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People of Gaza take to social media to share days of horror and loss under Israeli fire · Global Voices
أيمن حسونة

A screenshot of the last Facebook post written by Riham Al-Kolak, who days later became one of Israel's victims in Gaza, as an Israeli bomb targetted her house, killing her and her whole family. Thousands of Facebook users reacted to her last posts, with many praying for her and her family.
All people fear death, yet this fear turns to terror when you are waiting for it.
More than 2 million Palestinian citizens lived a state of terror in the besieged Gaza Strip since May 10, when Israeli forces began raining the enclave with continuous bombing for 11 days, until a ceasefire came into effect. The heavy bombing left Palestinians in Gaza waiting for death in their homes, expecting to be turned into corpses beneath rubble at any minute, by yet another missile.
At least 248 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza throughout the Israeli assault, including 66 children and 9 women. Meanwhile, the shells fired by Hamas Movement which governs Gaza, killed 12 Israelis. While the Israeli Iron Dome intercepts most of Hamas’ thousands of rockets, and Israelis can take shield in shelters from Hamas’ fire, Palestinians in Gaza are unprotected, without any shelter from death and terror.
This is what Banyas Jawad felt in Gaza on 16 May when she wrote the following post on Twitter:
حاساها اخر ليلة.
والله اخر ليلة شكلها النا
— Banyas Jawad (@BanyasJ) May 15, 2021
I feel this is the last night.
By Allah, it seem like its our last night
The Israeli bombing of Gaza came in response to rockets fired by Hamas towards occupied Jerusalem, after Israeli forces and settlers ignored a deadline Hamas gave for them to withdraw from the area of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Muslim's holy site, and Al Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, which have witnessed violence for weeks. Israeli forces have used rubber and live bullets in both sites against Palestinian demonstrators who rose to protest eviction orders made against Palestinians to leave their homes, resulting in the injury of hundreds. These events have evolved since the beginning of Ramadan in mid April, resulting in what became known as Damascus Gate Attack.
As Israeli bombs fell, causing destruction and death, people of Gaza tweeted to the world about their pain.
On 14 May, Ahmed Mortaja wrote on Twitter:
يارب احنا مش ارقام، احنا مش حيوانات نموت بهيك طريقة..
تذكروا اسماءنا واشكالنا وملامحنا وقصصنا وأحلامنا، اتذكروا انه احنا مش أرقام#GazzaUnderAttack#غزة_تحت_القصف
— أحمـد. (@Ahmed_Mortaja) May 13, 2021
“Oh God, we are not numbers, we are not animals to die in such a way. Remember our names, how we look, our feature, stories and dreams. Remember that we are not numbers
Meanwhile, Marah Elwadia, a journalist residing in Gaza, recalled her experience in the 2014 war on Gaza which lasted for 7 weeks and left more than 2.200 Palestinian dead, most of whom were civilians. She compared it to the current war, now that she's a mother.
بحرب عام ٢٠١٤ كنت بين أهلي ومش متحملة، اليوم أنا أم. بفكر في إبني اللي معي، وبفكر في زوجي اللي بيشتغل بالميدان، وبفكر بأهلي اللي تحاصروا الليلة في بيتهم والسما كانت تمطر صواريخ وقذائف https://t.co/3ZSk8bY0J0
— Marah M. Elwadia (@MarahWadia) May 14, 2021
In 2014 war, I was among my family and couldn't bear [what was happening]. Today, I'm a mother and thinking of my son who is with me, and husband who is working on the ground, and my family who were besieged last night in their home, while the sky was raining rockets and missiles.
Nour, another Gazan citizen, wrote on Twitter:
أصعب تجربة ممكن يمر فيها إنسان على وجه الأرض هي إنه يكون أب أو أم في وقت الحرب. شعور العجز التام أمام خوف طفلك، وعدم قدرتك على توفير الأمن إله شيء أصعب من الوصف.#GazaUnderAttack
— Nour Gaza (@NourGaza) May 13, 2021
The most difficult experience in this life is to be a father or mother in a time of war. It's the feeling of utter powerlessness before your kid's fear. Your disability to make him feel safe is more difficult than any words can describe.
Meanwhile, on 15 May, Riham Al-Kolak wrote on her Facebook page, “Oh God, please have mercy on us, we can't bear this”. The following day, Reham wrote her last post: “Oh Allah keep us safe”, which was shared over 8,300 times, after she and her whole family were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
This state of terror isn't limited only to those who are living in Gaza nowadays, but is felt by every Palestinian even if abroad, especially Gazan people who are away.
Said Yacoubi, a doctor from Gaza who lives in the United Kingdom, posted on 18 May on Facebook:
“My dad sitting on the rubbles in front of our damaged house in Gaza following the night when 10 of our neighbours were murdered by Israeli terrorist army (2 women and 8 children). His eyes are full of pain, his body is exhausted, his left hand is injured with blood on his clothes and his heart-wrenching face says a lot about how we feel.
Rasha Abushaban, who lives in Gaza, tweeted constantly to share details not known to people outside Gaza, including Gazans’ attempts to coexist with the bombing while keeping a seemingly ordinary life and celebrating Muslim's Eid el-Fitr, which marks end of the Ramadan fast, and through which Israel continued its bombing. She tweeted about her family keeping with Palestinian tradition of cooking a dish of beef stew to mark the occasion:
القصف شغال و قاعدين بنخرط سلق للسماقية و أمي حالفه يمين لو بدنا نموت بنفعش يجي العيد من غير سماقية .. صمود و الا مش صمود؟ #غزة_تحت_القصف #غزة
— Rasha N. Abushaban (@TeaRash_Rash) May 11, 2021
The bombing is ongoing and we are preparing chard for Sumaghiyyeh. My mother swore that, death or not, we should not have Eid without making Al Sumaghiyyeh. Is this resistance, or not?
But her tweets also reflected the horrifying situation people in Gaza lived through, which she described in another tweet as akin to ” a tryout for  Judgment Day”:
I don't know how our nerve system is taking all of this, or struggling to, but what I know that whoever still alive in #Gaza after this aggression comes to an end will carry a trauma that will spend a lifetime to recover from it #GazaUnderAttack
— Rasha N. Abushaban (@TeaRash_Rash) May 14, 2021
لا أعرف كيف تتحمل أجهزتنا العصبية كل هذا، أو تكافح من أجل ذلك، ولكن ما أعلمه هو أنه من يكتب له النجاة بعد انتهاء هذا العدوان على غزة فسيحمل معه صدمة سيمضي عمرهكله في التعافي منها.
Another Gazan mother wrote about her attempt to ‘escape death':
رغبةٌ ملحة راودتني. غسلت وجوه صغاري وسرحت شعرهم الجميل الناعم، ألبستهم أجمل ثيابهم. حضنتهم مطولًا، وشممت رائحتهم الزكيّة. أصبحوا أجمل من أن يشتهيهم الموت، لعله يخطأهم لهذه المرة أيضًا.#GazaUnderAttack
— Nour Gaza (@NourGaza) May 16, 2021
I had a strong urge to wash my children's faces and comb their beautiful soft hair and dress them up in their most beautiful clothes and I held them long and tight, and took in their beautiful smells. They became too beautiful to be targeted by death. May it overlook them this time too.
Khaled Safi's tweet, in which he wrote about a similar attempt to trick death, was retweeted thousands of times:
“أغرب ما فعلته اليوم هو أنني تبادلت أولادي مع أخي، أخذت منه اثنين من أولاده واعطيته اثنين من أبنائي حتى لو تعرضت لقصف الاحتلال يبقى من نسلي أحد ولو قُصف هو يبقى من ذريته..
وربنا يحفظنا ويحفظ شعب فلسطين”#غزة_تباد #غزة_تحت_القصف pic.twitter.com/rjGZvkgBhe
— خالد صافي #فلسطين ?? (@KhaledSafi) May 18, 2021
The strangest thing I did today was exchange my kids with my brother. I took two of his kids and gave him two of mine. This way, even if bombed by occupation forces, our offspring would live on. May God protect us and the Palestinian people
Civilians in Gaza also used mobile phones and cameras to document the instants in which residential towers got hit across the city, airing them live across social media, including Al Galaa Tower in which international news outlets had their offices, but was targeted by Israel on May 15.
منظر مرعب.
لحظة سقوط برج الجلاء وصوت @salehalnatoor على @AlarabyTV pic.twitter.com/i3GPNqob7X
— (@) May , 2021
Now that a ceasefire has put an end to the bombing – although many fear  its temporary – Gaza survivors share details of the scale of destruction left behind to their souls and city's infrastructure, which has suffered significantly from the 11 days of relentless bombing.

author: أيمن حسونة


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Approval of benefits for employees of the Assembly of the Republic causes protests in Mozambique · Global Voices
Global Voices Lusofonia

