11 Myths and Facts about Feminism

Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE)

This appeared in my inbox today, courtesy of a Google Alert. Great explanation of common misconceptions about feminism. I like this one below.

Myth: The fact that there are some women who have a higher social and economic status than some men means inequality has been eliminated.

Fact: Systematic inequalities continue to exist at every level of society. There may be female heads of Fortune 500 companies but the fact that they constitute less than 5% of the total means that barriers remain.

A recent visit to the ISEAS website also reveals a recent bulletin (PDF) from the Gender Studies Programme. The feature article highlights several worrying trends in ASEAN. One particular example is the seemingly bigger gender gap in countries which are more developed.

Disclosure: I am a AWARE member. [and proud to be one] :)

Equality and Human Rights Commission urges review of torture case

BBC NEWS

The independent watchdog has called for a review of the alleged collusion between the UK and other governments regarding torture cases.

Caution against improper weight control

Department of Health, Hong Kong

One wonders why people would consider consuming products containing parasites for weight control.

A department spokesman said infestation of parasites, such as Ascaris, as slimming means had no scientific basis. On the contrary, it could cause abdominal pain and distention, vomiting, diarrhoea and malnutrition.

Safety and good health comes first.

Taking an 'inner-tube taxi' to Thailand

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific |

The key point of the article is the last paragraph on sanctions.

World Health Day campaign: 1000 Cities, 1000 Lives

WHO | World Health Day – 7 April 2010

Urbanisation and health is a nice fresh theme to choose. WHO's blurb below

Virtually all population growth over the next 30 years will be in urban areas, signaling that urbanization is here to stay. It is associated with many health challenges related to water, environment, violence and injury, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors like tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol as well as the risks associated with disease outbreaks.

Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

United Nations

New UN website on the issue of sexual abuse.

Consumer protection news around the world

MemberPressReview-DEC2009.pdf

Consumers International rounds up issues highlighted by its member organisations, and presents them in an easy to digest format. Do take a look.

Burma's Political Prisoners

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
The FCO of the UK government is carrying out a campaign to highlight the political prisoners in the run-up to elections in Burma this year.

More details on this FCO webpage.

Import of candy containing light bulb

AVA Circular (pdf)
I'm struggling to wonder why a manufacturer will produce a candy which contains a light bulb. Glad to see the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) releasing a warning, but I didn't see it mentioned in the media yet.

liberty central

guardian.co.uk

liberty central is the section in the Guardian newspaper website dealing with civil liberties and human rights issues. One useful sub-section is a legal clinic dedicated to answering questions on human rights.

"Me and My Friend Enjoy A Movie" @ Golden Village, Great World City

Asian Film Archive (AFA) Blog
A quick summary by AFA on the MARUAH event that happened earlier this month. The Q&A session started slowly (as usual for Singapore Q&As) but became very multi-dimensional (and enriching) as it went on. We ran out of time at 9pm. Thanks to all who attended.

Thai Army begins mass deportation of Hmong refugees back to Laos

France24
This is an example of the many trans-national issues that the AICHR needs to tackle if it is to be of any benefit to the people of ASEAN.

ASEAN, Human Rights, and the West

RSIS1292009.pdf (application/pdf Object)
A new commentary piece from RSIS, summary below. Note: link above is a PDF file.

"The common belief that the Western powers are putting pressure on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to change its stance on human rights is erroneous. Hence, proponents of human rights diplomacy in Southeast Asia should not count on these powers."

European Parliament resolution of 26 November 2009 on the human rights situation in Laos and Vietnam

Texts adopted - Thursday, 26 November 2009 - Laos and Vietnam - P7_TA-PROV(2009)0104
The European Parliament recently passed several resolutions on 4 countries, regarding their human rights situations. A quick extract of Laos and Vietnam from the press release below.

Laos
MEPs welcome the recent ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the Laotian Government.

The resolution repeats the demand for the immediate release of the leaders of the "Student Movement of 26 October 1999" and of all those arrested during the attempted peaceful demonstrations on 2 November 2009.

Parliament also calls on the Thai authorities to release 158 Lao Hmong refugees currently in detention and allow them to resettle in Thailand or in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands or Australia, which have already agreed to take them in.

Vietnam
MEPs condemn the reported violent expulsion of more than 150 monks and nuns from monasteries and call for an end to all persecution and harassment of Buddhists. They also demand the unconditional release of Thich Quang Do and a re-establishment of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and of its dignitaries.

The Vietnamese Government is urged to curb its violations of freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly. Moreover, the resolution requests a binding and unambiguous clause on human rights and democracy to be incorporated into the current negotiations on the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Vietnam.

casebank

Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS)
A new sub-website by CCS, specifically on the cases taken up by them.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by JTC

I spotted this interesting announcement recently...

JTC Corporation (JTC) plans to carry out land reclamation works and construction of a current training wall at Marina South. Studies have been carried out to determine the impact of the works on the marine environment.

The environmental impact assessment is available for public viewing by appointment at, The JTC Summit, 8 Jurong Town Hall Road, for 4 weeks with effect from 15 December 2009. To view the report, please contact Ms Tan Su Chern at 6883-3835 or via email at suchern@jtc.gov.sg or Mr Darren Lum at 6883-3834 or via email at lumsyd@jtc.gov.sg.

Anyone who wishes to access the report after 15 December 2009 can contact the above officers to make arrangements for viewing.

sgwatchDOG has been neglecting environmental issues for a while, so it is great to see some due diligence being done by the government before major construction works. But it would be better if the EIA is simply placed in the public domain online...

No respite for China's dissidents

BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent
A hard-hitting piece on how human rights can easily slide backwards if neglected and suppressed. Even though the article is on China, one can see the similarities in many other countries.

2 more ASEAN countries reviewed under UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

Cambodia and Brunei are the 2 latest ASEAN countries to undergo review under the UPR process. The reports are still being finalised, but highlights are available. Click on the following links. (Cambodia) (Brunei)

Spectrum of Allies

Training for Change

One of the useful tools that I picked up in the 3-week International Visitor Leadership Program in the US, taught to our group by the kind folks at the Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

CEDAW at 30

30th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The landmark convention on gender discrimination turns 30. UN conventions are useful as tools to benchmark countries, and also to put human rights violations under international spotlight.