Category - Issue 169: April 2020

Thanks to efforts to protect this endangered species, tiger numbers are growing in India.

Animal conservationists are cheering now that tiger populations in India are on the rise. “It is incredible, wonderful,” said tiger expert Yadvendradev Jhala to The New York Times. He remembers how it was a completely different picture some years ago. At one point, certain wildlife reserves in India had seen their tiger populations reduced to zero. So, this comeback was a cause for some optimism and celebration. But, the battle to save these beautiful big cats from extinction is an ongoing one. The biggest threats are habitat destruction and poaching.

Habitat destruction

Tigers live in a range of environments: from hilly forests to mangrove swamps and grassy jungles. This is where they hunt, look for mates, and raise their cubs. But, humans have been taking over their natural habitats to build homes, farms, roads, and factories. As tiger territories shrink, the animals are finding it more difficult to find places to live. Some find themselves isolated, cut off from their regular mating grounds by big towns and highways. It has also become difficult to find suitable dens where they can keep their cubs protected. As a result, fewer tigers are born and survive to adulthood.

Another casualty has been the tigers’ food supply. As forests grow smaller, the number of small animals that tigers depend on for meat is also dwindling. Sometimes, this prompts tigers to emerge from the jungles to look for food within human settlements. And, that gets them into big trouble. Many are killed for attacking farm animals and people.

Poaching

There are laws protecting tigers and other threatened species. However, there are still crooks who disobey the laws to catch or kill these animals. These criminals are called poachers. Poachers kill tigers for their fur, bones, claws, and other body parts. Many countries have banned buying or selling these products. Yet, there are customers who still try to get them illegally. They are willing to pay a lot of money, too. This has tempted many poor villagers to take up poaching, even though they know they are breaking the law.

It is because of these multiple dangers that officials monitor tiger populations. They regularly count the number of tigers left in the wild with the help of camera traps. These are special cameras that automatically shoot a picture if they sense movement. This is a great way to capture animals on film without causing too much disturbance. For the most recent count, camera traps were placed at more than 26,000 locations in different wildlife sanctuaries in India. Researchers then pored over the millions of pictures taken to identify individual tigers. Every tiger’s stripe pattern is unique, just like our fingerprints. By studying the tigers’ stripes, the researchers made sure that they were not counting the same tiger over and over again if it walked past the camera traps several times.

Don’t side with the wrong team!

BAD GUYS	GOOD GUYS
Poachers: Crooks who catch or kill wildlife where they are not supposed to.	Rangers: People who patrol nature parks and protect wildlife from poachers.
Smugglers: People who break the law by secretly transporting things across borders.	Customs officers: Stationed at countries’ borders, they check things that go in and out of the country and try to stop smugglers.
Illegal traders: People who buy illegal wildlife products from the smugglers – such as ivory, fancy foods or traditional medicines made from protected species – and then sell them to people who crave these items.	Conservation workers: People who protect nature by working with the local people, investigating how the crooks work, and educating people that they should not buy illegal wildlife products.

The results

There are now believed to be almost 3,000 wild Bengal tigers in the country, compared to 2,226 in 2014. It also means that India now has 70% of the world’s tigers within its boundaries. The reasons for this growth are mainly due to the huge efforts taken by the Indian government and various conservation groups. The authorities introduced tougher laws. People were barred from entering certain forests, and villages were moved away to minimise contact between humans and tigers. Groups also began to educate people about the importance of protecting tigers. Local villagers were often recruited to guard the reserves against poachers. This was not only a good way to earn a living, but it also meant that fewer people took up poaching.

Experts say that there is still much to be done. Increasing the tiger population requires good planning and also better protection for its forests and reserves. Recently, there has been more cases of tigers coming into conflict with people, especially near the edges of protected reserves. India may need to expand the reserves to sustain the tiger population. While roads, railway tracks, power plants and waterways are good for the country’s development, the government has to ensure that all these do not come at the expense of nature. Ullas Karanth, a conservationist biologist, told the BBC, “We have a long way to go, but it is doable if we get our act together. This is no time to be complacent.” 

— By SHAMEEN IDICULLA.  

Are there enough ‘wildlife corridors’?

This 4-minute video explains why “wildlife corridors” are so important to tigers, elephants, and other wildlife.

VOCAB BUILDER

barred (say “bar’d”; verb) = stopped.

casualty (say “ka-zuel-tee”; noun) = loss.

ongoing (say “on-go-ing”; adjective) = continuing, still happening.

poaching (say “po-ching”; verb) = catching animals without permission.

SUMI THOMAS brings you the story of a dedicated protector of the endangered big cats.

His excellent skill in spotting tigers has earned tiger watcher Sreenivasan K an award in India. Mr Sreenivasan, better known as “Tiger Sreeni”, is among the heroes who safeguard the tiger reserves in India. Researchers and wildlife photographers seek him for information on tigers, and sometimes to just spot a tiger.

“I have worked in many forest ranges, but I have never seen someone as well-informed as Sreeni. Once we spotted a tiger at Parambikulam and I felt like it knows Sreeni,” says prominent wildlife filmmaker Suresh Elamon.

REWARDING WORK: For Mr Sreenivasan’s significant contribution to tiger conservation efforts, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and National Tiger Conservation Authority awarded him 100,000 Indian rupees (about S$1,800) and a certificate. He is passionate about protecting the forest and animals. That is why he was undeterred from returning to work even after a hard kick by an Indian bison, which left him bedridden for three months. “Nothing gives me more peace than the rustling of trees and sounds of animals,” Mr Sreenivasan says.

Forest adventures

Hailing from the Malasar tribe, 38-year-old Mr Sreenivasan was born and raised in the Parambikulam forests. As a child, he followed his father, a mahout, to explore the forests. He has spent all his life studying the wildlife there. With his exceptional knowledge of the landscape, it was only natural for him to became a forest watcher in 2000.