Parliament approves benefits for civil servants. Screenshot: Televisão STV.
On May 5, the Mozambican parliament announced the approval of a package of benefits for those working at the chamber, which attracted a lot of criticism, given that the minimum wage has not been updated for over two years.
The new package includes holiday and meal allowances, and subsidies for buying formal clothes. Other Mozambican civil servants, though, do not enjoy these benefits, according to the General Statute of Civil Servants (EGFAE).
Employees of the Assembly of the Republic will also be able to move from one professional career to another without having to pass a public exam.
The announcement was criticized by many Mozambicans. Some university students went to protest in the streets, but were prevented from doing so by the local police:
Onde eu queria estar hoje cedo ✊?✊?✊?✊?✊?✊?✊?
Parabéns a todo/as jovens que foram à rua manifestar
Pátria amada, vamos vencer ?? pic.twitter.com/irf3GFORWB
— Aly Caetano (@Aly_Caetano) May 11, 2021
Where I wanted to be earlier today
Congratulations to all the young people who took to the streets to protest.
Beloved homeland, we're going to win
A young man was arrested at the demonstration, and released hours later, which sparked another wave of indignation on social media:
Não era um grupo de marginais pretendendo vandalizar alguma instituição pública ou privada.
Eram jovens fazendo uso de um direito que lhes é inerente pelo simples facto de serem pessoas. O direito a manifestação é um direito fundamental. #liberdadeparaValdo pic.twitter.com/3sFBjStAkX
— Ignatius? (@cutee_ducking) May 11, 2021
It wasn't a group of thugs planning to vandalize some public or private institution.
They were young people exercising a right that is innate to them by the simple fact of being people. The right to protest is a fundamental right.
Image: Article 51
They attacked the wrong target
Freedom for Valdo now!
On the same day as the protest, a public petition was delivered asking the parliament to annul the benefits’ approval:
#PETIÇÃO CONTRA A APROVAÇÃO DE #DIREITOS E #REGALIAS DO FUNCIONÁRIO E AGENTE PARLAMENTAR
Terça-feira | 11 de Maio de 2021
09H30 | Em frente à Assembleia da República pic.twitter.com/UpXsJUdiek
— FMO (@FMO_Moz) May 10, 2021
#PETITION AGAINST THE APPROVAL OF #RIGHTS AND BENEFITS OF PARLIAMENTARY EMPLOYEES AND OFFICIALS
Tuesday | 11 May 2021
09H30 | In front of the Assembly of the Republic
Following this, the parliament decided to postpone discussion of the new statute for its employees to a date yet to be announced.
It should be noted that last year, as COVID-19 spread in the country, many Mozambicans also criticized the Assembly of the Republic for having approved an operating budget that included the payment of a “reintegration subsidy” — an amount to be paid to parliamentarians at the end of their mandate.
Before that, in 2014, there was the approval of a law providing benefits to the president and parliamentarians after the end of their mandate, which led to the creation of a protest page on Facebook called “Deputados de Luxo” (Luxury Lawmakers). This also resulted in public protests at the time.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Global Voices Lusofonia


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European Parliament calls for ‘immediate’ and ‘unconditional’ release of Armenian prisoners · Global Voices
OC Media

European Parliament, Steven Lek, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
This article was first published on OC Media's website. An edited version is republished here via a content partnership agreement.
On May 20, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Azerbaijani government to release all Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives.
A majority of European Parliament members, 607 of 688, voted in support of the resolution.
The resolution text referred to ‘worrying reports’ that ‘approximately 200 Armenians’ are being held in Azerbaijani captivity — Azerbaijan has only acknowledged that it has 72 Armenians in captivity, who officials claim are not POWs but terror suspects.
‘The release of all Armenian detainees is essential for building confidence and trust and would be an important political gesture’, noted High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, in a speech that was delivered on his behalf during the proceedings.
According to the resolution, the European Parliament ‘demands the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian prisoners, both military and civilian, detained during and after the conflict, and that Azerbaijan refrains from making arbitrary detentions in the future’.
The resolution also stressed that there’s a need for new efforts ‘to build confidence between both countries and make progress towards sustainable peace’.
The resolution also mentioned the ‘Park of Military Trophies’,  which was opened in Baku in April and displays Armenian military equipment alongside wax mannequins ‘depicting dead and dying Armenian soldiers and models of Armenian POWs’.
The park was condemned on the grounds that it may be perceived as ‘a glorification of violence’ and is ‘thereby perpetuating the atmosphere of hatred and contradicting any official statements on reconciliation’.
Since the end of the hostilities on 9 November, 73 Armenian prisoners have been repatriated while Armenia has released all Azerbaijani POWs captured during the war.
Two Syrian nationals captured by Armenia during the war remain in the country and have been convicted of several charges, including terrorism — the two men have admitted to being mercenaries, but have denied all other charges against them.

author: OC Media


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Hacker group Anonymous leaks Colombia’s police and army files amid protest crackdown · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

Illustration from Anonymous Twitter account EterSec, used with permission.
In Colombia, what started as a national strike against a tax reform proposed by the government of Iván Duque at the end of April transformed into an outcry against police violence, inequality, and poverty worsened by COVID-19. With the protests showing no signs of stalling, in late April and early May, the hacktivist group Anonymous joined the fray by leaking thousands of classified police, military, and government documents.
The leaks included Colombia's National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) passwords, police members’ names, and phone numbers, and email addresses and correspondent passwords of military personnel. The Senate website was also temporarily blocked. Earlier, on April 29, the group leaked confidential files from the Colombian National Police and took down government websites. The group also leaked an alleged conversation from May 2 in Cali in which Eduardo Enrique Zapateiro, general of the Colombian army, is heard saying that he has received an order from the president to militarize the city and take action against the demonstrators.
“Our main goal is to bring improvements for society and ensure the freedom of speech, so the right of democratic demonstrations and the peoples’ voices may be respected,” Anonymous member active on Colombia's case, Etersec, wrote to me by email.
According to DW and Colombian newspaper Semana, the army has not responded to the attacks.
Anonymous had declared “war on the right-wing Duque government after police massacred civilians nationwide” through a video on YouTube posted on May 4. Like many Colombian commentators, Anonymous said that the tax reform disproportionally impacted the poor and middle classes, already crunched by the pandemic. The number of people living in poverty in Colombia reached 21 million in 2020, a 6.8 percent increase from 2019, according to DANE, the national Colombian statistics office.
Anonymous took down Colombia’s Senate website, leaked legislators’ e-mails, and leaked at least one military database.
This comes in light of human rights violations against protestors by the Duque government. #OpColombia#SOSColombiaDDHH #ColombiaSOS https://t.co/LCqW9BuOc9
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) May 5, 2021
Anonymous has a tailored justification for each different attack. The police data leak was for “so much aggressive and cruel repression to the demonstrations of popular and democratic power,” Etersec wrote. For the army data leak, it is due “to the financing of paramilitary actions in Colombia, resulting on infiltrated groups in manifestations to cause chaos and transform those pacific manifestations in riots.” Finally, the attacks on the Colombian governmental websites are justified as “against oppressive projects imposed to the population, among them, the tax reform aimed at a huge increase of taxes over the poorest population.”
“Demonstrations in Cali against the tax reform,” May 1, 2021. Photo from Remux on Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The state forces have brutally repressed protestors for several weeks — 43 were allegedly killed by members of the security forces, the NGO Indepaz reported on May 19.
Local NGO Temblores reported 2,110 cases of police violence as of May 13. It also reported 16 sexual assaults allegedly committed by police officers. The United Nations rights office, the United States, and the European Union urged the Colombian government to act with restraint.
Although the president withdrew the tax proposal, the demonstrations continued in several Colombian cities. The hashtags on social media tagging these events are #SOSColmbia, #NosEstanMatando (“TheyAreKillingUs”) and #ParoNacional (“NationalStrike”). Local press reported that Colombia's defense minister, Diego Molano, blamed illegal armed groups for looting and vandalism.
The protests are diverse in nature, with youth and students as its protagonists, with the support of peasant, indigenous, and labor unions. The protest leaders and the government have made a few attempts at talking so far.
“It is important to highlight that (…) the demonstrations arose from the people, and we, Anonymous, are here to give support to every fair and social claim,” said Etersec
“Being a hacktivist goes far beyond just hack and break systems,” Etersec added. “Before any action, we made in advance the research project, analysis and organization [of the work].”
Each Anonymous cell has its own teams, composed of people with different kinds of expertise. For Colombia, about eight people work together, according to Etersec: @IberoAnon, @Anons_Vzla, @EterSec_, @AnonNews_Col (whose account is suspended), @AnonymousOpCOL (whose account is suspended), AnonNovidades, @sin1pe_crew (whose account is suspended), Y0urAnonOPS.
These past few weeks, citizens reported blocked Colombian accounts and posts on different social media networks. On May 15, Etersec's main account was suspended by Twitter, along with others from his team. He created a new one, “Etersec_“.
“At this point, we can observe that after the exposed [data], there was an excessive increase of repressive acts and monitoring in both the streets and in digital media,” Etersec said.

