22 August (Sat) morning: Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Javan Mynas Anting With Millipedes
Bird Ecology Study Group
How effective are conservation policies?
Nature rambles
White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) @ Kranji
Monday Morgue
A trip to the history museum opens new vistas for kids but is it all a little too much?
Clara Chow Straits Times 27 Jul 15;
Wake up on a Sunday, convinced you have to do something educational with your children. Trawl websites for ideas.
Decide to go to Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Buy tickets online and print them out while still wearing your pyjamas.
Drag children, groaning, out of the house. Drive to the museum. Find it because it looks like a giant lump of moss-covered clay. Beat a beat-up Mazda to a prime parking space. Whole family cheers.
Hang out at the eco-roof garden until your allotted time of entry. Wrestle with the museum's official app. Point out mangrove plants in the garden, the spores on the underside of fern leaves and fish fry in the ponds. Natter on.
Look up, and realise that the kids are squinting at their father's iPhone screen in the bright sunlight. Throw a fit.
Go back downstairs; go through the turnstiles. Feel a slight sense of urgency: Everything must be examined in less than two hours, before your time is up.
Battle other parents to lift the almost-six-year-old up to the eye pieces of microscopes to look at bacteria. Keep opening your mouth to pontificate about fungi and molluscs. Keep stopping in mid-sentence, when you realise your kids have run off. Look sheepishly at strangers.
Give up and, alone, examine the bank of creatures preserved in jars along a back-lit wall. Marvel at sea whips, daisy sponges, fat-armed jellyfish and a Reeve's turtle - long dead, and suspended in chemicals and time. Gawk and shudder a little at worm specimens.
Flit back and forth between display case and wall captions - a busy bee soaking up facts. You are taller than most of the kids crowding around but you feel eight again. You remember the excitement of school excursions, the thrill of looking at something other than textbooks.
Try and ignore the fact that your two sons are having pretend lightsabre fights and running in circles somewhere in the biodiversity gallery, their footsteps echoing. Pretend not to know them.
Go for micro over macro. Remain strangely unimpressed by the expensive dinosaur bones rising like cranes up to the ceiling in the centre of the room.
Systematically catalogue every tiny cowrie shell and beetle with your eyes. Imagine you are a camera. Thai zebra tarantula. Click. Crucifix swimming crab. Click. Carpenter bee. Click.
File away facts to use, either casually in conversation or in some literary short story you will one day write: Jewel beetles (Chrysochroa toulgoeti) are shiny and metallic-looking, not because of pigmentation but because of the way their exoskeletons reflect light.
One of your children comes to you and begs to go home.
Too late, you remember that he has a deep phobia of snakes, and an aversion to other reptiles and insects. This effectively rules out more than two-thirds of the exhibits at the museum.
You tell him you will steer him to the mammal section.
Tell him it is safe there. You put your hands over his eyes, and your husband takes one of his hands, his younger brother the other and, together, the entire family - like some strange new eight-legged and six-eyed insect - crawl slowly, excruciatingly, across the atrium, under the mirthless gaze of the dinosaurs.
Along the way, you try to get your children to stroke a panel of possum fur because it is soft like a dream. The elder son screams because he spots a scrap of bleached snake skin right next to the fur.
You realise that sand dollars are actual living things - not lost money on the beach, which is what you always pictured them as being when reading about them in books.
The clash between old ways and philosophies, and new identities and nationalities, intensifies after you climb the stairs to the Heritage Gallery. Singapore founder Sir Stamford Raffles' stuffed birds and monkeys sit quietly, a few cabinets down from a drawer containing a Singapore $1 bill featuring a photo of a black-naped tern taken by Datuk Loke Wan Tho, who built up Cathay Organisation.
The children press buttons in the sound booth. They have exhausted the possibilities of the dinosaur app.
Standing in front of showcases, you wonder about the Victorian obsession for pigeonholing dead creatures into curio cases that the museum's collection sprung from. You laugh inwardly at the arrogance of men, colonial masters, trying to fix their world, insisting on stasis, even as Nature refuses to be pinned down. You see the error of your ways, trying to herd your children's imagination through life, so they learn the way you do.