Mr Sreenivasan begins his tiger expeditions by collecting pugmarks in the forest. He considers walking in the forest an art and enjoys observing wild animals from a distance without disturbing them.

A wildlife photographer, Shefiq Basheer Ahammed, was saved from an elephant due to Mr Sreenivasan’s keen observation and timely warning. Mr Ahammed recalls, “… it was very quiet but Sreeni sensed the animal and asked me to step away. Had I not paid heed, I would not be alive.”

While Mr Sreenivasan has recorded about 2,000 official tiger sightings across the forests in Kerala, he has unofficially seen many more. He says that there was a time when people did not believe him. “It was a forest officer who gifted me a camera and I started taking pictures of my sightings. After that, many started believing me,” he adds. Mr Sreenivasan even shot a very rare picture of five tigers in a single frame.

These photographs and videos prompted the authorities to declare Parambikulam as a tiger reserve in 2010. Mr Sreenivasan’s risky adventures and keen observations have helped him to acquire valuable knowledge and skills on tiger monitoring and the landscape. The forest department invited him to be a part of a tiger monitoring team that year.

Counting tigers

It is an arduous task collecting pugmarks and studying the tigers’ footprints to estimate the number of tigers in an area. Mr Sreenivasan explains, “(The) pugmark of the same tiger may vary according to the soil and also the pace of the tiger. It was important to find the correct set of pugmarks, which was humanly difficult. But, things have now changed with technology.”

The team has adopted another method to determine tiger populations. An entire forest is divided into grids. Camera traps are set up at places based on pugmarks and urine smell. Mr Sreenivasan’s expertise on reading the landscape and tiger monitoring has been very helpful in this process. The team also places camera traps where the tigers’ prey are found. Camera traps will snap photographs when they sense an animal’s movement or a difference in temperature.

The team then sorts the photographs — sometimes as many as 200,000 — according to the animals in them. They scrutinise the stripe patterns on about 1,500 photographs of tigers. After further classification, the team confirms the number of tigers in the tiger reserve.

Using this method, they were able to provide evidence for the rise in tiger population in Parambikulam Tiger Reserve from 19 tigers in 2014 to 30 tigers in 2020.

Mr Sreenivasan teaches students and tourists about the endangered tigers and the forest. As a master trainer in camera trapping, he has guided forest officials across Kerala. He has become an accomplished photographer too. Yet, he humbly says, “I never thought I would get an award. I am definitely happy, but I am happier when others spot tigers and animals in the forest.”

Read more about tiger conservation: Click here.

VOCAB BUILDER

mahout (say “ma-hoot”; noun) = a person who works with and takes care of an elephant.

pugmarks (say “pug marks”; noun) = the footprints of an animal on the ground.

undeterred (say “un-di-ter’d”; adjective) = persevering despite setbacks.

The billionaire wants to devote more time to solving some of the world’s biggest problems.

Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft, which is one of the largest companies in the world. Have you noticed that most computers you’ve seen use “Windows” software? You may have also used Word, Powerpoint, and Internet Explorer. These software programs have one thing in common. They are all made by Microsoft.

What with so many billions of people buying Microsoft products, it is no wonder Mr Gates made a fortune. Today, he has about US$98 billion, which makes him one of the richest men in the world. With that kind of money, he can buy almost anything in the world. If he wanted to, he could buy his own island, fill it with every imaginable luxury, call his friends, and have a non-stop party.

With so much money, he wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. However, he and his wife, Melinda Gates, decided to worry — about the rest of the world. They were especially concerned about people who were too poor to help themselves. So, they set up the Gates Foundation, which gives money to worthy causes around the world. Today, the Foundation helps the poorest people in developing countries and works to improve the quality of health there. In the United States, the Foundation helps with education and emergency relief.

Doing their homework first

Before giving money away, the Gates do their homework. It is like if you want to spend $60 of your hongbao money to buy a pair of sneakers. You would probably do some checking to see whether the shoes are worth it. Maybe, you would ask your friends who have bought shoes recently.

Each day, the Gates Foundation receives hundreds of requests for donations. With so many groups asking for money, the foundation must pick and choose their grantees carefully. So, the Foundation team does its own investigations on the various groups to find out whether donations will be spent wisely.

Mr and Mrs Gates did everything they could to improve their knowledge of health issues. Patty Stonesifer, their friend who helped to run the Foundation, said, “None of us knew much about health. We just kept finding people whom we trusted and just learned and learned.”  

Taking learning tours

Bill and Linda Gates like to go on what they call “learning tours”. During such tours they find out more about the needs of people in poor countries. They visit people in hospitals who are suffering from diseases such as malaria, cholera, and tuberculosis. These learning tours help them understand the suffering that goes on around the world. They also meet the groups that are working hard to find solutions. However, these groups often don’t have enough money to carry out their plans. That is when the Gates Foundation steps in and donates money.

It would be more comfortable to sit at home in the United States and make decisions by telephone and the internet. Instead, Mr and Mrs Gates believe in travelling to poor regions to make sure that they are supporting the right causes. That way, they will know whether the money they donate really does help those who need it.

Solving big problems

One big problem that they have tried to solve is malaria, which is a disease spread by mosquitoes. In some regions around the world, malaria can spread like wildfire, killing hundreds every week. Almost half a million people die of malaria each year. Children below five years old are the most vulnerable — they make up more than half the deaths worldwide.

With an initial donation of US$50 million, the Gates Foundation started a project called the Malaria Vaccine Initiative. Its main goal is to discover a malaria vaccine. Subsequently, the Gates Foundation gave another US$1 billion for this project. The Foundation’s donations are also used to buy special mosquito nets that are treated with insecticide. These nets ensure that children can sleep safely at night without being bitten by mosquitoes.