author: Melissa Vida


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Jamaican bees are beautiful—and their survival is crucial · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Striped honey bee. Photo by Emma Lewis, used with permission.
This post was first published on Petchary. An edited version appears below.
With honey being the valuable product and amazing food resource it is, with proven anti-bacterial and sleep-inducing properties—not to mention its soothing and restorative qualities if you have a cold or the flu—beekeeping has been steadily catching on in Jamaica for some years now.
Patricia Parchment, president of the Westmoreland Bee Farmers Society in Bluefields Bay on Jamaica's southwest coast. Photo by Wolde Kristos, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
Women, especially, have been empowered through increased training in beekeeping, offering an alternative source of income during the pandemic and developing skills that will serve them well beyond it. In fact, the new president of the Westmoreland Bee Farmers Society in Bluefields Bay on Jamaica's southwest coast, is a woman. With the species threatened by man-made impacts and the need to protect these important pollinators being made more acute, bee knowledge has been increasing, both through observation and via online webinars like this one, hosted by the Natural History Museum of Jamaica (NHMJ).
This renewal of interest is rather timely, in the context of both Jamaica's long history with beekeeping and the urgent threats to bee populations. There are estimated to be as many as 69 species of bees in Jamaica, with the NHMJ’s zoology collection containing approximately 500 specimens across 40 of these species.
Deceita Turner, president of the Bluefields Bay Fishermen’s Friendly Society, works on beehives as a young apprentice watches. Photo by Wolde Kristos, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
Interestingly, there is a growing number of beekeepers in both rural and urban areas. One young inner-city entrepreneur, Adrian Watson, has been a trained beekeeper for several years; he rears the well-known western honey bees (Apis Mellifera), but Jamaica has far more solitary bees, which are important pollinators. Watson's Honai Beez Apiary is planning a pollination project that includes an urban beehive, aimed at training new beekeepers and raising awareness of the importance of bees in schools, the private sector and beyond. He hopes to train unskilled young people in beekeeping and is developing sustainable beehives made from bamboo.
Urban beekeeper Adrian Watson admiring his bees. Photo by Watson, used with permission.
A seasoned environmental and climate change campaigner, Watson also advocates for more green spaces in vacant lots in Kingston, the capital, where he lives. These are the areas he has pinpointed for the urban beekeeping activities that are so badly needed for long-term environmental sustainability. The average beehive typically houses about 30,000 bees.
Honey bees are as varied as they are interesting. Their colouring varies from predominantly black, to tan or yellow, depending on their lineage. The British black bee, for instance, is known for its irritability, whereas the New Zealand yellow bee is very docile. Each strain has different properties—fecundity, nectar gathering, longevity—and a good beekeeper will try to breed them for purpose.
Keeping in mind that a queen bee may mate with as many as a dozen drones, various colour combinations may emerge. This is one of the reasons that black bees are less common than tan bees in Jamaica. Either way, they are fascinating creatures, and their pollinating activities make them critical to our survival. Here are some of the most common Jamaican bees in action …
A bee sips water while precariously perched on a plant in a lily pond. Photo by Tracy at Senti Bees, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
Local bee experts explain that bees use water to control humidity and temperature, and also to dilute honey for consumption by themselves and their larvae. They take the water back to their hives, since temperature and humidity have to be precisely maintained for the well-being of the colony. This is why you sometimes see bees fanning at the hive entrance: the evaporation cools down the residents.
A male carpenter bee on patrol. Photo by Vaughn Turland, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
Female carpenter bees tend to be black in colour and enjoy the flowers of the moringa tree.
Female orchid bees collecting resin for their nest. Photo: Vaughn Turland, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
Orchid bees at Marshall’s Pen, a bird sanctuary in Manchester, Jamaica. Photo by Ann Haynes Sutton, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
One of Jamaica's large and beautiful native bees, appearing more tan in colour. Photo by Vaughn Turland, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
This particular native bee, spotted foraging on morning glory flower at a beach in Parottee, St. Elizabeth, is likely of the genus Centris.
A honey bee gathering pollen. Photo by Vaughn Turland, courtesy Emma Lewis, used with permission.
On the heels of World Bee Day 2021, more and more people from Jamaica—and the rest of the Caribbean archipelago which, as Small Island Developing States, are on the frontline of the climate crisis—are beginning to understand how crucial bees are to the environment and long-term sustainability.

author: Emma Lewis


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A new COVID-19 wave overwhelms pandemic-conscious Taiwan · Global Voices
Global Voices East Asia

Taipei city is now empty. Screen capture from CTS News on Youtube.
Taiwan, one of the countries least affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been facing a surge of cases since May 11, with 3,161 positive cases reported this month, according to Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control (CDC). Before May, Taiwan had recorded less than 1,200 total COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.
On May 16, Taiwan’s health minister Chen Shih-chung issued a level 3 soft lockdown alert, with restrictions such as mandatory mask-wearing in all public spaces and a 10-people limit to outdoor gatherings.
The greater Taipei city area was the most affected by the new wave. With the restrictions, its wealthiest areas have become empty in the past few days.
The Taiwanese CDC has identified two major infection clusters — one linked to China Airlines’ flights and another to a “sexy tea shop,” entertainment venues where men, usually older, are served intimately by young female waitresses.
Critics blamed the relaxation of quarantine rules for unvaccinated China Airlines’ staff in mid-April for that cluster. By May 11, 13 China Airlines pilots had tested positive for COVID-19, and there have been 30 domestic cases linked to the hotel where airline staff was being quarantined.
A former chair of the local chapter of Lions Club International developed COVID-like symptoms and tested positive on May 11. Contact tracing showed that he had visited a sexy tea shop in Taipei's Wanhua area between May 4 and May 10.
There are more than 100 sexy tea shops in Wanhua district and the sector employs thousands of people. By May 20, 299 COVID-19 positive cases had been linked to the Wanhua district, which means the infection chain could be far more extensive.
Number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan between May 1 to May 24, 2021. Screen capture from Taiwan CDC.
The investigative news outlet The Reporter identified three loopholes in Taiwan’s pandemic control measures, namely its lack of capacity in contact tracing, lack of PCR testing, and shortage of medical workers.
Huang Shier-Chieg, the head of Taipei's Health Department, told The Reporter that the city's contact-tracing team consists of fewer than 10 people. Given the scale of the current outbreak, they only had the capacity to contact confirmed cases, but not their contacts. The contact tracing team was unable to follow up with the confirmed cases to ensure they had self-isolated, according to The Reporter.
At present, Taiwan's PCR testing capacity is below 16,000 per day. The current testing system does not prioritize direct contacts of positive cases, The Reporter reports.
The situation has overwhelmed Taiwan's healthcare system, with a number of staff members of a dozen hospitals across Taiwan testing positive. Some of them took care of infected patients at the beginning of the outbreak, before they were aware of the scale of the epidemic.
One hospital in Taipei's Zhongzheng District and another in New Taipei's Xizhi District on Thursday announced full closure and partial closure, respectively, after they found employees infected with #COVID-19.https://t.co/kZ27otXfLn
— Focus Taiwan (CNA English News) (@Focus_Taiwan) May 20, 2021
Although the Taiwanese government has swiftly set up new testing stations, these stations are short of health workers as well as medical supplies, such as cotton swabs. A lack of laboratory staff means PCR testing 24 hours a day is also unfeasible.
As cases surge, the healthcare system needs more workers to help on the frontlines, and Taipei city has started to recruit retired medical professionals.
The outbreak exposed how Taiwan has struggled to recruit hospital staff since before the pandemic. The Medical Alliance for Labour Justice and Patient Safety has been raising the alarm on the issue since 2012. The group claims that medical staff are underpaid and are subject to long working hours.
Last year, Taiwan Radical Nurses’ Union urged the government to improve working conditions in the sector but said authorities did not lay out any proactive measures. Liang Xiu-mei, the founder of the Nurses’ Union, told The Reporter that medical workers are under a lot of pressure with the current outbreak, as hospitals do not have enough resources to establish a triage system for PCR swab collection.

author: Global Voices East Asia


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Jamaican literacy activist puts more books into the hands of children isolated by COVID-19 restrictions · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Siseenia Moxam Nelson, founder of the Treasure Beach Youth Group and Summer Camp in a rural south coast community, helped distribute the literacy care packages to students of Hopewell Primary School. Photo courtesy Latoya West-Blackwood, used with permission.
With most Jamaican primary and secondary schools closed since March 2020 when the country recorded its first case of COVID-19, the pandemic has dealt education a severe blow. Children, especially those from poorer households, have faced connectivity issues because of a lack of Wifi, devices or both, and learning is made all the more difficult if their home circumstances are unsuitable.
In her recent parliamentary report, Minister of Education Fayval Williams acknowledged that despite tremendous efforts not to “lose” students through a range of initiatives, more than 120,000 children have disengaged from the educational process since the pandemic began.
Publisher and outgoing chair of the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ), Latoya West-Blackwood. Photo courtesy West-Blackwood, used with permission.
While face-to-face classes resumed on May 10 in more than 350 schools, this was limited to students sitting exit and external exams. It is hoped that schools will fully reopen in September, but there is so guarantee. The impact this situation is having on literacy prompted outgoing chair of the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ), publisher Latoya West-Blackwood, to start an initiative encouraging children to read—for pleasure.
In early May, the BIAJ partnered with the United States-based GrassROOTS Community Foundation to donate 500 “literacy care packages” to 12 Jamaican primary schools. In an email interview, West-Blackwood explained more about the project and her own vision for reading.
Emma Lewis (EL): Why do you think promoting a love of reading in children is especially important at this time?
Latoya West-Blackwood (LWB): A national culture of reading and knowledge has always been important. The pandemic has just put a magnifying glass to some things we've always needed to address as a society. Since 2011, the BIAJ, through the Kingston Book Festival, has been campaigning to encourage reading for pleasure. The cultural experience might have introduced children to books and reading as something for ‘bright people,’ or a means to an end when trying to get good grades or pass an exam.
We've hosted events […] to demonstrate that stories have real power. Stories deepen their understanding of the world from all angles: the environment, cultures, conflict management and self-care, or just a good laugh. Our current concern is for children who pre-pandemic had limited access to literature, and have now been cut off for over a year from libraries or caring adults who nurtured a love of reading.
For those fortunate enough to have safe homes and access to books, reading has been a source of comfort, joy and an escape from the heaviness of the challenges we now face. We are grateful for partnerships like the one we've formed with the GrassROOTS Community Foundation […] that have allowed us to reach children across Jamaica.
Boys at the Trench Town Reading Centre read a book about Nelson Mandela in 2013. Some of the literacy care package donations were made to children of the Trench Town community. Photo by Emma Lewis, used with permission.
EL: Do you think that enough reading material is being produced for girls and boys of colour in the Caribbean? If not, what's missing?
LWB: Can there ever be enough books? Not for me! My dream would be to have many more titles being produced annually, incorporating the latest digital technology to provide an exciting and immersive experience across genres, especially in areas like history, math, science and culture. Representation matters and there are many stories to be told—those that teach, those that inspire, and those that make us laugh with no great moral lessons tied in.
Publishing is a business and there's much room to grow an indigenous industry in Jamaica and the Caribbean […] that merges passion with profit. There are some well-produced books coming from publishers like Blue Banyan Books and the CODE Burt Award for Young Adult Literature. We need more programmes […] to drive the unearthing of new talent with the required funding and marketing efforts to support.
A volunteer packs books for the literacy care packages. Photo courtesy Latoya West-Blackwood, used with permission.
EL: But are Jamaicans readers?
LWB: I get asked this question a lot and sometimes it seems as if we've bought into a stereotype [that Jamaicans don't read]. We don't have a robust national reading culture, but have we examined why? Reading is a habit. Reading is magic, yes, but it's definitely not rocket science figuring out why there's a challenge with reading in our country.
How are children introduced to books? Do they have access regardless of class or abilities? How many of Jamaica's primary schools have a dedicated space where children are encouraged to read widely and have discussions? How many communities have well-resourced libraries with trained librarians and a regular roster of programmes and activities to engage citizens? How do we expect critical thinking to be nurtured? Through exams? The answers to these questions will become even more relevant now, when there is mass disruption to education, increased inequality, and an emphasis on higher-order thinking and skills in a technologically driven world.
EL: How has online learning impacted reading for children? Do devices enhance or detract from the joy?
LWB: Online learning has definitely provided a safe platform for continued learning as we all try to figure out reopening schools safely. There's also the development of new digital skills for teachers, students, parents and other stakeholders. I see a hybrid system being the way of the future.
For children who were reading before and continue to have access to books, the pages have been a safe place from the pandemic. For others, the situation has worsened; those are the students we are worried about. It will take a collective, sustained effort to reengage these minds, because there's no doubt about the place of readers in the age of a knowledge-driven global economy. We cannot leave any of our children behind.
Finally, there's no competition between printed books/content and technology. It's a regressive mindset to pit one against the other, even for business purposes. Technology continues to shape and transform how we experience the world. It is the same for publishing. We have to always focus on what inclusion looks like.
At the Trench Town Reading Centre in 2013, this trio reads from a book by local publisher Blue Banyan Books. Several literacy care packages were sent to the Trench Town community. Photo by Emma Lewis, used with permission.
EL: What is your vision for literacy in Jamaica? How can it be given a major boost in the next 10 years?
LWB: A key part of my vision for literacy in Jamaica is connected to increased strategic funding and improving children’s learning outcomes by providing early grade learners (this is where the change has to start) with quality and data-driven literacy programmes, in school and out of school. I was fortunate to work with Dr. Jean Beaumont and her EduConnect team on the Latin America and Caribbean Reads project, which has provided Jamaica and other countries across the region with a blueprint to model effective reading programmes and assessments (the Ministry of Education plays the leading role here). [We also need] to review and revamp teacher training (teachers who do not read cannot motivate students to do well at reading), and community action (mobilising parents and other stakeholders to support children outside of the classroom and make reading fun with culturally relevant materials). It is also my dream to see Kingston as a UNESCO World Book Capital.