Meditating in front of the jars of pickled snakes, you overhear one young man telling a few others that the python coiled up over there has two penises, and one of them is showing.
"Why?" you blurt out, before you can stop yourself.
"Why what?" he asks, startled.
"What is the second one for?" you ask.
"I don't really know," he replies.
Months later, you will still be wondering about this. You will look it up on the Internet and find an explanation: Female snakes are able to control which male snake they mate with will fertilise their eggs, so having two penises helps the male increase their sperm count, maximising their chances of reproduction. You will realise you need to wait for the younger son to grow up before you have someone to tell it to.
But in the museum, you nod at the young men, who scurry away from you, embarrassed.
What you must do next is this: Gather your children. Tell them it's time to go home. Stop by the gift shop if necessary, and buy yourself a piece of petrified wood.
Drive away, and cheer again as a family when you realise that parking is free. Promise yourself to do this again.
That some of it will sink in.
Some day.
Adrian Lim Straits Times 26 Jul 15;
SINGAPORE - A project to relocate coral colonies to protect them from the impact of the Tuas Terminal development has yielded positive results, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Saturday.
The corals were moved from the Sultan Shoal, southwest of Singapore, to three southern sites at St John's and Sisters' Islands, from September 2013 to August 2014.
About 80 per cent, or 2300 out of 2,800 coral colonies, were successfully moved, the MPA said. While the bigger corals were relocated to the three sites, over 1,200 small coral fragments were reared in coral nurseries set up at Lazarus Island and Kusu Island.
MPA said that 92 per cent have survived and grown in size of up to twice their original diameter. Around 420 coral fragments have also been transplanted and attached back to the substrate at Lazarus Island and Kusu Island.
Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport Josephine Teo said: "Even as we start reclamation works at Tuas to grow our port capacity, we are committed to carry out the works in a responsible and sustainable manner. Therefore, before any works started on the Tuas Terminal, we conducted an environmental impact assessment study in 2012. We then took immediate steps to mitigate the impact."
She was speaking at an event held at Marina South Pier to recognise volunteers who helped in the project.
About 50 volunteers participated in diving activities to harvest coral colonies, attach the relocated corals to the suitable solid substrates, and set up coral nurseries underwater.
ONG HAN SEAN The Star 27 Jul 15;
JERANTUT: An environmental group and tourism operators are calling for a stop to aggressive logging at Taman Negara’s borders.
Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) president Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil said the rivers flowing into Sungai Tembeling had been severely affected by logging in the Ulu Tembeling forests.
“And these had intensified in the last three years,” she said.
“The logging is causing more loss than profit,” Shariffa said. “Sungai Pengau and Sungai Lau have become dirty from erosion run-offs and the sediments are flowing into Sungai Tembeling, making it shallow,” she said after visiting the logging sites here yesterday.
Shariffa urged the state government to halt logging in the area, saying it did not looked sustainable.
Pahang National Park Tourism Operators Association chairman Abdul Jalil Rahman said although the logging was outside Taman Negara, the effects were turning tourists away.
“From the feedback I received from tourists, they already got a negative impression upon entering Taman Negara because they had seen so many trailers carrying logs.
“Although the logging is not within Taman Negara, it is damaging to the park’s image,” he said.
Abdul Jalil said tourists also complained of over-development.
“The tourists expected to see a pristine rainforest but they left disappointed, complaining that they did not even see any animals.
“In the past, some tourists would even cry when they left Taman Negara but these days, repeat visitors are rare,” he said.
Abdul Jalil added that road construction to several villages here would seem to be for the people’s benefit. “But from the looks of it, the road is being used for transporting logs instead.”
Tour guide Roslan Abu Kassim, 50, claimed that the massive flood in Taman Negara last year was caused by Sungai Tembeling becoming too shallow.
“I fear it will be even worse this year.”
Antara 25 Jul 15;
Banjarmasin (ANTARA News) - Authorities of South Kalimantan have declared the highest alert status for wildfires that have been proliferating due to extreme dry weather conditions over the past several weeks.
