China Watch Blog

China Watch Blog has learnt that Indonesia’s railway company has decided to scrap women-only trains less than a year after they were introduced.

State railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia launched seven brightly painted trains in October to provide safety and comfort for women following reports of sexual harassment in mixed-gender commuter cars linking Jakarta to outlying areas.

But the trains are largely empty outside rush hour while regular ones are always packed, company spokeswoman Eva Chairunnisa said.

“To increase capacity, we decided to convert the women-only trains into regular ones,” Chairunnisa said.

“The ladies’ trains are full during rush hour, but regular trains are even more packed,” she added.

The spokeswoman said the company planned to add 180 more cars this year and that trains for women only might be introduced again when capacity allowed.

Lack of space has forced many commuters to ride on the rooftops of trains, exposing them to dangers including falling and electrocution.

The railway company has tried various tricks to deter roof riding, including spraying them with paint and hanging concrete balls above train tracks, but they were largely unsuccessful.

China Watch Blog has learnt that French logistics student Pauline Bourderiou is about to sit her final examinations, helped on her way by a four-month internship at Impatex Freight Software, the UK’s leading freight and Customs software supplier.

During her stay with Impatex, Pauline has worked behind the scenes on the company’s 24/7 Help Desk to learn about the company’s software and the UK Customs system. She also translated Impatex’s Integrated Customs for Europe (ICE) and NetFreight software screens into French. In her final two months, she assisted in finding a French distributor for NetFreight, and also represented the company on its stand at a trade exhibition.

Pauline’s placement was arranged by Wiltshire College, where she has been studying in the UK; they publicised the availability of French interns through BIFA’s member newsletter. Wiltshire College operates an exchange scheme with IUT Laval, Pauline’s local business college close to her home near Le Mans, France.

In June, Pauline will sit her examinations for the “Licence Gestionnaire Import-Export” – equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in Import and Export; she will also receive an HNC in Business. In April, she sat and passed the Cambridge University Certificate in Business English.

To date, Pauline has spent two years studying international trade, with work placements in Spain and France that involved translation, organising and attending overseas exhibitions, identifying potential international distributors, supply chain analysis and accounting.

Says Pauline: “My last work placement in a logistics department in France, gave me the desire to follow my study in Import-export. For me, logistics is a really interesting sector because the aim is to coordinate all activities in the areas of procurement, production, handling, packaging, packing, storage, distribution and delivery.

“I was really pleased to do my work placement at Impatex; there is a really good atmosphere at work and everybody has been very welcoming when I arrived. This work placement gave me more knowledge about export and import documents, and how the UK trades with other countries using its software to prepare and manage their exports and imports. I learned how Customs works in England; it is quite unique, and different than French Customs.”

Pauline has her sights set firmly on a career in logistics; and although she favours a French company in the wine or foods sector, she is not against working in other countries or businesses: “I love travelling : it is the reason why I chose to study International trade. I would like to work as an export sales manager, because I really enjoy the contact with customers and it is a really important place within the logistics process.”

Adds Impatex MD Peter Day: “It has been a real pleasure helping Pauline with her studies, and she has also been a tremendous assistance to our business. We wish her very well for the future: she will be a real credit to whoever is lucky enough to employ her.”

China Watch Blog has learnt that Turkey’s national airline has barred female flight attendants from wearing red lipstick and nail polish, striking a nerve among secular Turks worried the country is becoming more Islamic.

Turkish Airlines turning more Islamic

Turkish Airlines, Europe’s fourth-biggest carrier, said the ban was aimed at keeping crews “artless and well-groomed with makeup in pastel tones”, as a natural look improved communication with passengers.

“As a consequence of our current cabin uniforms not including red, dark pink, et cetera, the use of lipstick and nail polish in these colours by our cabin crew impairs visual integrity,” the statement said.

Turkish Airlines declined a request for comment.

The guideline follows other restrictions on employees’ appearance and on serving alcohol. Critics say they reflect the influence of the government’s conservative religious values at the fast-growing state-run airline.

“This new guideline is totally down to Turkish Airlines management’s desire to shape the company to fit its own political and ideological stance,” Atilay Aycin, president of the airline’s Hava-Is union, told Reuters.

“No one can deny that Turkey has become a more conservative, religious country.”

Turkey is 99 percent Muslim but the NATO state and European Union candidate has a secular constitution.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, which traces its roots to a banned Islamic party, has relaxed the state’s control over the expression of religion, such as once-strict limits imposed on wearing the Islamic headscarf.

Such restrictions were aimed at reining in Islamism and improving women’s rights, but effectively prevented many devout women from studying at university or taking government jobs.