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How I came to live on Nowhere Island · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Of many races, accepted by none. Photo collage by Daniella Barsotti, used with permission.
By Daniella Barsotti
When I look at my face, I see the plight of the indigenous Caribs who, along with the other First Peoples of the Caribbean, struggled against European conquest and ravage. I see Africans violently plucked from their home, brought to toil on stolen land in heat the white man couldn’t bear. I see my maternal grandfather sailing as a teen from China to the Caribbean to escape communism, with no money and no knowledge of English. I see my paternal, Italian great-grandfather, who crafted many of the churches and courthouses still standing in the region today. When I look at my face, I see hardworking people coming together to create a new life and home for themselves, sacrificing everything for the generations that followed.
I see my history: the love, joy, pain, sadness, loss, and sacrifice it took to create this lineage. It set the tone for my adult life as a mixed-race Caribbean woman living in North America, where I am reminded—almost daily—why we can’t live as one world, one people. The racism I have faced from white people has been hurtful, but when you are mixed like me, the pain is deeper and more disappointing coming from other minorities because you don’t expect it. It is this discrimination that casts mixed folks like me onto Nowhere Island, where you're part of every race yet accepted by none.
On my first day of university in upstate New York, someone asked, “What are you, anyway?” I responded, “I’m human…you?” The retort didn’t embarrass as intended, only encouraged more insensitive questions. “No, I mean, like…are you white or Black or Latina?” “Yes, and more,” was my terse reply. I saw no reason to choose to be something I am not, so it was concluded by both Black and white students that I was an “Oreo.”
Is it my responsibility to explain why I look the way I do? Growing up in the Caribbean, I learned about the world in geography, history and social studies classes, yet many North Americans are ethnocentric. While I am fine with inquisitiveness, I am better with polite curiosity about where I am from and what it was like to live there. Why should I have to teach geography or anthropology to random strangers? I was raised to embrace the culture, cuisine and traditions passed down by my multiethnic ancestors, but in North America, you must be one race or another, so that it is easier for people to know which box to put you in.
The box I check is “Other.” They might as well call it “Nowhere” or “Nothing,” because that’s how it makes you feel—but it isn’t my job to make anything easier for anyone. I am the immigrant, trying to embrace a new culture and adapt to a new way of life, and for anyone thinking that I should have gone back to where I came from, I would have if I could.
I feel the sting when the racism hurled at me comes from other minorities. I replay the insults like movie scenes in my head: the two Latino guys in a Miami club who decided it was okay to call me coño when they realised by my schoolgirl Spanish that I wasn’t one of them; my Black American classmates ending our friendship when I didn’t want to pledge a Black sorority, even when I told them I wasn’t interested in pledging any sorority; the Asian woman at my teller’s counter growing furious, when, at her request, I explained that my jade jewellery was my connection to my maternal grandfather. I remember her calling me “hak gwai”—tantamount to the N-word in Cantonese—under her breath, and her consequent embarrassment when I told her what she’d said gave me the right to not serve her. As far as she was concerned, I was too dark-skinned to don articles of my Chinese heritage.
I look at my face and shake my head at the North American East Indians I've met who seem uncomfortable that I know as much as I do about their festivals, culture and cuisine. They tell me that East Indian culture in the Caribbean isn't as rich or pure as “true” East Indian culture. When I look at my face, I chuckle at North American Italians’ disbelief that my surname is mine and not my husband’s, simply because I don’t look like them. I look at my face and know that some of the teasing and bullying my children have endured was on account of their calling me Mom, my mixed-race skin tainting their presumed whiteness.
Even in a time when we stand up and fight for our right to matter, I have women of colour judgementally commenting, “She upgrade!” when I pass by with my husband and children. Is that how little some women of colour regard men of colour? Regard themselves? You can’t help who you love; as far as I’m concerned, attractive men come in every colour. I married a man who loves me and our sons and treats us with dignity and respect. He is ever-present and supportive, embracing my culture and everything that makes me, me.
I recently heard about a group for Caribbean parents of children with autism. They were on a membership drive to attract people who spoke the dialect and applied the tools of our Caribbean culture to enhance the upbringing of our children. My first son has autism, so I reached out on social media and within 24 hours, was both accepted and rejected by the group. As it turns out, one member trolled me on Facebook, saw the profile photo of my family, and decided we weren't Black enough. I regard myself as having a nationality rather than an ethnicity, so when I saw them on television, the first thing that struck me wasn't that they were Black, but rather, fellow West Indians who had that Caribbean twang, just like me, from a region that is a melting pot of ethnicities.
I was stunned. For 10 years, I ran a charity for people with autism, which continues to offer financial help and other support to the many families affected by the condition. No one is turned away. With 21 years of raising my son under my belt, I could have been an asset to the group, and would have also benefitted from their experiences, but apparently, my outer packaging was more important than what I could have brought to the table. One of the group's organisers even suggested I should try and join a South East Asian group, or start my own. I look at my face and realise that so many who stand up against racial profiling have no problem profiling a mixed person like me.
Fortunately, in our family, the colour we see is love.

author: Guest Contributor


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Will the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon ever roar again on the football field?  · Global Voices
Beng Emmanuel Kum