On Thursday (July 23), 19 hotspots were detected, with the number increasing every day, Head of the Forest and Plantation Fire Unit of the Natural Resources Conservation Office of South Kalimantan Zulkarnain said here on Saturday.
"Due to extreme weather conditions, South Kalimantan is now in the state of highest alert for wildfires," he added.
Personnel of forest fire units in the three districts of Tanah Bumbu, Tanah Laut, and Banjar are focusing on dousing the existing flames, Zulkarnain affirmed, adding that most of the existing fires in South Kalimantan are in peat lands.
Moreover, the Indonesian government is gearing up to face the effects of the predicted weak to moderate El Nino, which could reduce precipitation by 40 to 80 percent.
This natural phenomenon will affect the provinces of Sumatra, East Java, Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara, and Papua in particular, from June to November this year.
In addition, hundreds of hotspots indicating wildfires were reported in some provinces of Sumatra Island, which is currently experiencing a dry spell, with temperatures soaring to 35 degrees Celsius.
Based on data from the NOAA-18 Satellite, as many as 1,470 hotspots were detected across Sumatra Island in the period between January 1 and June 16. Of the total, 621 were found in Riau province.
(Uu.F001/INE/KR-BSR/B003)
Ganug Nugroho Adi and Arya Dipa, thejakartapost.com 26 Jul 15;
Long dry season has affected 101 hectare rice fields in West Java and 30 villages in Wonogiri, Central Java.
Some 29,233 residents of 30 villages of Giritontro, Pracimantoro, Paranggupito, Manyaran, Eromoko, Nguntoronadi and Giriwoyo districts of southern Wonogiri have been struggling with water scarcity for the last two months, as the water levels of lakes, reservoirs and irrigation systems have subsided because of a lack of rainfall.
Wonogiri regent Danar Rahmanto said on Sunday that the regency actually manages seven reservoirs, but some of them have dried out.
"We will prioritize clean water distribution to areas hard hit by drought, [namely] Paranggupito, Pracimantoro, Eromoko, Manyaran, dan Giritontro," Danar said.
Separately, Wonogiri Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency executive Bambang Haryanto said that his agency had distributed 70 water tanks, with the capacity of 6,000 liters, to five districts gradually since early June.
Giritontro district head Joko Waluyo said that one family of five people needed about 50 liters of water per day. "Residents could only get some 20 liters during a water distribution schedule, which is not every day," he said. "Residents are thus forced to spend between Rp 70,000 [US$5.20] to Rp 150,000 for daily clean water."
Residents who could not afford the water were forced to dig deeper into dried reservoirs. "We need about half an hour of digging just to get 10 liters," said Daryati, 57, resident of Pucanganom of Giritontro district.
In West Java, 101,000 hectares of rice fields in 20 regencies and cities of Indramayu, Bogor, Subang, Cianjur and Bekasi were under threat of crop failure if no rainfall in the near future.
West Java Agriculture Agency head Diden Trisnadi said on Sunday that crop failure had occured in at least 121 hectares of rice fields in Subang and Cianjur.
"Irrigation could [usually] only save some 25 percent of dried rice paddies," said Diden.(+++)
Terry Macalister The Guardian 24 Jul 15;
Private investors stand to lose $4.2tn (£2.7tn) on the value of their holdings from the impact of climate change by 2100 even if global warming is held at plus 2C, a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has warned.
If firm action is not taken at the forthcoming climate change talks in Paris and the Earth’s temperature warms by a further 5C then investors are facing losses of almost $7tn at today’s prices, new research shows.
This is more than the total current market capitalisation of the London Stock Exchange with impacts on company holdings that will come not just through extreme weather damage but also through lower economic growth.
The report argued that financial regulators should properly recognise “systematic environmental risk”. It also called for a proper carbon price to be established as well as a tough new climate change treaty to be agreed in Paris.
The latest assessments of the rising risks posed to the global financial system lends enormous new weight to those who are already arguing that companies must be made to disclose their carbon emissions.
“Investors currently face a stark choice. Either they will experience impairments to their holdings in fossil fuel companies should robust regulatory action on climate change take place, or they will face substantial losses across the entire portfolio of manageable assets should little mitigation be forthcoming,” said Brian Gardner, the editor of an EIU report, entitled The cost of inaction: recognising the value at risk from climate change.