By giving money to combat diseases, the Gates Foundation may have saved some 122 million lives. Though they have done so much to help the sick, the Bill and Melinda Gates still feel it is only a drop in the ocean.

So far, the Gates Foundation has donated $10 billion to global health. It will take much more than that to save 30 million lives — a World Health Organisation goal by 2023.

Mr and Mrs Gates are sure that if more rich people were to dig into their pockets, more lives could be saved. They have been speaking to world leaders to convince them to make generous donations to fight health problems. Their effort is paying off. Today, many rich and powerful people have joined forces with the Gates Foundation in its quest to make the world a better place.

The Gates Foundation is now one of the biggest charitable foundations on Earth. It has given more than US$36 billion to help the less fortunate. Mr Gates recently stepped down from his role on Microsoft’s board to spend more time on his philanthropic work.

Like the goose that laid golden eggs

Bill and Melinda Gates give away millions of dollars in ways that will make a big difference to people’s lives — but without making themselves poorer. Does that sound impossible? Read on and find out how they do this.

The Gates decided to do their good work through a special type of organisation called a foundation. They started the foundation by planting US$29 billion of their savings in it. This amount — called an “endowment” — is not touched when donations are made.

Every year, the endowment earns interest, just like your savings in a bank account. The interest rate could be quite small, say five per cent. But, when the original sum of the endowment is as huge as US$29 billion, the five per cent interest adds up to a lot of money. To be precise, it earns US$1.45 billion every year. That is how much the foundation could give away every year, without touching the original US$29 billion. The endowment placed in the Gates Foundation is basically like the fairy-tale goose that laid an endless supply of golden eggs. So, the foundation will never run out of money as long as the “goose” is not killed.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

VOCAB BUILDER

philanthropic (say “fi-len-thro-pik”; adjective) = charitable.

precise (say “pri-sais”; adjective) = exact.

grantees (say “gran-tees”; noun) = people to whom grants are made. Grants are sums of money given by an organisation for a particular purpose.

Globally, music has always been a powerful force in spreading awareness about other languages, writes CHEW WEI SHAN.

If you are familiar with Korean pop or K-pop, you will probably have heard of the band BTS. BTS is short for “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, a Korean expression meaning “bulletproof boy scouts”. The seven-man South Korean group has a huge international fan base, and is possibly the biggest boy band in the world right now.

Just this February, BTS released their latest album, Map of the Soul: 7. Within only a few days they sold 4.1 million copies, making it the best-selling album of the year worldwide. The album even debuted at number one on American Billboard charts.

BTS sings and raps about a range of meaningful topics, including mental health, friendship, and loving yourself. But, as most of their fans around the world do not know Korean, they are not able to fully appreciate BTS’ lyrics. Many passionate fans around the world began asking the band to add English subtitles to their music videos.

So, the group is launching a web series to help their fans learn the language. Starting from 24 March, the seven celebrities will host 30 Korean lessons on the social media app, Weverse.

The episodes are “designed to make it easy and fun for global fans who have difficulty enjoying BTS’ music and contents due to the language barrier,” said BTS’ record label. Each episode will teach viewers simple Korean expressions and basic grammar.

Spreading languages through music

BTS songs contain some English and even Japanese, but their lyrics are mainly Korean and they have no plans to translate their songs into other languages.

On the other hand, many stars record and perform their music in many languages. Singer Andrea Bocelli’s native language is Italian, but he also sings in French, Spanish, English, Latin, and Portuguese (watch his amazing music video below!).

Celine Dion speaks English and French, but she has also sung in Spanish, German, Japanese and even Mandarin. Artists like these not only use a variety of languages to spread their music beyond their shores, but also help to grow their listeners’ curiosity about languages other than their own.

Just as popular Western pop stars helped spread the English language across the globe, K-pop stars like BTS, Blackpink, and EXO are piquing the world’s interest in Korean language and culture. Globally, music has always been a powerful force in spreading awareness about other languages. Spanish, for example, has long been a part of mainstream consciousness because of big international hits. From “La Bamba” to “Macarena” in the fifties and nineties to current global chart-topper, “Despacito”, Spanish lyrics reach millions around the world. This has encouraged many to learn common Spanish phrases, and discover more about Spanish-speaking cultures.

Experts say that music is a great way to learn another language. Of course, if you really like a song, you would want know what the lyrics mean so you can connect more deeply with the music. This will motivate you to learn. Also, did you know that the side of the brain which controls language learning is the same side that makes sense of music?

Moreover, musical elements like tone and rhythm are very useful in helping us remember new vocabulary. Every song conveys emotion or tells a story, and when we learn new words within that context, it helps us understand not only what a word means, but also how a word can be used to express our feelings or experiences.

A musical interlude

Italian singer Andrea Bocelli is admired around the world for his amazingly beautiful voice. He has inspired many fans to learn some Italian. He regularly crosses language divides. In 2018, he performed a duet with British pop star Ed Sheeran. They sang Sheeran’s hit “Perfect Symphony” in English and Italian. In the video below, Bocelli performs the same bilingual duet with his son, Matteo. Enjoy!

Non-English expressions made famous through music

Hakuna matata

“Hakuna Matata” (1994) is a song from the popular Disney movie, The Lion King. The music was written by Elton John, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The song is sung by Timon and Pumbaa in the movie. “Hakuna matata” is a Swahili saying. It means “no problem” or “no worries”. Sing these verses if you know how:

Hakuna matata! What a wonderful phrase.
Hakuna matata! Ain't no passing craze!
 
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna matata!