Japan's forwards swarm Cameroon's goalkeeper at BC Place Stadium during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Image by Mike, June 12, 2015 (CC BY-SA 2.0)
In 2015, when Cameroon’s female national football team the Indomitable Lionesses rose to fame during their maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, the team looked set to conquer the continent and exert its dominance on the global stage. Despite its exit in the round of 16, the team scored a major win over Switzerland, becoming only the second African team to beat a European team in the tournament.
But six years later, the Indomitable Lionesses — the 2016 runner-up of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) — have yet to win an AWCON trophy, despite being labeled a powerhouse on the continent and having played in the World Cup twice in 2015 and 2019. Any hope of repeating their strong performance during the 2019 World Cup in France was short-lived when they lost to England and ended the tournament in 15th place, four spots lower than their 2015 performance.
Scenes of Cameroon's women's national team collapsing on the turf with anguish and regret have become commonplace. The team was once an enviable sight to watch with a very decisive and high standard display.
Helena Emako, a young journalist, has been a fervent supporter of the Indomitable Lionesses since 2015 when she first heard about the women’s national team. Since then, she has been following them with keen interest.
“I used to stay up late to watch the Lionesses play during the World Cup in Canada. I remember my friends and even my parents asking me about the scores of the game each day. It was fun. I have missed such moments,” Emako said as the beaming smile on her face faded out.
Such assurance that once inspired fans to crowd stadiums to watch them play has gradually faded.
Recently, the team failed to qualify for their second Olympic Games in Tokyo Japan, after losing to Chile on a 1-2 goal aggregate during a two-legged inter-continental playoff. They lost to Zambia during the Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifiers.
The defeat only adds to a long chain of despair they have had to deal with in other competitions, like the AWCON and the World Cup.
So, what went wrong?
With the qualifiers for next year’s Africa Women Cup of Nations coming up from October 18 to 26, Cameroon looks forward to ending its fruitless run in the competition.
Cameroon will surely need real confidence and verve to change the narrative. Their current predicament is not a scenario fans and sports buffs would have imagined some years ago.
Bernadette Anong, former captain and deputy head coach of the Indomitable Lionesses, is convinced there is a happy ending in sight but insists the team needs an upgrade on several fronts.
Speaking to Global Voices in an exclusive interview via a telephone chat, Anong said the team’s approach to training needs to be revised. “If you have quality preparation, there are chances to win a trophy. The more you prepare well, the more you increase your chances to make it to the top,” Anong said.
The team has craved medals as confirmation they are continental giants for far too long, and Anong pointed to various factors leading to the lack of medals. “Without finances, we can’t set some lofty projects for the team to be able to increase the knowledge of the game physically, tactically mentally, and psychologically,” she said.
Nonetheless, Anong asserts that winning a medal is important as a coach because “such glory brings joy and happiness.”
“It is pleasing to know that the work you have done with your team has paid off,” Anong said. “Somehow, we feel that pressure. We want to make it. We want to write the story. We want our country to make it. It is very important.”
However, according to Anong, there is more to hope for because “before we did not have a worthy championship, but today we have one,” referring to the Cameroon women's first division championship that has witnessed a steady growth. “I think it will help us to rectify some of our mistakes to restore our dominance,” she said.
Still, another challenge remains. A majority of the players who last came close to winning the AWCON have not played for the national team since, including top scorer Madeleine Ngono Mani-Cameroon, defender Christine Mani and Annette Ngo Ndom.
Cameroon's women's team is ranked 52nd, according to the latest report on FIFA Coca-Cola World ranking. The team is also blessed with world-class talents like Nchout Njoya Ajara of Atlético Madrid in Spain, and Gabriel Aboudi Onguene of CSKA Moscow. There is also a cast of newly found Cameroonian talents on the books of several European clubs.
Cameroon has featured at the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) a record 12 times. The team has never won, but it has made it to four finals in 1991, 2004, 2014, and 2016. They are only one appearance away to match South Africa’s record of five appearances in the final.
Like the Lionesses, several other African nations have yet to taste continental glory. South Africa and Ghana have come close but were unable to conquer. Only Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea have claimed trophies at the AWCON.
Journalists like Emako and many other Cameroonians are concerned about the string of losses that have tragically befallen their team. Cameroonians are rarely accustomed to celebrating victories of any type, except it comes in the form of football medals.
In 2016, Cameroon hosted the AWCON and came close to winning but was denied the trophy by arch-rival Nigeria in the final. The same heartbreak happened in 1991, 2004, and 2014.
Bernadette Anong has experienced defeat in two equally painful ways. She was denied the trophy both as a player and as a coach.
“The team has witnessed tremendous growth over the years. When I was a player there were no categories. Today, we have several of them; the Under-17, Under-20 and the senior squad. They also receive a lot of preparation before a major tournament. During our time, it was not easy to have,” Anong remarked.
Anong is hopeful that things can change for the better in the foreseeable future. She is upbeat that Cameroon can challenge Nigeria’s football hegemony. This will help Cameroon enter the records of winners and make up for their losses on previous campaigns.
She believes the future is promising, especially with the evolution of women’s football in Cameroon, which presents more opportunities to play and grow. Referring to the need for more international friendlies, Anong insists that “the Lionesses need more competition. They need to be competitive. We often wait for official matches or competitions to start preparing. We need to make use of such opportunities, to boost the girl’s performances.”
If Cameroon wants to truly shine on the continental and global scene, there is certainly the need to fill the vacuum some players will leave behind – or have already left. Although most of the rising talents play for League One Clubs in the country, their role in guiding the squad to prosperity remains indispensable, she said.
Anong further emphasized that: “Home-based players are the base. They are the foundation. If we don’t have the foundation, we can’t exert our dominance because our abroad-based players today, were once our home-based players. Their role is indispensable; they are the future of the team. Some of them have had spells with the national team and have made valid contributions with their different style of play and with their techniques.”
Cameroon’s first stop to obtain glory begins next month when the team faces the Central African Republic in the first round of the 2022 Women's AFCON qualifiers. This game will determine which team qualifies for the second round qualifiers and then the finals of the AWCON 2022 in Morocco.

author: Beng Emmanuel Kum


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Curtain falls on Kenya’s Benjamin Ayimba, first African coach outside of South Africa to win a Sevens World Series Cup · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

“Kenya v Cook Islands – Rugby Sevens – Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games” by Sum_of_Marc is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
On May 21, Benjamin Ayimba, a former player and a manager of the Kenya Rugby 7s team, died, at age 44 years, after battling cerebral malaria.
Since late 2020, he had been in and out of hospital before being admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya's biggest referral hospital. During the admission, the hospital bill spiralled out of control, forcing the family to seek financial assistance. This led to a rallying call from Kenyans of all walks of life, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, who donated KES 1 million (approximately $9,300) to Ayimba's family to cover expenses.
Ayimba made history by representing Kenya's male team at three Rugby World Cups. He was the first Kenyan and African outside of South Africa to win a World Rugby Sevens Series Cup title in 2016 at the Singapore Sevens.
Some of his notable career highlights include finishing third in the 2009 World Rugby Cup, after losing to Argentina in the semis based on points from previous games. In recognition of his efforts in building the game in Kenya, he was awarded the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) by the then Kenyan Head of State Mwai Kibaki in 2010.
The game of rugby has grown exponentially in the last 10 years with its shorter version, the 7s, being a major crowd puller through the World Rugby Series (formerly the International Rugby Board (IRB) circuit). The 7s rugby format made its debut at the Summer Olympics in 2016 held in Rio de Janeiro. Among the countries represented were Kenya's Rugby 7s team, with Ayimba as team manager.
Having played in the early 2000s till 2006, he built a formidable team that became a challenger to the traditional rugby-playing nations of Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa.
Rugby in Kenya has a huge following thanks to the exploits of the rugby 7s team better known as Shujaa (“hero”, in English). Their success in the mid-2000s and leading to the early 2010s has seen the country become one of the top teams coming from Africa in the 7s World Rugby Series.
Kenya’s men’s team Shujaa will be one of the three African teams playing in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, together with their lady counterparts Kenya Lionesses. Part of the success of the teams enjoy is due to the foundations built by the late Ayimba. Rugby is the only team sport where Kenya has consistently excelled in the world, until now.
His playing career started in the mid-1990s when he became captain of the Kenyan team Impala between 1999 and 2001. Then he moved to Nondescripts for three seasons and, in 2003, joined the English side Cornish Pirates, where he played for three seasons until 2005. His exploits in the shorter version, the 7s, is where he stood out.

He represented Kenya's 7s in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Commonwealth Games and also formed the core of the team in the 2001 and 2005 World Rugby Cup 7s as team captain. It is his wealth of experience that informed his selection as player coach in 2006. At only 30 years old, his appointment made him the youngest coach at the International Rugby Board (IRB) circuit then.
Benjamin Ayimba's Roll of Honour. Image courtesy of Kenya Rugby Union.
After leaving the national rugby 7s team management briefly in 2012, he back in 2015. His return marked the qualification and participation of the Kenya 7s national team in the Olympics held in Rio in 2016. In the same year, he managed the team through the group stages of the Singapore leg of the HSBC World Rugby Series, building up to the entertaining final, upsetting the formbook to beat more-fancied Fiji 30-7. At the end of the season, Ayimba left his management stint. At his time of departure, the rugby 7s game had grown, although now with mixed fortunes at the international stage.
Many commentators and fans are asking why that’s happening when the level of talent on the field remains as high as ever. In 2017, at the TEDxNairobi, Ayimba pitched for the rugby sport in Kenya and looked to encourage stakeholders from across the spectrum to change the game and bring the glory back to the rugby sevens team.
Upon the announcement of his death late on Friday 21st May, there has been an outpouring of heartfelt messages from the global Rugby and sports fraternity as well as Kenyans on social media platforms
The Official Twitter account for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series said:
“This is why we just love Sevens!”
The day that Benjamin Ayimba led @KenyaSevens to their first ever Cup win pic.twitter.com/x8mwAQ3jSR
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) May 23, 2021
RugbyAfrique, one of Africa’s premier rugby’s sports site:
Rugby Africa is deeply saddened to announce the loss of Benjamin Ayimba. Rugby Africa wishes to extend our condolences to Benjamin's family, friends, colleagues and @OfficialKRU rugby fraternity.
Read more ▶ https://t.co/ttACfMBHBW #Condolences #WhyWePlay #AfricaAsOne pic.twitter.com/xGBixQiaVs
— Rugby Afrique (@RugbyAfrique) May 22, 2021
Ben Ryan, an Olympic and World Gold Medal winning coach, eulogized Ayimba as a friend and rival:
RIP Benjamin Ayimba. Very sad to hear of Benja’s passing. One of Kenya’s most decorated coaches – their amazing 2015 Singapore Cup win will always be remembered by 7s fans around the world. He was a friend and a rival and I’m going to miss him and his smile. Rest Easy Benja.
— Ben Ryan (@benjaminryan) May 23, 2021
Carol Radull, a Kenyan sports commentator, tweeted:
This is hard. Rest in power Benja. ? Benjamin Ayimba has died at the Kenya Hospital after a battle with celebral Malaria ? pic.twitter.com/Lr8xp8S4li
— Carol Radull (@CarolRadull) <ahref=”https://twitter.com/CarolRadull/status/1395857912338264074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 21, 2021
Homeboyz Rugby team, where Ayimba was once a member of our technical staff, said:
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Benjamin Ayimba. Ayimba had been a member of our technical staff helping us win several 7s titles and the Enterprise Cup before moving to Harlequin. May God comfort and bring peace to all those in grief. #RipBenja pic.twitter.com/MRjg9gp4O4
— Homeboyz Rugby (@HomeboyzRugby) May 22, 2021
“Kenya Sevens Rugby Team” by gorriti is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
African Sports Network noted:
Kenya's rugby legend Benjamin Ayimba is dead.
As a player, Ayimba captained local side Impala to two Kenya Cup league and Enterprise Cup doubles in 2000 & 2001.
As a coach, he guided the Kenya sevens team to their first and only World Series win in the 2016 Singapore final. pic.twitter.com/EEdii6VaLj
— AfricanSportsNetwork (@asn_kenya) May 22, 2021
The world of rugby and indeed sports has lost one of its more authentic and outstanding personalities who embodied the will of the mind and put into practice his skills on the ground. His place in Kenya’s and indeed the world is firmly etched in the annals of sport.  Rest in Power, Benjamin!