The $4.2tn figure is roughly the equivalent to the value of the world’s publicly listed oil and gas companies or the annual gross domestic product of Japan, the world’s third largest economy.
Nick Robins, co-director of the Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System at the UN Environment Programme said that financial markets are not treating the threat posed by climate change seriously enough. “We wouldn’t get on a plane if there was a 5% chance of the plane crashing,” he said. “But we’re treating the climate with that same level of risk in a very offhand, complacent way.”
The EIU concludes that there are widespread opportunities for investors to reduce their exposure to environmental risk – one way is to invest in projects that finance a transition to a lower carbon economy.
But it also believes that climate change is likely to represent “an obstacle” for many asset owners and managers to fulfil their fiduciary duties to act in the best interests of those who lend their cash to invest.
According to estimates by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project, only 7% of asset owners calculate the carbon footprint of their investment portfolios and only 1.4% have an explicit target to reduce it.
The EIU follows warnings from the Bank of England about the financial risks posed to fossil fuel companies if global climate action renders their reserves of oil, coal and gas worthless. On Thursday, a report from the London assembly warned that the city was particularly vulnerable to financial risks posed by climate change because its economy is particularly well-connected globally.
Larval Host Plant for Butterflies: The Chinese Violet
Butterflies of Singapore
Peregrine Falcon having a dust-bath in a high-rise apartment
Bird Ecology Study Group
Light Trapping At Lim Chu Kang Cemetery (24 Jul 2015)
Beetles@SG BLOG
Neo Mei Lin, marine biologist, featured on Women’s Weekly
The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
NEA advises licensed food stall holders to temporary stop the sales of raw fish dishes using Song fish, also known as Asian Bighead Carp and Toman fish, also known as Snakehead fish, as a precautionary measure.
Channel NewsAsia 24 Jul 15;
SINGAPORE: Some samples of raw fish were tested and found to have traces of the Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria, the Ministry of Health (MOH), National Environment Agency (NEA) and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said in a joint news release on Friday (Jul 24).
This comes after MOH launched an investigation into the link between GBS and raw fish after it saw an increase in GBS cases.
From Jan 1 to Jun 30, authorities received reports of 238 GBS cases from public hospitals. This is up from an average of 150 cases per year in the past four years. More than half the cases were over the age of 55, similar to previous years.
Authorities earlier said there is no proven link between eating raw fish and serious GBS disease in healthy humans, but interim analysis of MOH's investigation on a limited number of identified cases found an association between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infections. More cases will need to be studied for a more definite conclusion, authorities noted.
NEA has advised licensed food stall holders to temporarily stop the sales of raw fish dishes using Song fish, also known as Asian Bighead Carp, and Toman fish, also known as Snakehead fish, as a precautionary measure. Stall holders will also be reminded to adhere to high standards of personal hygiene and adopt proper food handling practices to prevent cross contamination and bacterial growth, the agencies stated.
Earlier, MOH had asked all hospitals to submit their case listings of patients with GBS infections for this year as part of its investigation. Doctors in the private sector were also asked to report new cases of GBS infection to MOH as well, to assist in its probe.
Authorities added that GBS is a common bacterium found in the human gut and urinary tract of about 15 to 30 per cent of adults without causing disease. However, it may occasionally cause infection of the skin, joints, heart and brain. GBS can be found in fish, but it does not pose an issue if the fish is well-cooked before consumption, MOH said.
Some GBS patients told Channel NewsAsia after consuming yusheng, their joints swelled to the point where they required surgery.
While investigations are ongoing, vulnerable groups of people - especially young children, pregnant women or the elderly, or people with chronic illness such as diabetes - should exercise caution by avoiding raw ready-to-eat food, authorities said.
- CNA/dl
Eateries to halt sales of two types of raw fish containing GBS
REGINA MARIE LEE Today Online 24 Jul 15;
SINGAPORE — The authorities will be asking eateries to suspend the sale of raw-fish dishes that use Song fish and Toman fish as a precautionary measure after tests on samples of these species found traces of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria.