Que sera, sera

“Que Sera, Sera” (1956) was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, made popular by American singer Doris Day. The Spanish phrase means “what will be, will be”, and the chorus goes like this:

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

Auld lang syne

“Auld Lang Syne” (1788) is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns, and later sung to the tune of a traditional Scottish folk song. Around the world, people sing it on the stroke of midnight on new year’s eve to bid farewell to the old year. The phrase can roughly be translated to “days gone by”, or “old times”. Do you know the melody?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

Jai guru deva om

“Jai guru deva om” is a lyric in the legendary song, “Across the Universe” (1970), by The Beatles. The band famously travelled to India to study meditation with respected Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The mantra, “Jai guru deva om” is in Sanskrit. Its words can carry many meanings, but it is most widely understood to mean “glory to the shining remover of darkness” or “hail to the divine guru”. Ask your parents or grandparents if they know this Beatles song and can sing these lyrics to you:

Jai Guru Deva, Om
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world

VOCAB BUILDER

debuted (say “day-biu’d”; verb) = performed publicly for the first time.

subtitles (say “sab-tai-tels”; noun) = text at the bottom of the screen that translates what is said in the show.

piquing (say “pee-king”; verb) = arousing curiosity.

Ancient South American cultures mummified their dead before the Egyptians got the idea, says SERENA LOVE.

The first mummy to be wrapped up comes from the Chinchorro culture of South America, in the area of southern Peru and northern Chile. The oldest of these mummies was a person who died in 5050 BC, over 7,000 years ago. These Chinchorro mummies are 2,000 years older than the mummies in ancient Egypt!

One of these Chinchorro mummies was preserved by nature, and was not wrapped up, and it is 9,000 years old (meaning it is from 7,020 BC). Chinchorro means “gill netters”, which is their way of fishing with nets. The Chinchorro people lived by the sea, the Atacama Coast, along the Pacific Ocean. Most of what they ate was seafood (fish and shellfish), sea birds, and sometimes sea lions. They also hunted animals for meat and collected some plants, too.

Pictures of these mummies may frighten some curious kids. Parents are advised to search and look at images online before showing them to children.

These mummies have remained the same until today because the place where the Chinchorro lived was very dry, even though they lived by the ocean. Much of this area is a desert and some areas have not had rain in over 400 years!

How mummies were made

The Chinchorro had different ways of preserving (to keep safely so that it does not spoil) the dead bodies. They would start by removing all the organs inside the body, even the brain. The hair and skin would also be removed using stone tools, not metal knives. Some of the sharpest knives were made using a pelican’s beak.

Sometimes, the head, arms, and legs would be removed, and the body was put back together later. The body would be dried out using a mixture of hot coals from a fire, as well as ash. They would place sticks inside the body to keep the body stiff and fill the insides with straw and feathers. The face would be covered in clay and left out to dry for 30-40 days. Sometimes the bodies would be painted red or black.

What killed the mummies?

Some of these bodies had diseases and broken bones. Arthritis and bone decay are two common diseases. Some mummies have damage in their ears suggesting that some people may have been deaf. This damage likely came from diving in the ocean for shellfish. Many mummies have broken bones that have gotten better. These injuries are either from accidents at work or fighting inside the community.

All sorts of people were made into mummies — men, women, and children, young and older people, too. Even some babies were mummified, which could be because they died during childbirth; these babies were some of the most decorated mummies.

After the mummy was finished, it was not buried. People would put them in their houses and other places where people lived, worked, and played. Some people think the mummies brought good luck. We are not exactly sure why the Chinchorro made these mummies, but we think it is because they cared for their dead families and wanted to keep their physical body, and their memory, alive forever.

– DR SERENA LOVE is an  Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. This story first appeared at https://theconversation.com

VOCAB BUILDER

pelican (say “pe-li-ken”; noun) = a large waterbird with a long beak and a throat pouch for scooping up fish.

arthritis (say “ar-th-rai-tis”, noun) = a disease that causes painful swelling and stiffness in the joints.

Museums around the world have been returning Egyptian mummies back to their rightful owner — the people of Egypt. CHEW WEI SHAN brings us the story.

Nedjemankh was a priest in Ancient Egypt 2,000 years ago. For the past three years his mummified body lay in a gilded coffin in New York City, on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Last year, U.S. authorities studied the journey of Nedjemankh’s coffin. They learned that it had originally been looted and smuggled from Egypt before passing through the Middle East, Germany, and France. So, New York respectfully returned the mummy to its rightful home, at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Cairo.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art apologised to Egypt, explaining that it was an unwitting victim of fraud. They were shown fake documents, and had no idea that they had acquired a stolen artifact.

The repatriation made Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany very happy. He felt that this sincere gesture showed a “very strong solidarity” between Egypt and the U.S.

Returning stolen artifacts

Like Nedjemankh, wandering mummies around the world have been making their way home. Egyptian archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass is one of many historians working hard to reclaim these lost artifacts. “When (looters) steal these artifacts to put in their museums, they damage the value of the tomb,” he laments. “They damage a civilisation.”

Tomb raiders have long been stealing precious artifacts from Egyptian sites and selling them to museums. Over the past two decades, many stolen antiquities have been recovered and repatriated back to Egypt.

Another such example is the mummy of Rameses I. Rameses I was an Egyptian king who reigned over 3,000 years ago, and the grandfather of Egypt’s most famous king, Rameses II. It is said that professional tomb robbers stole the mummy in 1871, from the Valley of the Kings in southern Egypt. It was then sold to a Canadian antiquities dealer, and ended up in Canada’s Michael C. Carlos Museum (MCCM). After learning that the mummy had been illegally obtained, MCCM returned it to Egypt in 2003.