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Global Voices seeks a director for our Advox Project, to lead our work on technology and rights · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

Global Voices is seeking a director to lead our Advox project, to guide our editorial reporting, research, activism and advocacy on freedom of expression and digital rights and technology.
We are seeking candidates with deep knowledge of global digital rights issues, experience conceptualizing and building media, research and advocacy projects, working with data, writing about and advocating for digital and online human rights, and working with a globally distributed team.
We are especially interested in candidates with experience working on or researching the relationship between technology and authoritarian governance and rights-restricting regimes.
Global Voices is a global, virtual media organization with staff, contractors and volunteer contributors on every continent. Our contributors undertake writing, research, advocacy and translation to highlight stories and perspectives from around the world that are underrepresented in international mainstream media.
We recognize that universal human rights to free expression, access to information, and privacy are being challenged by governments, companies, and other powerful actors worldwide. We believe that the Global Voices community is uniquely positioned to document and explain these threats. Our Advox project aims to leverage our great strength – our networks, our knowledge, and the voices we amplify – to demonstrate the many ways that technology can either enable or violate human rights, with a particular focus on free expression.
The Advox director will guide these efforts, both as a leader and as a mentor to our many community members who are working to highlight threats to digital rights and free expression in their own communities. The director will serve as a bridge between the Global Voices community and other key communities and networks of digital rights activists and experts around the world. The ideal candidate will demonstrate an ability to support, connect and amplify the many voices speaking out on these issues.
The Advox director will work with our distributed community of volunteers and our newsroom team to oversee strategic editorial outputs under the Advox mantle. The Advox director will also be part of Global Voices’ core leadership team, and will participate in organization-wide management, strategy, and leadership.
The ideal candidate will have fluency in English and at least one other language, and at least three years of experience in the following areas:
And have proven skills in the following areas:
There is no geographic requirement associated with this position; Global Voices has no office or physical headquarters. Candidates must have consistent, reliable access to broadband internet connectivity, be comfortable working in a wholly virtual environment, and be prepared to make around five international work trips per year. The Advocacy Director will report to the Global Voices Executive Director and Managing Director.
We strongly welcome candidates from outside North America and Western Europe and encourage people currently contributing to Global Voices to apply.
The position is near full-time or full-time and will be treated as a freelance contract.
Email the following items to jobs AT globalvoices DOT org, with the subject line Global Voices Advox Director: [your name]:
Applications will be accepted until 11:59pm EST (GMT -4) on June 30, 2021.

author: Ivan Sigal


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Greeks wage a court battle against Chinese-funded port that may poison the environment · Global Voices
Andreas Bloom

Vessel traffic in the Greek port of Piraeus as viewed on MarineTraffic, May 13, 2021.
Chinese investment in Greece’s Piraeus port as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has boosted trade between the two countries, but tensions over the alleged breaking of environmental rules have highlighted a conflict between the potential benefits and harms of that investment.
In 2016, China’s state-owned shipping company, COSCO, bought a majority stake in the public company managing Piraeus (PPA), a port located just southwest of Athens. Under COSCO-PPA, the Piraeus port became the largest in the Mediterranean. China has nicknamed it the “Dragon’s Head,” as a key entry point for Chinese goods into Europe. According to Greece’s statistical agency, the worth of imports from China went from 2.89 billion euros (US$ 3.2 billion) in 2016 to 3.74 billion euros (US$ 4.27 billion) in 2020.
This expansion has, however, been met with opposition from locals over toxic pollution in the area’s fisheries, and landed in a legal battle in May 2020. At the same time, those locals and affiliated environmental experts are having to make their challenges in the context of flimsy local regulations and suspicion that Greek authorities are siding with COSCO-PPA for the sake of growth and expediency.
While in recent years Greek opinion polls have repeatedly reflected generally positive attitudes toward China and the Chinese, the tension over the Piraeus port threatens that goodwill. And this conflict is playing out both in the courts and in public opinion.
To acquire an additional 16 percent stake in the PPA, COSCO needs to deliver on new infrastructure. Of all the projects in the PPA's master plan, the most important and costly one is a new cruise shipping port in Piraeus’ Peiraiki district.
The cruise port plan involves removing 620,600 cubic meters of sediment from the port city’s seafloor and disposing of it at sea, between the nearby islands of Aegina and Salamina. This sediment is filled with decades of sewage discharge, maritime waste, and pollutants from the area’s intensive industrial plants. When scooped out, dumped elsewhere, and re-activated, it can be catastrophic.
In late April 2020, marine conservation institute Archipelagos warned that the activity would have a serious impact on the area's fisheries. The Workers’ Association of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research warned that the impact would create a “subaquatic toxic landfill,” at the expense of the area’s fragile ecosystems.
The Greek Ombudsman, a national-level, constitutionally sanctioned watchdog, has identified key licenses that were never approved prior to the development of the new port in Peiraiki. The license to do any development activity at all expired in 2018, and never included permission to develop a new port. It is also missing a Strategic Impact Assessment (SEA), which would be required by the European Union for development of this scale.
Despite the failure to receive necessary permissions, COSCO-PPA launched development of the port during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
In the last week of April 2020, as floating cranes scooped mud out of the water and transferred it onto barges, Peiraki residents attempted to identify the ships on marinetraffic.com, a publicly accessible vessel traffic service. They saw nothing — the ships had their automatic identification system switched off, in violation of Greek law.
Anthi Giannoulou, a lawyer representing Piraeus Labour Centre in a court case against the port, told Global Voices that she sent the Coast Guard evidence from marinetraffic.com. “Nothing happened, as far as I know. Instead, the head of the Piraeus Port Office was promoted,” she said in an interview conducted in February, 2021.
In May 2020, Piraeus Labour Center filed and a group of 115 local citizens each filed an application to Greece’s supreme administrative court requesting the cancellation of the decisions that approved the port’s development. Giannoulou also filed a supplementary out-of-court legal notice to the authorities, detailing her arguments and putting it into the public record.
Public opposition to the project is captured by Kritonas Arsenis, a long-time environmental activist and MP with opposition party Diem25. In a speech to parliament in May 2020, he pressed the government for clarification on dredging works:
[το έργο] γίνεται χωρίς τη στοιχειώδη τήρηση της ευρωπαϊκής περιβαλλοντικής νοµοθεσίας, ή της ελληνικής νοµοθεσίας
[the project] is being carried out without even remotely adhering to European environmental legislation or Greek legislation.
While Greece’s supreme administrative court deliberates, dredging can take place in Peiraiki, but there can be no dumping of dredged sediment in the Saronic Gulf
The regional council, meanwhile, voted in favor of stricter terms on potential dredging activities.
In December 2020, the Ministry of Environment approved an impact assessment filed by COSCO-PPA, but the company is still missing the more comprehensive and legally mandated Strategic Impact Assessment (SEA).
Despite the fact that the Piraeus Port development may poison a significant part of Greece’s seafood harvest, there has been little attention paid to the debate in Greek media. COSCO-PPA has maintained a low profile in Greece, seemingly preferring to let their allies in the Greek government and industry represent their position.
In response to a question from Global Voices on the licenses and environmental studies required, COSCO-PPA responded the following:
Ο ΟΛΠ Α.Ε. τηρεί το σύνολο της περιβαλλοντικής νομοθεσίας και δημοσιοποιεί τα περιβαλλοντικά στοιχεία που προβλέπονται από τη νομοθεσία, τόσο στις εκθέσεις Εταιρικής Υπευθυνότητας όσο και στην Ετήσια Οικονομική Έκθεση της Εταιρείας.
PPA S.A. adheres to all environmental legislation and publishes environmental data, as mandated by the law, both in its Corporate Social Responsibility reports and in its Annual Financial Report.
COSCO’s venture in Piraeus may top the agenda of bilateral meetings between Greece and China, but they will likely continue to find opposition: Groups like City-friendly port! and ΠΕΙΡΑΪΚΗ ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ (Piraeus solidarity) have been critical platforms for publicizing audiovisual evidence of questionable COSCO-PPA activity. What the members of such groups believe about the BRI more generally is not always clear. It seems safe to say that the area’s fragile ecosystems and their coastal communities are more important to them than plans for boundless growth.

