KL begins hunt for cosmonaut<\/p>\n
MALAYSIA: As China counts down to the launch of its first manned
\nspace mission, Malaysia invited applications for the job of
\ncosmonaut on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The small Southeast Asian country plans to put its first
\nperson into space by 2005 aboard a Russian spacecraft as part of
\na defense deal it struck with Moscow earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Defense Minister Najib Razak said two Malaysians would be
\npicked by Russian experts to undergo training with that country's
\nspace program starting in 2004, the Bernama national news agency
\nreported.<\/p>\n
The best of the two trainees would eventually join two Russian
\ncosmonauts on a Soyuz rocket that would rendezvous with the
\ninternational space station, Najib said.<\/p>\n
"We will select anyone, irrespective of gender, who fits the
\nbill," Najib was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times
\nnewspaper. "We hope the space program will spur more Malaysians
\nto pursue a career in space studies and encourage local
\nscientific and space industries."<\/p>\n
Malaysian participation in the Russian program was part of a
\nUS$900 million deal for Malaysia to buy 18 Russian-made Sukhoi
\nSu-30 MKM fighter jets, which was signed during a visit in May by
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin. -- AP<\/p>\n
;AP;ANJ;
\nANPAu..r..
\nAglance-Singapore-maid
\nS'pore bans window displays of maids
\nJP\/11\/ASEAN<\/p>\n
S'pore bans window displays of maids<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower has ordered maid employment
\nagencies to stop displaying their foreign workers behind
\nstorefront windows for prospective employers, saying it gives
\nSingapore a bad reputation.<\/p>\n
Putting the workers on display as well as displaying their
\nbiographical data and photos behind glass panels "are both
\nconsidered unacceptable practices," according to a circular
\ndistributed to maid agencies last month and released to the media
\non Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The ministry said it made it seem that the women were being
\ndisplayed "much like other commodities."<\/p>\n
"Some have even drawn similarities between such display to
\nthat of ... the vice trade," the statement said. "This has
\ncreated international disrepute for Singapore, as we are
\nperceived not to have accorded the foreign domestic workers basic
\nhuman dignity."<\/p>\n
Many agencies had forced their maids to sit in front of large
\nwindows, in some cases all day, so that prospective employers
\ncould look at them before entering the agency office.<\/p>\n
Agencies who continue to put their employees on display will
\nhave their business licenses revoked, it said. -- AP<\/p>\n
;REUTERS;ANJ;
\nANPAi..r..
\nAglance-Vietnam-Buddhists
\nHanoi tackles Buddhist group
\nJP\/11\/ASEAN<\/p>\n
Hanoi tackles Buddhist group<\/p>\n
VIETNAM: After a brief reconciliation, Vietnam is back on the
\nwarpath against an outlawed Buddhist group whose leaders appear
\nto be seeking to revive the organization in defiance of the ban,
\ndiplomats said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The crackdown on the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV)
\nby the communist authorities followed a meeting of the group on
\nOct. 1, at which it vowed to revive its legal status, the
\ndiplomats added.<\/p>\n
After a series of run-ins with the government starting in the
\nlate 1970s, the UBCV was replaced by an officially sanctioned
\nBuddhist group in 1981.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the government signaled warmer ties with
\nthe organization.<\/p>\n
But just a week after the Oct. 1 meeting, authorities halted
\ngroup patriarch Thich Huyen Quang and his deputy Thich Quang Do
\nas they left their monastery for Ho Chi Minh City and questioned
\nthem for several hours about their activities.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Ministry accused the men on Friday of "carrying
\nevidence of wrongful acts, including many documents classified as
\nstate secrets". -- Reuters<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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