Thieves have not only trafficked whole mummies, but their dismembered body parts, too. Two years ago, American authorities found a skull and two hands that belonged to three ancient mummies. A tourist had smuggled them out of Egypt in 1927. U.S. federal investigators seized the remains and returned them to Egypt in 2018.

Historian Bassam el-Shamaa is enraged by these acts of theft. “It is against all human rights to sell dismembered parts of human bodies even if they are mummies,” he asserts. Passionately, he implores the world to “stop selling and smuggling Egypt’s heritage”.

New museums in Egypt

Egypt made a major discovery just last October. Researchers unearthed 30 ancient coffins, or sarcophagi, buried neatly in the sand. This is the first cache of coffins to be discovered by an Egyptian mission, after years of foreign-led archeological digs. The sarcophagi were so well kept that the colours and details on their paintings have remained vibrant and intricate for 3,000 years. When archaeologists opened the coffins, they found perfectly preserved mummies inside. (Watch the 35-second video below.)

The mummies will be restored before being moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which will be opening at the end of 2020. Egypt says that when the GEM opens, it will be the largest archaeological museum in the world. The museum sits on 50 hectares of land — the size of 93 football fields — and is located about two kilometers from the Great Pyramids of Giza.

The museum will showcase a world-famous collection surrounding the legendary King Tutankhamun, affectionately known as “King Tut”, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh from the 18th dynasty. Egypt is expecting the museum to attract more than 5 million visitors every year.

Egypt’s ever-growing collection of priceless artifacts is more than its current museums can handle. Another attraction being built to cope with this is the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC). It has been partially open since 2017, but construction is still incomplete.

The museum will offer a collection of 50,000 artifacts, showing how Egyptian civilization has evolved from prehistoric times to the present day. Excitingly, the gold coffin of Nedjemankh has recently arrived and is on display there, and NMEC is expecting it to attract many more visitors in the years to come.

Transporting ancient mummies

A mummy is a dead human or animal whose body has been preserved. Ancient Egyptians used sophisticated techniques to keep these bodies intact, in a process called mummification. They believed this would prepare the dead person for the journey into the afterlife.

Mummification was a complex process that evolved over time. The Egyptians aimed to stop the body from decaying by using natural salts, cold environments, removal of air, and other techniques. Before lowering the body into a sarcophagus, they would wrap it tightly in linen bandages.

Today, thousands of years later, these ancient mummies are very fragile. Their skin, bone, tissue, and hair can be easily damaged, along with the linen wrappings that have become delicate and brittle over time.

It takes a lot of effort to pack and transport a mummy safely. Handlers have to be very gentle. Many layers of foam products and, sometimes, specially-designed soft bean bags are used as pillows for the mummy to support its irregular shapes snugly. Air is then drawn out with a vacuum to secure the body in place. On the mummy’s journey home, vehicles are climate controlled to keep the sarcophagus cool and dry. Imagine just how many careful hands a mummy passes through before it arrives at a museum for you to look at!

VOCAB BUILDER

artifact (say “ar-ti-fakt”; noun) = a man-made object of historical or cultural interest.

repatriation (say “ri–pat–tree-ay-shen”; noun) = the return of a person to their home country.dismembered (say “dis-mem-ber’d”; adjective) = having had body parts cut off.

unwitting (say “an-wit-ting”; adjective) = unsuspecting; unaware of the full facts.

ZACHARY JOHN interviews Singapore’s newest Chess Grandmaster.

When Kevin Goh Wei Ming was a student in Boon Lay Primary School, he participated in chess tournaments where the winner received a plate of chicken rice. Today, he stands shoulder to shoulder with the greatest chess players in history.

On 3 March, Mr Goh attained the title of Chess Grandmaster (GM). This title is awarded by chess’ governing body, FIDE. Only the top 0.0002% of all FIDE registered players are GMs, and only four Singaporeans have ever made the grade.

In order to reach the GM title, a player must have a rating of 2,500 and achieve three “GM norms”. Players gain or lose rating points by winning or losing games in FIDE sanctioned tournaments. How many rating points you gain or lose depends on the rating of your opponent. To get a GM norm, players need to perform well in top tier tournaments against other top players.

Mr Goh, 37, got his first GM norm in 2011 and his second in 2012. He had to endure a six-year wait to achieve his third norm in 2018 — and his wait did not end there. It would be another two years before his live rating would finally surpass 2,500 and his GM title was secured. When asked what it felt like to be a GM after nine years, Mr Goh said, “I didn’t derive any joy at the end of everything, it was just pure relief. It’s finally over. Now I can enjoy my chess.”

Inspired by teacher

Mr Goh was introduced to chess in 1993 by his teacher Khoo Geak Chong in Boon Lay Primary School. Mr Khoo took his role as teacher in charge of the chess club seriously. He shared his passion for the game with his students, showing them the complex, competitive, and sometimes brutal nature of chess battles. Mr Khoo’s enthusiasm had such a profound impact on his students that, according to Mr Goh, “it became the main thing in school. You were not cool if you did not play chess”.

The Chess Club in Boon Lay Primary would play chess every day, before or after school. They would also attend training sessions on Saturdays. Mr Goh said that because co-curricular activities were not as important as they are today, his dedication to chess was regarded as “totally insane” by some people. Mr Khoo organised “5-3-2 tournaments”, where the winner would get $5, the second placed, $3, and the third, $2 — with the prize money coming out of his own pocket. With a laugh, Mr Goh recalls that “in the 90s, $5 was a lot of money”. Some parents complained, so Mr Khoo changed the prize to chicken rice.

Regular training and Mr Khoo’s 5-3-2 Tournaments helped to turn the Boon Lay Primary Chess Club into one of the best in their age group. Mr Goh continued to play chess in Commonwealth Secondary School, National Junior College, and beyond — earning the title of International Master at the age of 24. Mr Goh, who has won the Singaporean Chess Championships seven times, was national champion for four years in a row between 2006 and 2009, before coming in third in 2010. After his third place finish, Mr Goh was dropped from the national chess squad.

