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Running Out of Children, a South Korea School Enrolls Illiterate Grandmothers
“Every morning on her way to school, Hwang Wol-geum, a first grader, rides the same yellow bus as three of her family members: One is a kindergartner, another a third grader and the other a fifth grader. Ms. Hwang is 70 — and her schoolmates are her grandchildren.
South Korea’s birthrate has been plummeting in recent decades, falling to less than one child per woman last year, one of the lowest in the world. The hardest hit areas are rural counties, where babies have become an increasingly rare sight as young couples migrate en masse to big cities for better paying jobs.
This year, the worst calamity of all struck the district. “We went around villages looking for just one precious kid to enroll as a first grader,” said the principal, Lee Ju-young. “There was none.” So Ms. Lee and local residents, desperate to save the 96-year-old school, came up with an idea: How about enrolling older villagers who wanted to learn to read and write?
Ms. Hwang and seven other women, aged 56 to 80, stepped forward, with at least four others asking to be enrolled next year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/world/asia/south-korea-school-grandmothers.html
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Heng Swee Keat to support PM Lee in longer term policy review as DPM
“Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said he will support Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in reviewing Singapore’s longer term policy measures to take the country forward in the next decade, as he prepares to take on the role of Deputy Prime Minister from May 1.
Mr Heng said these include ageing population matters, economic restructuring and dealing with social issues that may arise as Singapore experiences a faster pace of change.
“A very important part of it is to support the Prime Minister in strengthening our relations with major partners around the world. As you know I’ve just been back from the United States. I just spent a week in Thailand and Malaysia. “I’ll be going to China next month, as well as Japan. So there’s a whole range of visits I’m doing to build good relations with our neighbours to strengthen our partnership to take Singapore forward,” said Mr Heng, who will still remain Finance Minister.”
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Wolf culture, state finance and bribery: Huawei’s rise to the top wasn’t pretty
“Huawei is now battling a US campaign that aims to shut the Chinese company’s equipment out of the next generation of wireless networks, known as 5G. Ultra-fast 5G networks will be used to connect everything from mobile phones to self-driving cars.
Mobile operators like the UK’s Vodafone (VOD) and Canada’s Telus (TU) say banning Huawei could disrupt the rollout of 5G and undermine technological progress. But the US government claims Huawei gear could be used by Chinese intelligence services for spying on other countries. Huawei’s founder saidthe company has not been asked to share “improper information” and that it works independently of the government; the Chinese government denies stealing intellectual property and committing unfair trade practices.
The CEO often talks about “wolf spirit” and has in the past told colleagues “to be shameless” in their efforts to secure business, according to “The Huawei Story,” a book about the company co-authored by Tian Tao. Tao is a member of the Huawei International Advisory Council, an organization affiliated with the company, and works at Zhejiang University in eastern China. Huawei employees are expected to emulate wolves’ bloodthirsty nature, fearlessness, resilience to harsh conditions and ability to work as a team.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/16/tech/huawei-rise-china/index.html