which documents and preserves records of local and regional flora diversity, as well as the Seed Bank and Micropropagation Laboratory, which store and propagate the seeds of plants in the region, including extremely rare native plant species from Singapore.
“These efforts to conserve and continuously update our understanding of the flora diversity in Singapore will help to better inform our conservation strategies to safeguard Singapore’s key habitats and rich biodiversity, thus achieving a more ecologically and climate resilient City in Nature,” Lee said in a Facebook post.
ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – Oh Young-soo, who played player No 1 in Netflix’s South Korean megahit Squid Game, directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, took home the best performance by a supporting actor in a series, limited series, or television movie trophy at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, becoming the first Korean actor to win at the awards organised by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Oh was nominated in the category along with Brett Goldstein of AppleTV+’s Ted Lasso and HBO’s Kieran Culkin of Succession.
“Upon hearing the news of the award, I said to myself ‘I‘m a decent man’ for the first time in my life,” Oh said in a statement released through Netflix after the award announcement. “It is no longer ‘us in the world’, but ‘the world in us’.
“While embracing the fragrance of our culture and the love of our family, I thank you all around the world. I wish you have a beautiful life. Thank you,” Oh said.
Although Netflix did not submit the hit series to compete at the Golden Globe Awards, it was nominated for three Golden Globes last December – Best Drama Series, Best Television Actor – Drama and Best Supporting Actor – Television – under the event organiser‘s new rule that allows for work that was not submitted to be reviewed and nominated.
Actor Oh Young-soo, winner of the Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series, or Television Movie award. PHOTO: NETFLIX
The Squid Game team did not win the other two prizes for which it was nominated. Jeremy Strong of HBO’s Succession won the Best Television Actor – Drama category that Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae was nominated for, along with Brian Cox of Succession, Billy Porter of Pose and Omar Sy of Lupin. The Best Drama Series prize went to Succession as well.
Hwang‘s nine-part Netflix series has topped the global platform’s charts since its release in
September 2021.
The show became the most-watched Netflix show of all time, reaching the No 1 spot of the most-watched show chart in more than 90 countries where the streaming service is available.
The series features a story about hundreds of cash-strapped players who are invited to compete in children‘s games, which later turn out to be survival games that they have to risk their lives playing. Only the final winner of the game gets to survive and win a KRW45.6-billion- (USD38.9 million) prize.
Reflecting its global success, Squid Game has won multiple awards at American award events.
In November, the series won the breakthrough series’ long format category at the 2021
Gotham Awards.
Also, Hwang’s work clinched the bingeworthy show of 2021 award at People’s Choice Awards in December. The show was nominated with strong competitors like Disney+‘s Loki, Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso, and HBO’s crime drama Mare of Easttown.
The American Film Institute selected Squid Game as one of the three winners of special honour in December last year as well.
Belfast and Summer of Soul were also recognised as the “works of excellence that fall outside of the Institute’s criteria of American film and television” along with Squid Game.
MANILA (AFP) – Six inmates were killed and 33 wounded during a fight in an overcrowded jail in the Philippines, authorities said yesterday, in the second such incident in as many weeks.
The deadly brawl happened on Monday between rival gangs at Caloocan City Jail in the National Capital Region, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology spokesman Xavier Solda said.
An investigation was under way into the cause of the violence that Solda said started as a fight between two inmates before others joined the fray. It is not clear what weapons were used.
A ban on family visits since the start of the pandemic may have been a factor, Solda said.
“It’s been almost two years that we don’t have physical visitation in our facilities because of the COVID-19, so we can’t set aside the angle that this could be one of the reasons why others joined in the fight between the two PDLs (persons deprived of liberty),” Solda told AFP.
Security has been beefed up to maintain order in the facility, he added.
Violence is common in Philippine jails where inadequate infrastructure and a slow-moving and overburdened judicial system means cells are sometimes filled to five times their capacity.
In response to the letter headlined ‘Volunteers, frontliners seek clarification on monthly allowance’ from ‘Curious Volunteer’ published on January 8 in the Weekend Bulletin, the Ministry of Health (MoH) thanks the writer for sharing the concerns with regard to the allowance to volunteers and frontliners during the pandemic. MoH also clarified that the allowance is given to all volunteers and frontliners involved in the fight against COVID-19.
However, there are two levels of categorisation for the allowance provided based on the risks for each level.
Level 1 are volunteers and frontliners tasked at areas that are at high risk of contracting COVID-19, especially at the red zone area.
Meanwhile Level 2 are volunteers and frontliners tasked in supporting operations for individuals categorised at Level 1 which is considered to be at low risk/exposure of contracting COVID-19 (green zone). Individuals in Level 1 will be given the full allowance of BND400, while individuals in Level 2 are given an allowance based on pro rata according to the number of working days.
The MoH would like to express its deepest appreciation to all parties involved in controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, especially the volunteers and frontliners. Let us continue to work together and provide cooperation in the government’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