author: Andreas Bloom


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Trinidad and Tobago loses two cultural icons on the same day · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshots of steelpan arranger Lennox “Bobby” Mohammed (left), taken from this YouTube video, and dance trailblazer Torrance Mohammed (right), taken from this YouTube video series about cultural icons.
Trinidad and Tobago has lost two leading cultural figures, both from south Trinidad and both on the same day—78-year-old steelpan arranger Lennox “Bobby” Mohammed, who succumbed to complications from kidney failure, and 90-year-old dance pioneer Torrance Mohammed, who died on May 25, one day after falling victim to a violent street robbery.
While both deaths have thrust the country's cultural community into deep grief, news of the latter also provoked public outrage over the country's crime situation. In the context of current restrictions—including a state of emergency—because of an upsurge of COVID-19 cases, the San Fernando mayor said that “in light of the unemployment situation […] people are going to get desperate.” There has also been online discussion about how the country treats and values both its creatives and its elders.
Mohammed had been delivering some home-grown fruit to a friend's house when a man attacked him. His injuries were reportedly so serious that had he lived, there was speculation as to whether he would have been able to walk.
On Facebook, Abeo Jackson noted that Torrance Mohammed was the third cultural figure to be murdered within the last 4 years:
I wonder if we can expect any kind of justice this time around.
This place will break your heart over and over and over again. Our creative community is reminded over and over again how little our contributions and literally our lives are valued. […] We have lost so many, the hurt and grief has been steady and continuous in so many myriads of ways, a community that cannot seem to catch its breath. But something about murder. About the inexplicable violence and then silence of justice or retribution in return. […]
Decades of immeasurable work and pioneering and still, up to this day, mentorship to generations of performers in San Fernando and all of Trinidad and Tobago. But you just couldn't live without taking his gold chain and his life. […]
The National Ballroom Dance Association of Trinidad and Tobago issued a statement on Mohammed's “horrible” passing:
It is indeed a tragedy which speaks to the ignorance of too many of our youth who lack knowledge of our nation's history and who have no pride in or respect for the achievements of our nationals. Mr Torrence Mohammed's warm smile, affable disposition and his indefatigable commitment to the many aspects of Trinidad and Tobago's culture, will remain indelibly etched in our memories.
Facebook user Yoni Yoni, who knew Mohammed personally, posted a video of Mohammed dancing with her, lamenting:
Who hasn't heard of Mr. Mohammed? Even though you may not know him he is of a respectable age and you would have the audacity to beat him up and rob him!!!? […] Mr. Torrance Mohammed […] proudly called himself “A Student Of Life”. […] He loved sharing his wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
The person who did this must answer to God. So sorry you couldn't still be here with us, you have done astonishing work over the years and forever your name will be remembered. I know I am not the only one Mr. Mohammed would have empowered when he was with us.
There were many more tributes posted and photos shared on social media. Sharon Burford described him as “a walking encyclopedia of knowledge and our history,” while cultural activist Rubadiri Victor remembered Torrance Mohammed as the “co-architect of San Fernando's cultural Maroonage and Independence,” calling his loss and that of Bobby Mohammed “seismic”.
Having trained under the iconic Beryl McBurnie, Torrance Mohammed was best known for founding the Arawaks Dance Group, reputed for being a “cultural institution” to southerners, and for being a “leading light” in the establishment and development of the San Fernando Arts Council. He also served Trinidad and Tobago and mentored youth in the political sphere, including as deputy mayor of the San Fernando City Corporation.
Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh, who served with Mohammed in local government, observed:
The brutal manner of his death is indicative of so many deeper issues that we have got to get a handle on. There is just so much to express on this. For now I bid farewell to a patriot who served his city with distinction over a lifetime.
Meanwhile, the country's music fraternity paid tribute to Bobby Mohammed, who was both the youngest and the first arranger of Indian descent to win the prestigious steelband Panorama, which pits the country's best steel orchestras against one another at the highest level of competition.
Mohammed took home the most coveted title in steelpan music for the first time in 1965 at the tender age of 22, with his arrangement of Lord Melody‘s song “Melody Mas” for the popular south-based steelband, Cavaliers.
His win also marked the first time that a south-based steel orchestra won the competition. He and the Cavaliers would win the title again, in 1967, playing Lord Kitchener's “Sixty-Seven.” On two other occasions, the band placed second under Mohammed's leadership.
The Facebook group When Steel Talks remembered Mohammed as “the consummate gentleman” of steelpan's golden era: “Thoughtful, humble, courteous, spiritual, disarming, likeable and extremely thankful for all that he has accomplished, and has been through in his association with the steelpan instrument.”
Mayor of San Fernando Junia Regrello remembered Mohammed as “a trailblazer and game changer”:
He struck fear in the hearts of his Northern counterparts with his rumbling basses, sustained, punctuating crescendos, dramatic dynamics and abrupt stops, where the band would be reintroduced by his sounding of the bell. His style was difficult for competing bands to contend with.
He did not limit his skills to Panorama […] he took his band to the Steelband Festival the following year at Queens Hall placing 3rd, impressing the foreign adjudicator Professor John Russell, who was amazed that Bobby could not read music.
PanTrinbago noted that Mohammed's “innovative style […] left a permanent footprint on Panorama music today”:
He was instrumental in developing what is defined as the sound of the ‘south bands’. He fashioned a Panorama ‘Bass movement’ that uses pauses and sudden drops. His use of dynamics and drama in the Panorama setting was original and remains a common approach today.
Mohammed was also an accomplished pianist—in addition to his eight albums of steelpan music, he recorded three piano-centric CDs. For his musical contribution to Trinidad and Tobago, he was honoured with national award, the Hummingbird Medal (Gold) in 1992.
While the San Fernando City Corporation had named a street along the popular and centrally located Harris Promenade after Bobby Mohammed three years ago, plans for a similar tribute for Torrance Mohammed were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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7 ways Beijing reduced democratic representation in Hong Kong’s elections · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