Motivated by failure

Instead of letting his exclusion from the national squad demoralise him, Mr Goh was more motivated than ever to become a GM. In 2011, he took a year of no-pay leave from his job as a chartered accountant and hired Israeli GM Boris Avrukh as his coach. The pair continue to work together today. Under the tutelage of Mr Avrukh, Mr Goh refined his theoretical understanding of chess. He managed to gain his first GM norm in just two months, but time was not on his side.

Mr Goh, who is the Chief Financial Officer of Lucence Diagnostics, felt that taking more than a year off work to play chess might damage his career prospects too much. He returned to his job in 2012, and studied chess an hour a day after work and “substantially more” on weekends.

The nine years of chess between Mr Goh’s first GM norm and finally getting the GM title were tough going. The amount of time, effort and money he had put into chess caused Mr Goh immense pressure during tournaments. If things were not going his way on the board, he would start to question if the amount of sacrifice he had made for chess was worth it. His stress levels were so high that he even suffered from insomnia during some tournaments.

Passing on the passion

Chess can be an extremely taxing sport — at the highest level, players can burn up to 6,000 calories a day at tournaments. “It is no longer possible not to associate physical fitness with chess”, said Mr Goh, who goes on regular runs to maintain his mental toughness. Mr Goh completed the OSIM Sundown Marathon 2018, a month before the QCD Lim Kok Ann GM Invitational, where Mr Goh achieved his third GM norm. “I spent the entire race thinking about how I would beat my opponents,” he recalled. It worked.

Finally a GM, Mr Goh hopes he gets a chance to guide young chess talents in Singapore. “I’ve met many, many young players who are much more talented than me,” he said. Mr Goh hopes that his story shows other Singaporean chess players that the GM title is attainable with enough hard work, perseverance, and competitiveness. He said, “I think people can be inspired, with a certain focus, a certain discipline — mastery at any level is possible.”

VOCAB BUILDER

demoralise (say “di-mo-re-laiz”; verb) = cause one to lose hope.

FIDE (say “fai-d”; noun) = acronym for “Fédération Internationale des Échecs” which is French for “International Chess Federation”.

insomnia (say “in-som-nia”; noun) = inability to sleep.

profound (say “pro-faund”; adjective) = very great.

sanctioned (say “sank-shen’d”; verb) = approved.

surpass (say “ser-pass”; verb) = exceed.

Activity: Words from games

Many English idioms come from games. Here are some from chess:

A pawn is the smallest, most common and least mobile piece on the chessboard. The word is often used to mean that someone is helpless: “The worker had to follow orders all days. He felt like a pawn.”

A stalemate is a draw, when neither player can win. The word can be used in other situations: “After a long debate, my friend and I could not agree on who is the greater footballer, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. We were locked in a stalemate.”

The endgame refers to the final stage of a chess game, when there are few pieces on the board and you need a clear strategy to win. The word now means the last steps or winning strategy in a challenging situation: “He kept watching videos and neglecting his studies. ‘You seem to be having fun, but what is your endgame?’ his best friend asked out of concern.”

The following sentences contain other idioms from sports and games. Can you fill in each blank with one word to complete the expressions?

Challenge 1

[qwiz]

[q] “I have done everything I can to help you. The ____ is in your court.”

[c*] Show me the answer

[f] The answer is ball. The expression comes from tennis. When the ball comes to your side of the court, it is your turn to act.

[/qwiz]

Challenge 2

[qwiz]

[q]

At first, she felt her two classmates were so smart and pretty that they were in a different ______. She felt better about herself when she realised that they liked her and sincerely wanted to be her friends.

[c*] Click here for the answer

[f] The answer is league. In baseball and other sports, teams play in separate leagues. In England, for example, teams in League Two are inferior to teams in the Premier League.

[/qwiz]

Challenge 3

[qwiz]

[q]

“Although you did not do well in your last three tests, don’t give up. Don’t throw in the _____. You can do it!”

[c*] Show me the answer

[f] The answer is towel. In boxing, when a boxer is badly beaten up and cannot continue, his trainer throws a towel or sponge into the ring to signal surrender or defeat.

[/qwiz]

Challenge 4

[qwiz]

[q]

The prime minister wanted to retire, so he passed the _____ to a younger leader to take over from him.

[c*] Click here for the answer

[f] The answer is baton. In a relay race, runners take turns. When one runner reaches the end, he passes the baton (a short stick) to his team mate, to signal that he is handing over the responsibility to the next person.

[/qwiz]

Challenge 5

[qwiz]

[q]

He was poor, and had a learning disability. Yet, he was able to clear these ______ and succeed.

[c*] Click here for the answer

[f] The answer is hurdles. In some race events, runners have to jump over barriers called hurdles on their way to the finish line. Just as in life, there are obstacles in their way.

[/qwiz]

Local company Shiok Meats successfully grew shrimp meat in a laboratory. SHEERE NG explains why this could be good news for Singapore.

The shrimp filling wrapped in yellow dumpling skin looks and tastes like any siew mai from a dim sum restaurant, but it costs a whopping $150 per piece — more expensive than a whole lobster.

The shrimp did not come from the sea but was grown from the animal’s stem cells in a laboratory. Its creators are stem cell biologists Sandhya Sriram and Ling Ka Yi, whose company Shiok Meats is the first cell-based meat company in Southeast Asia. Most other such companies are based in the United States.

Unlike other companies producing beef or chicken, Shiok Meats focuses on creating seafood. “[In Asia], we eat a lot of seafood, and not many companies were doing seafood,” said Dr Sriram in an interview with Channel News Asia.