A message that was widely circulated last Monday claimed that there has been a surge in the number of GBS infection cases in Singapore. And today (July 24), the authorities confirmed that the number of such cases in public hospitals from January to last month is nearly 60 per cent higher than the full-year average for the past four years.
A limited number of these patients, who typically suffer from fever and pain in the joints, had consumed the Song and Toman fish raw, said the joint statement from the Ministry of Health, the National Environment Agency, and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority.
But the authorities stressed again that there is “no proven link between eating raw fish and serious GBS disease in humans to date”, adding that while the bacteria can be found in fish, cooking it well before eating it does not pose issues.
The authorities also said they would need to study more cases for a more definite conclusion on the link between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infections.
There were 238 cases of GBS infection in public hospitals in the first half of this year, compared with the average of 150 cases per year from 2011 to 2014. As in previous years, more than half of the cases involved patients over the age of 55.
The joint statement said GBS is a common bacterium found in the human gut and the urinary tract of about 15 to 30 per cent of adults, without causing disease.
“However, GBS may occasionally cause infections of the skin, joints, heart and brain. The risk factors for GBS infection include underlying chronic or co-morbid conditions, such as diabetes,” it added.
While the authorities are temporarily halting the sale of Song and Toman, which are also known as the Asian Bighead Carp and Snakehead respectively, they also advised vulnerable groups of people, especially young children, pregnant women and the elderly, as well as those with chronic illness such as diabetes, to avoid raw ready-to-eat food such as raw oysters and sashimi.
Meanwhile, businesses told TODAY that customers have been staying away from raw fish, resulting in a 30 to 80 per cent drop in their sales of yusheng, a raw fish dish typically sold with porridge in hawker centres throughout the year.
Mr Kiang Chong Tong, 68, who runs Soon Heng Pork and Fish Porridge at Amoy Street Food Centre, said customers were ordering porridge without the fish. “We used to sell about 20 to 30 bowls a day, but that number has fallen by half,” he said.
“It’s not just raw fish,” said Mr Teo Ah Buo, 52, a sales assistant at Ah Chiang’s Porridge. “People are scared of even cooked fish now.”
Its average daily sale of 100 yusheng dishes has plunged to 20.
But some diners are not averse to eating raw fish. Ms Maria Lee, 21, said she would continue to eat sashimi because she did not think she had a high chance of becoming infected.
Stallholders told to stop serving raw fish for now
Kok Xing Hui The Straits Times AsiaOne 25 Jul 15;
Foodstall holders have been asked, for now, not to sell dishes containing two types of raw fish found to have traces of the Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria.
The two types of fish are: Song fish, also known as Asian Bighead Carp; and Toman fish, also known as Snakehead fish.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said it has found a link between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infection in a "limited number" of cases. But more cases will have to be studied before a definite conclusion is made, it added.
If the fish is well-cooked, GBS will not pose a problem, said a joint statement by MOH, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) last night.
Public hospitals have reported 238 cases of GBS infection in the first half of the year, up from an average of 150 cases in the last four years.
GBS bacterial infection 'unusual' for healthy adults: Doctors
Click on thumbnail to view. Story continues after photos.
(Photos: ST, TNP, Shutterstock)
GBS is a common bacterium found in the gut and urinary tract of 15 to 30 per cent of adults without causing disease. However, it may occasionally cause infections of the skin, joints, heart and brain.
Those with chronic or multiple conditions are at a higher risk of getting GBS infections.
There has been no previous proven link between eating raw fish and serious GBS disease in humans, added the joint statement.
Last Monday, MOH said it was investigating the link between GBS and the consumption of raw fish with the NEA and the AVA. This was in response to WhatsApp messages warning of a bacteria outbreak from eating contaminated raw fish.
Yesterday, the authorities again urged vulnerable groups - young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses - to avoid eating raw food such as oysters or sashimi while investigations are ongoing.
GBS bacteria found in two types of fish: What you need to know about them
Jalelah Abu Baker The Straits Times AsiaOne 28 Jul 15;
SINGAPORE - Foodstall holders have been asked to temporarily stop selling raw fish dishes using two types of fish which have been found with traces of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria.