Chief Executive Carrie Lam (centre) and other government officials meet the press on April 13, 2021. Photo: GovHK.
The following post was written by Kelly Ho and originally published on Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) on May 28, 2021. An edited version is published here on under a content-sharing agreement.
On May 27, Hong Kong lawmakers overwhelmingly approved sweeping changes to the city’s elections – in a bid in a legislature with no effective opposition – that will ensure the power to govern the semi-autonomous region lies only in the hands of “patriots.”
The Beijing-led electoral shakeup has been hailed by government officials and pro-establishment figures as a way to shut out “anti-China” forces from the political structure. But democrats and some local election experts have criticised the revamp as a “major regression” in democracy.
Following the passage of the bill, HKFP examines seven ways that the central authorities steered “improvements” to Hong Kong’s electoral system.
The new Election Committee – expanded from 1,200 members to 1,500 – will gain sweeping powers to nominate candidates to stand in Legislative Council (LegCo) elections and the right to appoint 40 to the legislature.
This is on top of its existing role of electing the city’s leader – the chief executive – in what critics describe as a “small circle” vote.
The high-powered committee will consist of representatives from the industrial, commercial and financial sectors, as well as people from 10 professions, including legal, accountancy, medical and health services and education.
It will also be packed with Beijing allies, including those from grassroots organisations and associations of Chinese fellow townsmen. Former chief secretary Henry Tang, who chairs the Federation of HK Jiangsu Community Organisations, said last month that groups like his were “very united” in doing work for the HKSAR and the country.
Tang cited the associations’ support for the police during the 2019 anti-extradition bill protests, and street booths they held to back the enactment of the national security law and the electoral overhaul.
Other new additions to the Election Committee that have strong mainland ties included representatives of associations of Hong Kong residents across the mainland border.
Under the approved election changes, the committee will establish a system of convenors and a committee member who is a “state leader” will become the chief convenor. It has been speculated that former chief executive Leung Chun-ying – a vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body – may take up this role.
The 1,500 committee seats will either be ex-officio or will be returned by election and nomination.
Candidates wishing to vie for a seat on the Election Committee, the LegCo, or contend to become the chief executive are now subject to a multilayer vetting mechanism led by government officials.
The candidate eligibility review committee will replace returning officers in assessing and validating whether an election hopeful complies with the requirements of bearing allegiance to the HKSAR and vowing to uphold the Basic Law. They must also conform to the Beijing-enacted national security law.
Last July, a dozen pro-democracy figures including activist Joshua Wong were barred from running in the now-postponed 2020 LegCo election, after electoral officers said they did not have a “genuine and truthful intention” to pledge allegiance to the city.
The decision triggered the disqualification of four lawmakers in November and prompted 15 pan-democrats to resign from the legislature en masse in protest.
Members of the vetting committee will be appointed by the chief executive, but the detailed composition of the body is not known yet. The government said it will be chaired by a principal official and at least two senior officials will become members. The city’s leader will also appoint no more than three “non-official members” to the committee.
The Hong Kong government will be required to report the composition of the vetting committee to the Central government for record.
Before the candidate eligibility review committee gives the green light to would-be election candidates, they will first be scrutinised by officers from the police national security department. This means contenders – particularly democrats – will face higher risks, as they effectively launch themselves into a national security investigation.
The controversial legislation enacted last June criminalises secession, subversion, collusion with foreign powers and terrorist acts. The four offences carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Police findings will be passed onto the Committee for Safeguarding National Security, currently chaired by Chief Executive Carrie Lam. With the China Liaison Office director Luo Huining as the adviser, the committee on national security will call the shots on whether a candidate can fulfill the legal requirements for standing in any of the three elections.
For those deemed as non-compliant, the national security committee will “issue an opinion” to the vetting board, the government. The committee's decision cannot be challenged by judicial proceedings.
The revamped legislature will expand from 70 seats to 90, but the ratio of directly elected members will sink to a record low.
Only 20 spots will be returned by eligible voters in the redefined geographical constituencies, compared to 35 out of 70 previously. The Election Committee will choose 40 legislators, while the remaining 30 seats will be taken by candidates from the functional constituencies. They represent sectors that are “substantial and important to the development of the community,” such as financial services, labour, real estate and social welfare.
Hong Kong will see its five geographical constituencies for LegCo elections redrawn into ten areas. Hong Kong Island will be split into East and West, with the Outlying Islands being regrouped into the latter.
Kowloon will have three constituencies, while the New Territories will have five, with Yuen Long and Sha Tin being divided into two halves, respectively. Voters in each area will elect two legislators in a first-past-the-post system.
Local election expert Ma Ngok from the Chinese University of Hong Kong told HKFP that the new delineation was “strange and arbitrary.”
“The key is what democrats will still run, and who will be allowed to run. The constituency boundaries actually don’t matter that much,” the political analyst said.
The changes also mean the city will ditch the proportional representation electoral system and adopt a binomial system with two legislative seats per district. This method may help screen out extremist or radical candidates, Ma said, but it is seldom used in Western democracies.
Members of the embattled district councils – predominately controlled by the pro-democracy camp after a landslide victory in the 2019 election – will be ejected from the influential Election Committee in a bid to “depoliticise” the government advisory body.
In the past, more than 400 district councillors from 18 areas would vote among themselves to send 117 representatives to the committee responsible for choosing the city’s leader. But such power was stripped after the electoral overhaul, as top officials and pro-establishment figures slammed councils as being “extremely politicised” and accused them of “stirring conflicts” in society.
In a separate move to keep district councillors in line, the government imposed a new oath-taking requirement in mid-May to demand loyalty from these district representatives. Those who refuse to swear allegiance or breach the pledge will be barred from elections for five years.
Dozens of district councillors have quit over the past two months, some explicitly said they refused to take the oath, while others cited health and personal reasons. Some also stepped down after being detained for over two months pending a national security trial.
The electoral revamp introduced measures to ban behaviour that may “manipulate or sabotage elections.” It is now a criminal offence to incite voters to cast blank or invalid ballots or encourage them not to vote in an election.
The approved amendments also labelled attempts to “wilfully obstruct and prevent” other people from voting as a corrupt conduct.
The new offences were introduced “in view of the community’s grave concern about irresponsible conduct on the internet inciting others to prejudice the conduct of the 2019 [election],” the government said.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Could the breakdown in public trust explain Hong Kong’s sluggish vaccine roll-out? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Image from Flickr user: Alachua County. Public domain.
Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world where the supply of COVID-19 vaccines is abundant. Anyone over the age of 16 on the island can choose to take either China-made CoronaVac or German-American Pfizer/BioNtech jabs for free.
Yet, a majority of the people are still hesitant to take the shot. Only about 20 percent of Hong Kong's 7.5 million population have taken the first vaccine dose since the government debuted its vaccination drive on February 26.
As more than a million Pfizer vaccine doses are about to expire, the city is now considering donating them to other countries in need.
The vaccination rate of the elderly, in particular, is far below expected — only 14.8 percent of the 60-69 age group has taken the first dose, and only 5.1 percent of the 70-79 age group.
According to local medical research, to achieve herd immunity, 56.1 percent to 66.9 percent of the population would have to be fully immunized. Currently, on average only about 25,000 vaccines doses are being administered per day. By that rate, it would take between 6 and 10 months to hit that herd immunity target.
Vaccine anxiety escalated in early March after media reports on three elderly Hong Kong residents’ died after taking the first dose of CoronaVac, the first vaccine used during the launch of Hong Kong's vaccine program. According to an assessment by the city's Expert Committee on Clinical Events, there is no evidence linking the deaths to the shots.
Public concern was also fueled by the fact that, at that time, China wasn't vaccinating its elderly, and that China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned people with pre-existing diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and thyroid disease, to have their health conditions under control before taking a COVID-19 vaccine. China included the elderly in its vaccine program at the end of March.
Coronavac has received emergency approval in 37 countries, according to a compilation maintained on Wikipedia. The WHO is now in the final stages of studying whether to authorize CoronaVac to be included in COVAX, the agency's mechanism that buys vaccines for poor countries. If it receives the stamp of approval, it will be the second Chinese vaccine to be included in the program, after Sinopharm's shot was so in early May.
In many Western countries that were hit hard by COVID-19, fear of the disease has, in large part, driven the vaccination roll-out. However, in Hong Kong, the total number of deaths caused by COVID 19 is at 210 since the pandemic began — even less than the deaths (299) caused by the SARS outbreak in 2003.
Recent research indicates that Hongkongers’ intention of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine decreased significantly after the city successfully controlled the second wave in July 2020 through social distancing measures. Researchers suggest that the city's “complacency” — not perceiving the disease as high-risk and vaccination as necessary — has become a key factor behind vaccine hesitancy.
The year-long social distancing measures, however, have harmed Hong Kong's economy, and the government is eager to restart it by achieving herd immunity through vaccination as soon as possible.
To boost the vaccination rate, authorities introduced a “vaccine bubble” policy, making employee vaccination a pre-condition for businesses such as restaurants to relax social distancing measures.
In addition, officials agreed on a “travel bubble” arrangement with Singapore, through which fully-vaccinated Hongkongers can travel to the latter without quarantining on return. However, Singaporeans are not required to be fully vaccinated in order to visit Hong Kong.
As Hong Kong is about to hit the 14-day zero local infections criteria for the quarantine-free “travel bubble” with mainland China, Chief Executive Carrie Lam stated on her Facebook page that vaccination would be made a precondition for Hongkongers to travel to mainland China.
The above soft coercion policies have some effects: As indicated previously, Hong Kong's vaccination rate among breadwinners (30 to 59-year-olds) is higher than other age groups. Yet, such policies do not necessarily strengthen people's sense of social responsibility, which has been shown to be key for achieving herd immunity.
The political distrust after the enactment of the national security law and the crackdown on the democratic movement has resulted in a breakdown of trust in institutions in Hong Kong. As pointed out by Francesca Chiu in Hong Kong Free Press, Hong Kong anti-vaxxers’ arguments include statements such as “the government is trying to force people to get the jab to please Beijing,” or simply “whatever the government asks me to do, I’ll just do the opposite.”
One suspects this isn't just about ‘vaccine hesitancy’ but also a deep (and quite understandable) lack of trust in the government. Turns out if you corrode the relationship between the governed and governors, it has broad consequences… https://t.co/vHiWBpLeOK
— Prof Fiona de Londras (@fdelond) May 25, 2021
Meanwhile, pro-establishment politicians are getting impatient and have started calling for more coercive measures in recent weeks. In early May, pro-Beijing lawmaker Julius Ho suggested that the government should set a deadline for people to take the vaccine, and after that citizens would have to pay HK$10,000 to receive them. His suggestion was recently echoed by former Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chunying, who also urged the Hong Kong government to impose “sanctions” on those who did not take the vaccine by making them “pay the price.”
Such rhetoric risks further dividing the society and politicizing the vaccine program. For many Hongkongers, the city has already faced many “sanctions” since 2019; the “vaccine sanction” would just join the list.
While trust and solidarity are known remedies in dealing with vaccine hesitancy, in Hong Kong the social and political divide keeps widening:
This is especially true when vaccine hesitancy in #HongKong is not primarily driven by the usual anti-scientific anti-vaxxer drivel that is found in the west, but are driven more by not entirely unjustifiable socio-political anxieties. https://t.co/CMxxiPhwOq
— Kevin Yam 任建峰 (@kevinkfyam) May 24, 2021

author: Oiwan Lam


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Trinidad and Tobago edges closer to amending its  Equal Opportunity Act to include sexual orientation · Global Voices
Jada Steuart

Colourful rainbow flag. Photo by Marco Verch Professional Photographer on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Caribbean nations have, one by one, been readjusting their law books to reflect greater equity for LGBTQ+ people by decriminalising colonial-era sodomy clauses. In 2016, it was Belize. Two years later, Trinidad and Tobago followed suit, but the ripple effect of dismantling connected pieces of legislation has been slower in coming. Three years after the court deemed the country's buggery laws unconstitutional, Trinidad and Tobago's Equal Opportunity Act (EOA) finally looks set to amend its regulations pertaining to sexual orientation.
The Act's self-proclaimed purpose is to “prohibit certain kinds of discrimination” and “promote equality of opportunity between persons of different status.” To this end, an Equal Opportunity Commission and an Equal Opportunity Tribunal were established to handle such issues but so far, neither body has been unable to deal with matters of discrimination based on sexual orientation. The current laws only cover discrimination based on sex, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, marital status, or disability in matters of employment, training, education, and the like.
Pressure to amend the current Act mounted after Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago announced on April 14 that it would extend its health benefits to the partners of employees in same-sex relationships, in the same way it already offered access to the common-law partners of heterosexual employees.
The announcement sparked a nationwide conversation and was praised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) and Ian Roach, chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission, who noted in an interview with the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday:
It is a good move on the part of the private sector and especially by the bank, who has a wide cross-section of employees. It is important that the others should follow suit, past what the law insists.
Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has said he is encouraged by Scotiabank's inclusive initiative and remains open to doing what is necessary to address the “spectrums of discrimination” that exist. Al-Rawi's stance is markedly different from his position after the 2018 High Court ruling; soon after the “unconstitutional” verdict was handed down, the state announced its intention to appeal.
While Trinidad and Tobago has undeniably made great strides when it comes to discrimination for members of the local LGBTQ+ community, homophobia—much of it rationalised on religious grounds—still exists. Public reactions to Scotiabank's announcement on social media networking platforms like Facebook were met with lots of criticism.
Meanwhile, LGBTQ+ people continue to face not just discrimination, but acts of violence, many of them ending fatally. Most recently, the murder of Marcus Anthony Singh, a member of the local LGBTQ+ community, sparked online conversations about the reality that many LGBTQ+ people face in terms of both security and discriminatory practices. Many of those conversations have been happening on Twitter Spaces, which provide an audio-only chat forum for safe discussion and education.
While Attorney General Al Rawi has not provided a timeline by which the amendments to the legislation will be tackled, for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, the hope remains that moves by private sector companies like Scotiabank will soon be followed by the government, eventually leading to societal change.

author: Jada Steuart