So, a few years ago, the scientists took the cells of real shrimps, fed them with a liquid full of nutrients, and then waited for them to multiply. The cells became shrimp meat in two to four weeks. Such cell-based meat could reduce our dependency on wild-caught or farmed shrimps, which have caused problems for the environment and our well-being.

Sources of shrimps

Shrimps typically live at the bottom of the ocean, where the majority of marine life lives. Fishing for shrimps involves scraping the ocean’s floor, which harms other marine life such as sea turtles and starfish too. This damages the ecosystem, sometimes permanently. We are also fishing more shrimp than the animal can reproduce itself. Over time, overfishing could cause its extinction.

While shrimp farming is common today, it has its problems too. It requires a lot of space. The farmers don’t always have that, so they overcrowd the shrimps. This quickly pollutes the water and makes the animals sick. Some farmers feed their shrimps antibiotics to prevent this. However, eating too much of such shrimps can be bad for our health.

Singapore has more than 100 fish farms along its coast, supplying only nine per cent of what we eat. The government has a goal to grow at least one-third of our food by 2030. This is to ensure that we will have enough to eat even as global warming decreases the availability of food across the world. However, our country has limited sea space to support more coastal farms to feed Singaporeans.

Coastal farms are also vulnerable to environmental threats, such as plankton blooms, oil spills, and warmer waters from climate change. These threaten to kill the fish and shrimps before they even make it to our dinner plates.

Cell-based shrimp offers an alternative. Not only is Shiok Meats’ production in the laboratory immune to the effects of climate changes, it does not damage the environment either. The cells are also taken from carefully chosen shrimps, so that the meat produced is free from antibiotics.

“Currently, the way shrimps are being grown in farms, they are being grown in dirty water and being injected with antibiotics and hormones to keep them clean and make them bigger. We had to find very specific shrimp farms for clean shrimp to source our stem cells,” said Dr Sriram.

In the near future

When the time comes, Shiok Meats will start selling its shrimp meat to restaurants, where consumers will get the first taste of it. The company also plans to develop whole shrimp for sale. Right now, it is only able to mimic the texture of minced shrimp. Cell-based crabs and lobsters are in the pipeline too.

Dr Sriram even predicts a future when people can “grow” their own meat at home. All that we will need is a pressure cooker-like machine to control the right temperature for the cells to grow. “It’s much like making beer or wine at home, or even baking a piece of bread,” she said. This future, she added, could be as soon as within the next 10 years.

VOCAB BUILDER

stem cells (say “stem sells”; noun) = unspecialised cells that can multiply and give rise to many different types of cells.

hefty (say “hef-tee”; adjective) = large.

mimic (say “mi-mik”; verb) = imitate.

NURUDIN SADALI finds out what it is like there.

Kutupalong is located in an area in Bangladesh known as Cox’s Bazar District. It covers 13 square kilometres, the same size as Changi Airport. However, it houses close to a million Rohingya refugees. In 2018, Kutupalong earned its title as the largest refugee settlement in the world. Can you imagine squeezing that many people in such a small space?

Who lives in Kutupalong?  

The Rohingya make up almost the entire refugee population in Kutupalong. They are the largest Muslim group in Myanmar, where Buddhists are the majority. Despite living in Myanmar for generations, the Rohingya have long been discriminated against by their own government — it is hard for them to find work or get an education, and they do not have much freedom.   In 2017, the Myanmar military and local Buddhist extremists launched attacks on the Rohingya. Thousands of Rohingya lost their lives and their villages were destroyed. To escape this persecution, hundreds of thousands fled to Kutupalong in Bangladesh which is next to Myanmar.  

As refugees, the Rohingya are not allowed to work. Instead, they have had to rely on the kindness of the locals as well as aid agencies like the United Nations (UN) and World Food Program (WFP). The Rohingya refugees are not the only ones living in Cox’s Bazar. There are also hundreds of thousands of local Bangladeshis, too. The Bangladeshi community has largely welcomed the Rohingya into their country. They have shared their resources and extended help to these displaced people. 

The living conditions there

Many of the structures in Kutupalong are haphazardly built shelters. They are built with materials given by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as well as whatever else the refugees manage to find. Many end up chopping down nearby forests, despite some of these areas being protected nature reserves. This has resulted in a number of environmental problems.

Many of the shelters are fragile and dangerous. Rahima, a 25-year-old refugee explained how “whenever it rained, the floor got very wet and turned to mud”. She added how the living conditions “made (her) children sick.” Unfortunately, Rahima’s experience is not uncommon.

This year, she was lucky enough to be selected by the UNHCR to receive a new specially-built shelter. Since they got involved at Kutupalong, the UNHCR has helped to build and repair more than 91,000 shelters.

The UNHCR has also put in a lot of effort to ensure that there are medical facilities for the Rohingya. This is in stark contrast with what the Rohingya had back home in Myanmar. Because they were seen as “different”, they were discriminated against. It was near impossible for them to get medical treatment then. To use public health services, they often had to pay bribes, and most Rohingya could not afford to do so.

In Kutupalong, there are hospitals and clinics open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These hospitals have sufficient equipment and trained staff. It is not difficult for sick people to receive treatment. However, there is still much room for improvement. As it stands, there are only about 300 hospital beds available in the entire settlement. In today’s situation where a pandemic is running rampant, a COVID-19 outbreak in Kutupalong would undoubtedly cripple the entire camp. 

Hardships from the monsoon and elephants

Bangladesh experiences an annual monsoon season between May to October. During this period, flash floods and mudslides are common. In July 2019, more than 5,000 people lost their homes as a result of the monsoon.