The two types of fish are: Song fish, also known as Asian Bighead Carp; and Toman fish, also known as Snakehead fish.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) also found a link between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infections in some cases it investigated.
From Jan 1 to June 30 this year, MOH received reports of 238 cases of GBS infections from public hospitals - compared with an average of 150 cases per year in the past four years. More than half the cases were over the age of 55, similar to previous years.
GBS is a common bacterium found in the human gut and urinary tract of about 15 per cent to 30 per cent of adults without causing disease. However, GBS may occasionally cause infections of the skin, joints, heart and brain, said MOH.
The bacteria can also be found in fish, but this does not pose an issue if the fish is well cooked before consumption. Here are some facts about the two types of fish in the spotlight.
GBS bacterial infection 'unusual' for healthy adults: Doctors
Click on thumbnail to view. Story continues after photos.
(Photos: ST, TNP, Shutterstock, Wikimedia/Dezidor)
Song fish, also known as Asian bighead carp
How much does it cost?
In Hokkien, it is known as "songhe". It costs about $6 per kilo, according to Mr Khor Chin Puang, who owns fresh fish wholesaler Pan's Fish and has been in the fish retail business for eight years.
How popular is it?
While it is cheap, demand from consumers is "almost non-existent", and it is usually hawker stalls and restaurants that buy this type of fish. Mr Khor said that several shops in Chinatown sell steamed Song fish in black bean sauce. It is also used in raw fish porridge.
Why is it eaten?
Dr Tan Heok Hui, a fish expert from the department of biological sciences in National University of Singapore (NUS) said that the Song fish is highly esteemed for its head region, used in steamed dishes. There is a section of fish fats and oils below the cranium which is "highly delectable", he said.
Where is it from?
The Song fish is originally from riverine and lacustrine waters in northern Indochina and southern China, Dr Tan said. It has been imported usually as young fishes to be cultivated or to be grown out in mud ponds for aquaculture and for food fish purpose. The Song fish is a filter feeder, feeding mainly on suspended plankton.
Toman fish, also known as Snakehead fish
How much does it cost?
In Hokkien, it is known as "loyhe". It costs about $24 per kilo, according to Mr Khor.
How popular is it?
It is highly esteemed for its firm white flesh, Dr Tan said. It is used for tonic food, San Lao hor fun and steam boat. The fish is now often available as chilled or frozen fillets.
Why is it eaten?
Mr Khor said that the Chinese believe that the fish has medicinal properties. It is usually given to people who have undergone surgery or just given birth.
Where is it from?
It is originally from the South-east Asia region, found in rivers and lakes. It is a highly territorial and predatory species feeding on smaller fish and other organisms. It is usually cultivated as a cage fish or in mud ponds, and imported as fillet for the food market.
Yusheng sales plunge on bacteria warning
Alert is for Song and Toman fish, but hawkers using other types of fish report poor business
Melissa Lin Straits Times 31 Jul 15;
Sales of yusheng, a raw fish dish, have taken a hit after news broke that two types of fish were found to have traces of a bacterium that can cause infections of the skin, joints, heart and brain.
Hawkers told The Straits Times that consumers are spooked and are avoiding the dish even if it is made from other types of fish with no links to the Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacterium.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) has asked more than 70 raw fish porridge stalls to temporarily stop selling raw fish dishes made from Song fish, also known as Asian Bighead Carp, and Toman fish, also known as Snakehead.
The yusheng sold at hawker centres consists of thinly sliced strips of raw fish mixed in sesame oil and topped with ginger and chilli.
Maxwell Food Centre's Zhen Zhen Porridge, famed for its Song-fish yusheng, has stopped selling it for now. This, coupled with renovation near the food centre, has caused business to fall by 20 per cent, said owner Kiang Joon Chin, 60. About half of the 40kg to 50kg of Song fish he used to order daily were sold as yusheng. He has cut his supply to about 20kg and sells the fish fully cooked in porridge.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement last Friday that it had found a link between the consumption of raw fish and GBS infection in a "limited number" of cases. It is carrying out further studies before reaching a definite conclusion.