Turkish Airlines scrapped its own ban on the headscarf more than a year ago, and covered women now work at check-in counters and at other positions in the company, Aycin said.

Other Turkish carriers also have guidelines on the appearance of cabin personnel.

China Watch Blog has learnt that the Secretary for Transport, Anthony Cheung, has promised to lead a thorough review of the Marine Department, that’s been blamed for ‘serious systemic failings’ that contributed to the Lamma ferry disaster last October, but not many people believe this statement.

An inquiry into the tragedy found the department had not enforced regulations on the provision of life-jackets, and had repeatedly failed to spot problems with the Lamma Four vessel, which sank following a collision last October, killing 39 people.

The Transport chief admitted to an RTHK programme that numerous mistakes had been committed by the authorities, and if these “very unfortunate” errors had not been made, the tragedy may not have happened.

But on whether the the Director of Marine, Francis Liu, should pay for these mistakes with his job, Cheung said he couldn’t say at this point, noting that any civil servants who are guilty of breaching regulations would face the appropriate punishment under civil service regulations.

Usually, the government makes statements as if it is going to take stringent action in such cases, but at the end of the day, it seldom blames anyone and everything is swept under the carpet. Outwardly, there will be string of transfers and then everything will be forgotten. That is how the civil service works.

Cheung also said the government has decided that the entire Marine Department needs comprehensive reforms, and he’ll head a new three-man steering committee to look into all aspects of vessel safety, including the issuing of licences.

The department itself will conduct its own internal review, headed by a senior civil servant.

He promised that his bureau will closely monitor the progress of the internal review, and the department will not be left to scrutinise its own failings by itself.

China Watch Blog has reported that there is still time to submit nominations for the sixth annual San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan Air Quality Awards, in which the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles will recognize the air pollution-fighting efforts of port-related businesses in the area.

The deadline for CAAP Award nominations has been extended to 4 p.m. Friday, May 3. Nominations can be completed and submitted online, at www.cleanairactionplan.org/about/caapnomination.asp.

Nominations will be accepted for port tenants operating at either port as well as other operators serving the ports – such as shipping lines, trucking companies and rail operators – who demonstrated a strong commitment to reducing air pollution in 2012.

Only port tenants and other operators that serve one or both of the local ports are eligible for this program; technology vendors are not eligible. Self-nominations also will be accepted.

Awards will be offered in four categories:

Air Quality Improvement Leadership at the Corporate Level
Innovative Air Quality Improvement Technologies
Innovative Operations that Improve Air Quality
Significant Early Action to Reduce Air Pollutant Emissions

Award recipients will be honored at a ceremony July 18.

China Watch Blog reports that about $2.6 million in grant funding is now available through the Community Mitigation Grant Programs for Schools and Related Sites, and Health Care and Senior Facilities projects.

Port of Long Beach

Deadline for applications is 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 30.

The grants are designed to offset the environmental impact of Port operations on communities nearest its facilities and trade corridors. Funding for this round of grants comes from Port projects such as the Middle Harbor Redevelopment and the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement.

Projects for schools and related sites, such as day-care and youth centers, may include installation of high-performance air filters, heating and air-conditioning upgrades, and window and door replacements, among others.

Health care and senior facilities grants may be awarded to projects that detect or diagnose respiratory or cardiopulmonary problems. They may involve screening and diagnosis, health monitoring, educational programs that address ways to reduce exposure to emissions, and outreach to identify and help those at particular risk of pollution-related health conditions.

China Watch Blog has learnt that a Russian entrepreneur wants to introduce MAT Russian swear words – to the English speaking world and in doing so upset all sense of decency.

MAT is the term used to describe Russian sacral swearwords and the plot is simple yet ingenious. Introduce English speaking people to MAT and encourage them to use these Russian words regularly. The ingenious part of the plot is that very few of their friends and family will know that they are swearing and by using these words individuals will be participating in one of the best stress relieving activities around.

The leader of this plot to infiltrate the English language and scandalize Americans is Sergey Yanchevskiy. According to Yanchevskiy there is pure healing magic in properly shaped sacral swearwords, especially Russian language swear words. Yanchevskiy and his team are planning to gather the most effective Russian swear words into one book and then deliver these MAT guides to libraries throughout the United States.

Their diabolical scheme is to introduce as many Americans as possible to the healing power of MAT and they won’t rest until they can walk any street in the country and hear these Russian swear words being expressed on a regular basis.

In essence, the goal of Yanchevskiy’s project is to undermine conventional norms by making swearing more acceptable. Using Russian, a language few Americans know is the perfect way to allow people to swear without obviously offending anyone. It’s scandalous, it’s ingenious and it just might work.