The deforestation in the area around Kutupalong has also had a negative environmental impact. Where many trees were chopped down for shelters and wood for cooking stoves, the ground is left unprotected. In such areas, deadly landslides are more likely to occur. This has also led to some tension between the Rohingya and the locals who are unhappy about the deforestation.

Also, some of the forested areas are part of a route that elephants use every year when they migrate. Several refugees have been trampled by the elephants when they encroached into these routes.

Volunteering for the community

A number of the Rohingya volunteer their services to help their community. These volunteers are an important part of the community. Because they are displaced people themselves, it is easier for them to act as a bridge between their community and the many different aid agencies.

Some volunteer as health workers. They go house-to-house to educate their community about nutrition and health issues. Others are trained in how to respond in emergencies. They work closely with their community and help raise awareness about the potential dangers of the monsoon season.

One such volunteer is 20-year-old Mohammed Halim, who came with his family to Kutupalong in 2017. He typically spends eight hours a day walking through the settlement to check on his neighbours. He describes how proud he is to support his community, adding, “we were once strangers, and now we live as friends.”

VOCAB BUILDER

persecution (say “pe-se-kiu-shen”; noun) = hostility and mistreatment due to differences in, for instance, race, religion or beliefs.

haphazardly (say “hap–ha-zed-lee”; adverb) = without proper organisation.

rampant (say “ram-pent”; adjective) = spreading out of control.

trampled (say “tram-pl’d”; verb) = stepped on and crushed.

Malaysia appointed a new leader, but many citizens are unhappy about it. ANNABELLE LIANG reports.

February 29 was a memorable day for Malaysia. On that day, Malaysia’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, appointed a new prime minister. Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in the very next day.

The development was a surprise to Malaysians. They had expected their previous prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, to stay in the role for a while. Dr Mahathir, 94, was appointed Malaysia’s prime minister in 2018. He was already familiar with the role, as he had served as prime minister for more than 20 years, from 1981 to 2003. He returned to power through a general election.

A general election must be held in Malaysia at least once every five years. This is important because it allows citizens to choose the leaders of their country. The minimum age to vote in Malaysia is 18. (In Singapore, it is 21.) Each citizen gets to cast one vote for the candidate she supports.

Citizens usually decide who to vote for based on factors such as the candidates’ values, experience, and political beliefs. The candidate who has the most votes in each area becomes a Member of Parliament. Members of Parliament are like group leaders. They represent a group of citizens in Parliament, raise their concerns, and find ways to make life better.

Working together

It is difficult to win an election alone. So, most hopeful Members of Parliament join a political party. In Malaysia, the political party to beat at the last election was Barisan Nasional. It had won enough parliamentary seats to form Malaysia’s government for 60 years. 

Dr Mahathir changed that. He reunited with a politician who was jailed when Dr Mahathir was prime minister. Then, he convinced four political parties to join forces to form a new party named Pakatan Harapan.

In Malaysia, a political party needs to win at least 112 out of 222 parliamentary seats to form a government. Pakatan Harapan won 121 seats, and Dr Mahathir was chosen to lead the government as prime minister.

However, there were strong personalities who clashed in Pakatan Harapan, including Dr Mahathir and a former foe. The party also had to tackle issues that Malaysians were unhappy with.

“We have economic growth, but wages have not caught up with the cost of living, particularly among the Malay population, particularly among the young,” said Ibrahim Suffian from the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research.

“The economy is not generating enough jobs that pay well. That was the challenge the coalition faced because when they entered government, they found that most of the cupboards were bare, and that they had enormous debts that they had to deal with,” Mr Suffian told the BBC.

Falling apart

Mr Muhyiddin, Malaysia’s current prime minister, was part of Pakatan Harapan. He was the President of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party — more commonly known as Bersatu — when Dr Mahathir was its Chairman.

Mr Muhyiddin has years of experience under his belt. He was even appointed Deputy Prime Minister in 2009, but he was sacked six years later for criticising the government.

Tensions within the new party caused Mr Muhyiddin to quit Pakatan Harapan. He and other members put pressure on Dr Mahathir to form a pact with other political parties. But, Dr Mahathir did not give in to this and resigned as Prime Minister.

“I resigned because I did not want power and the position to be the be all and end all of my intentions,” he said. “To me, power and position are a means to an end… And our objective is the good of the country.”

As more Members of Parliament left the party, the government collapsed. Malaysia’s king named Dr Mahathir as interim prime minister soon after.

Surprise appointment

Instead of holding another election, the king decided to choose the next prime minister himself. The king then interviewed all Members of Parliament, to find out whom they supported as prime minister. That was how Mr Muhyiddin got the top job.

Still, many Malaysians are unhappy with how this came to be. A small group of protestors gathered in Kuala Lumpur. The hashtag #NotMyPM also trended on Twitter.

“A government not voted in by its own citizens. One day, the rakyat will rise,” said Sharifah Hani Yasmin.

“As a Malaysian, I never voted for a corrupt government but instead voted for change. I stand by the government I voted for in #GE14,” said Aaron Denison. Mr Denison was referring to the 2018 general election that was Malaysia’s fourteenth.

Appeal for support

In his first address as Prime Minister, Mr Muhyiddin promised to serve everyone, no matter their ethnicity or occupation.

“I urge you to support me to undertake this huge responsibility entrusted to me,” he said. “Give me a chance to utilise my 40 years of experience in politics and government. I give you my heart and soul.”

VOCAB BUILDER

sworn in (say “sworn in”; verb) = formally given a new official duty.

candidates (say “kan-di-deyts”; noun) = people who are put up for election.

foe (say “fo”; noun) = enemy.

debt (say “det”; noun) = a sum of money that is owed.

interim (say “in-te-rim”; adjective) = temporary.

rakyat (say “rak-yat”; noun) = Malay word for ordinary people that form the masses.