Public hospitals have seen 238 cases of GBS infection in the first half of the year, up from an average of 150 cases in the last four years.
GBS is a common bacterium found in the gut and urinary tract of about 15 to 30 per cent of adults without causing disease. But it may occasionally cause infections of the skin, joints, heart and brain.
GBS does not pose a problem if the fish is well-cooked, said the joint statement by MOH, NEA and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).
Yusheng lovers can still get their fix at Amoy Street Food Centre's Soon Heng Pork & Fish Porridge and Tiong Bahru Market and Food Centre's Hwa Yuen Porridge stalls.
Both use the ikan parang - also known as wolf herring - which is pricier than the Song fish.
At Soon Heng, the smallest serving of raw fish costs $5, compared to $3 for the Song fish version.
Hwa Yuen's second-generation owner Clement Yip, who is in his 60s, said: "We used to sell more than 100 servings a day. Now, not even 50. Nobody dares to eat raw fish now."
Soon Heng's owner, Mr Kiang Choon Tong, 68, used to sell more than 50 plates of raw ikan parang daily but that has fallen to 10.
"We're more particular about hygiene now," he said. "I make sure the fish is cleaned properly and the container holding it is closed tightly before it goes into the freezer."
Other stalls are dropping the dish totally. Mr Teo Kiang Yong, 56, who owns Rong Teochew Fish Porridge at Amoy Street Food Centre, will not sell yusheng again. "It's too much trouble," he said. "I'd rather not take any chances."
Fishmonger Ang Yeow Leng, 60, said demand for the Song fish and Toman fish from consumers at wet markets is generally low as the fish are usually bought by hawkers for yusheng dishes. The fish also often have a bitter taste, he added.
Supermarket chain FairPrice, which carries both fish sourced from the Jurong Fishery Port, has not seen any major impact on sales.
"We are working closely with our suppliers and AVA to ensure high standards of food safety are maintained," said Mr Victor Chai, director of fresh and frozen products at FairPrice's purchasing and merchandising department.
Businessman Vincent Low, 53, who used to eat yusheng weekly, has stopped doing so temporarily, saying: "It's better to be safe than sorry."
The authorities have urged vulnerable groups - young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses - to avoid raw fish for now.
The Jakarta Post 24 Jul 15;
Forest fires have continued to take place in Jambi province, with the NOAA satellite detecting 22 hotspots on Thursday.
“Two hotspots have been detected in state forests in West Tanjung Jabung and Tebo regencies,” said Jambi Forestry Office head Irmansyah Rahman.
He added that seven of the hotspots are in Tebo, five in Muarojambi, three in East Tanjung Jabung, three in Sarolangun, and one in Merangin, Batanghari and Bungo.
“A team has gone to the field to inspect the situation,” said Irmansyah.
The detected hotspots are located in forested areas, plantations, farms, and in community and state forests, he added.
Irmansyah also urged residents living close to peatland to refrain from carelessly throwing cigarette butts because peatland is highly flammable.
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/07/24/island-focus-fire-razes-state-forests-jambi.html#sthash.9GHcUvVJ.dpuf
Fire spots flare up across dry RI
thejakartapost.com 24 Jul 15;
Environment and Forestry Ministry Siti Nurbaya said on Friday that the number of fire spots in Indonesian territory had increased rapidly over the last few days, as the country had seen little rainfall.
“On the 22th, there were 70 spots. Yesterday, we detected 153 and today, we found 158 spots,” Siti said as quoted by kompas.com
The spots were found in Bengkulu, Central Java, South Sulawesi and South and East Kalimantan, she added.
High temperatures and the lack of rainfall had contributed to the rapid increase in the number of fire spots detected, she went on.
Siti also said that the government would take precautionary measures to avoid further fires, such as water bombing.
