Number of dengue cases in 2019 surpasses last year's total count

Channel NewsAsia 17 May 19;

SINGAPORE: The number of dengue cases recorded in 2019 so far has surpassed the total number of cases in 2018, figures from the National Environment Agency (NEA) show.

As of 3pm on Thursday (May 16), there have been 3,455 dengue cases in Singapore in 2019, more than the 3,285 cases reported in 2018 and 2,772 cases in 2017.

Three people have died from dengue this year amid the spike in the number of cases. In March, a 71-year-old woman who lived in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 died from dengue.

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Malaysia: Illegal plastic factories booming

lo tern chern The Star 18 May 19;

BUKIT MERTAJAM: While authorities believe that there are about 400 plastic recycling factories in Seberang Prai alone, the number of illegal operators may easily outnumber the legal ones.

Penang Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said most of the illegal operators were mainly in Bukit Tengah.

“I believe that there are more unlicensed plastic recycling factories than the legal ones, and the waste is mainly brought in from other states or imported.

“Most of these factories are near Port Klang and Penang as we both have ports for the plastic to be brought in.

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Indonesia: Jumping to the rescue of the proboscis monkey

Antara 17 May 19;

Every effort is not easy, but if we are serious, it can never be in vain. Save Bekantan - save our forests. Let us together become agents of change to save the planet,
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Amalia Rezeki, a lecturer at the Faculty of Biology Education, University of Lambung Mangkurat, was never one for whiling away time, and spent most of it doing things for others and for the environment.

As a biology lecturer, Rezeki's love for the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), the sharp-nosed animal, was not surprising. The extent of her love, however, was.

She spent most of her life preserving and protecting the Bekantan, which is also an icon in South Kalimantan, and went on to become the first woman in Indonesia to dedicate herself to protecting the Bekantan from extinction, having founded the Indonesian Bekantan Foundation (SBI) as part of her mission to save the Proboscis monkey.

Dedicating her life to preserving the proboscis monkey was never about appreciation, but more a form of responsibility for Rezeki. "As a key species, for us, saving the Bekantan is like saving planet earth," said Rezeki who is completing her final semester in the environmental doctoral program at the Lambung Mangkurat University.

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Vietnam: Dolphin species thought extinct in Vietnam caught in Mekong Delta

Phan Anh, Hoang Nam, Cuu Long Vietnam Express 17 May 19;

Phan Van Thai, 49, and his wife were fishing on the Co Chien River in Cho Lach District when they heard a loud splashing sound. On further inspection, they discovered a creature they could not identify trapped in their net.

"I’ve been fishing for the last 20 years, but I have never seen any fish as big and strange as this one," Thai said. The creature was approximately 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) long and weighed 150 kilograms (330 pounds).

The animal was dead, and Thai stored it in ice and waited for authorities to identify it. It was later identified as an Irrawaddy dolphin, a species of dolphin previously thought to have disappeared from Vietnam's Mekong River, Vu Long, director of the Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species, told the media.

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