Drawing on recent studies by some of the top researchers Yanchevskiy is testing out the new theory that getting made and yelling out swear words is healthy and in fact can have a healing effect. Researchers are now learning that getting angry every now and then and relieving stress by shouting a few swear words can actually help people cope with daily life in a more effective manner.

Of course there is always the problem of the social stigma of swearing but one can only be offended if they are aware that a swear word has been uttered. That’s where Russian MAT comes in. Like a covert operation, Yanchevskiy and his colleagues will infiltrate the English language and offer people the chance to curse to their hearts content with few people understanding what they are saying.

Yanchevskiy argues that Russian MAT is more effective at helping people cope with stress because of the way the Russian words are structured and how they sound. Forcefully pronouncing the Russian words correctly leads to the maximum stress relieve for those who say them.

Yanchevskiy is currently in the early stages of developing his book and is offering the average person the chance to take part in making the book a great success. He has teamed with Indiegogo.com to fund this project. The partnership with Indiegogo let’s Yanchevskiy enlist many different people in his subversive plot to infiltrate the English language and bring Russian MAT to the masses.

China Watch Blog reports that Qantas and the NSW Government have announced a new $30 million partnership to promote Sydney and regional NSW to the world.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce signed the three-year agreement at Qantas’ facilities at Sydney Airport, marking the largest tourism and major events marketing partnership in the State’s history.

Qantas

Premier O’Farrell said the deal involved Qantas matching the NSW Government dollar for dollar to attract more international visitors particularly from the United States, United Kingdom, Continental Europe, China, South-East Asia, Japan and New Zealand.

“Nothing says Australia more than the unmistakeable red tail with the flying kangaroo and the home of Qantas is right here in Sydney,” O’Farrell said.

“This partnership with Qantas is the cornerstone of our strategy to increase tourism to NSW, providing a boost to our economy and helping to create more jobs.

“We will be aggressively targeting big spending leisure and business travellers from overseas which will be a boon for our hotels, restaurants and retail sector.

“This will build on our standing as the nation’s leader for international visitation and expenditure and the preferred destination for key emerging markets.

“We understand the importance of tourism to the State’s economy – that’s why we’re building a new convention and entertainment precinct at Darling Harbour and investing in partnerships like this with iconic brands like Qantas.”

Joyce said the time was right to elevate the partnership between Qantas and Destination NSW to a higher level.

“Qantas is Australia’s national airline, flying from Sydney to every continent on earth and to every corner of Australia,” Joyce said.

“Sydney is the gateway to Australia with more than 50 per cent of all international visitors to Australia arriving at Sydney Airport so it’s fitting this is the largest partnership we have ever entered into with a State Government.

“We have seen a fantastic and tangible response to work we have done with Destination NSW in the past and we think working more closely will result in more people visiting NSW and flying Qantas.”

The partnership – which sees both the NSW Government and Qantas invest $15 million each over the three years – will include international advertising and marketing campaigns, marketing activities around major events and joint public relations activities. There will be a strong focus on digital
platforms including online and social media.

Red Wings, photo courtesy albspotter.eu, http://albspotter.eu

Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev announced the sale of his carrier Red Wings to a group of unnamed investors on Twitter, according to a TTG Nordic report.

A Red Wings Tupolev crashed at Moscow’s third airport, Vnukovo, in December. No passengers were on board but five crew members were killed. Russian regulators suspended its operations earlier this year. It operated a fleet of eight TU-204 jets.

China Watch Blog has learnt that NYK recently launched a tsunami alert system that will provide tsunami warnings to vessels.

Tsunami warnings issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency and other weather service providers will be sent by e-mail to vessels through the company’s NYK e-missions’* system. The warnings should allow affected vessels to determine the best course of action through correspondence with those on shore and use of the Tsunami-Response Guidelines** NYK developed and released last year.

When a tsunami warning is issued, a tsunami alert will be sent to NYK vessel operators*** and the about 800 vessels that make use of NYK e-missions’. The alert will be in English. The vessel will then have a limited amount of time to correspond with those necessary and use the guidelines to determine the best action to take.

The vessels that could be affected by the possible tsunami are automatically displayed on NYK e-missions’, and vessel operators and NYK’s Marine Group can immediately contact the affected vessels, share information with the ships, and provide any needed support.

This system will provide tsunami warnings issued for the Japanese coast in addition to warnings released by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, which will cover the entire sailing area of all vessels operated by the NYK Group.

The NYK Group will continue to make efforts to further deepen mutual understanding between those on shore and the ships, and promote the establishment of safer ship-operation systems within the group by learning from the Great East Japan Earthquake.