Indonesia is slated to lead a meeting between environment and forestry ministries from ASEAN countries tomorrow to discuss measures to prevent smoke from Indonesia entering neighboring countries. (ika)(++++)
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/07/24/fire-spots-flare-across-dry-ri.html#sthash.pVoLUGkj.dpuf
N. Adri, The Jakarta Post 25 Jul 15;
The East Kalimantan provincial administration has officially banned tugboats pulling coal barges from traversing the Kedang Kepala River in Muara Siran subdistrict, Muara Kaman district, Kutai Kartanegara regency, which serves as a natural habitat for the highly endangered Mahakam porpoise, in a policy highly applauded by environmental activists.
“I have requested the dock head of the Transportation Office in Kota Bangun district and the Samarinda port master [KSOP] to no longer issue sail permits for tugboats traveling along the river,” East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek said on Friday.
Awang’s request has also been conveyed in East Kalimantan gubernatorial letter No. 660.2/3925/B.12/BlH/2015, issued on Tuesday. The governor has requested both officials to review coal-barge activities on the river, a tributary of the 900-kilometer-long Mahakam River, one of the country’s largest watercourses.
In Indonesia, the porpoise can only be found in the Mahakam River’s Muara Kaman estuary and at times in the waters of the Kutai Kartanegara regency capital of Tenggarong. In the 1980s, they could still be seen near the provincial capital of Samarinda.
Besides the Mahakam River, the porpoise is also found in the Irrawaddy and Mekong rivers of Myanmar.
Coal barges and tugboats have become a threat to the porpoise due to their noise on the water’s surface and under the water, according to Aquatic Species of Indonesia Conservation Foundation (RASI) advisor Danielle Kreb.
The noise, according to Kreb, disturbs the porpoise’s sense of hearing, which it relies on for orientation due to poor visibility in the murky river water that contains lots of sediment.
A porpoise, she said, could be hit and killed by a passing coal barge due to poor orientation, or could be unable to seek food and eventually die of starvation.
Besides that, large waves caused by the passing barges could also damage breeding grounds for fish and shrimp — the porpoise’s main source of food.
Like dolphins in the open sea, fresh-water porpoises like to play and leap into the air. With their color and appearance, they also resemble the dolphin, which is light grey and has small eyes, but the porpoise has an extended forehead and does not have a long snout.
For this reason, said Kreb, who has conducted studies on porpoises since 1997, the mammal has been known as the “fresh-water dolphin”.
“The presence of the porpoise is [part of the] natural equilibrium. As a predator, it stabilizes the number of certain fish species in nature. If it is extinct, natural equilibrium will definitely be disturbed,” said Kreb, whose organization is concerned with the conservation of the Mahakam porpoise.
Based on RASI’s 2005 estimations, the porpoise population at Muara Siran stood at a stable 90 individuals.
Kreb said she welcomed the governor’s decision to ban coal barges from passing along the Kedang Kepala River.
“We deeply appreciate the governor’s policy,” she said.
Industrial-scale vessels require sail permits to be able to traverse rivers. To sail along the Kedang Kepala River and other waterways within Muara Kaman, vessels must obtain permits from the Transportation Agency’s dock head in Kota Bangun, located 70 kilometers west of Tenggarong. Another permit from the Samarinda KSOP is also required to sail the Mahakam River.
Coal-barge traffic on the Kedang Kepala River starts from a terminal belonging to coal miner PT
Bayan Resources, located in Senyiur subdistrict, Muara Ancalong district, East Kutai regency. The barges take the Kedang Kepala River as a shortcut to reach the Mahakam River.
NGO Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), meanwhile, called on local officials to comply with and implement the gubernatorial circular.
“Before issuing a sailing permit for barges, especially coal carriers, their routes must be thoroughly assessed,” said Jatam coordinator Merah Johansyah.
In a recent interview with The Jakarta Post, Muara Siran subdistrict chief Uhay said the villagers had faced difficulties in spotting porpoises on the Kedang Kepala River.
Uhay said that as of March this year, the porpoises could be seen congregating in the Kedang Kepala River delta, the section of the river that connects it with Lake Siran. However, due to busy coal-barge traffic, the porpoises have likely relocated to more isolated sections of the river.
“Usually, they are easily spotted in the morning or afternoon,” he said.
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/07/25/new-policy-issued-protect-rare-porpoise.html#sthash.iyEpWIwy.dpuf
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