Latest news with #Tomb-SweepingDay
The Star
13-05-2025
- General
- The Star
Monkey nuisance at Singapore's Mandai Columbarium: Visitors asked not to leave food offerings unattended
SINGAPORE: Visitors to Mandai Columbarium are advised not to leave food offerings unattended in order to reduce encounters with monkeys in the area, said the National Environment Agency (NEA). The reminder comes after a Facebook post on May 1 by Loke Jun Xiong, who said the animals were harassing visitors during Qing Ming Festival prayers. 'A whole troop of monkeys was harassing visitors doing Qing Ming at Mandai Columbarium this morning. Once they see food, they will come and surround (the area),' he wrote on the Complaint Singapore page, which has around 244,500 members as at 3.30pm on Tuesday (May 13). 'The worrying thing is that they're not even afraid of humans,' he added. 'Another family got attacked, and they had to throw lighted candles and sand at the monkeys. Soon someone will get hurt.' Several videos accompanying the post showed monkeys taking food left as offerings for the deceased. According to Loke, the incidents occurred during the Qing Ming Festival, a traditional Chinese occasion also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day. During the festival, families visit the graves or columbarium niches of their ancestors, and make offerings of food such as roasted meat and fruit, along with placing incense and paper tributes. This year, the festival was observed on April 4. Including the official date, the festival is observed for a 20-day period, encompassing the 10 days before and the 10 after. A monkey approaching startled visitors at Mandai Columbarium. - Photo: Loke Jun Xiong/Facebook In response to queries from The Straits Times, the NEA said it has implemented various preventive measures to manage such encounters, as the columbarium is located near a nature reserve. 'These include putting up advisory posters at various columbarium blocks to inform visitors of the dos and don'ts when encountering monkeys,' said the agency. 'Notices have also been put up to remind visitors not to leave food offerings unattended. Food offerings are cleared regularly after prayers to minimise food availability.' The NEA added that rubbish bins at the site are specially designed to minimise rummaging of their contents by animals and must be kept covered at all times. Members of the public are also encouraged to refer to the National Parks Board's wildlife advisory titled 'What to do when you encounter a long-tailed macaque', which provides practical tips on managing such incidents. They include: Do not take along food or plastic bags when visiting nature areas. - If you are carrying food and are approached by a monkey, remain calm and walk away slowly. Do not attempt to retrieve the food or bag. - Do not try to hit the monkey. This may be seen as a form of aggression and provoke it. - Avoid direct eye contact with the monkey, as it can be perceived as a threat. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
13-05-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Monkey nuisance at Mandai Columbarium: Visitors asked not to leave food offerings unattended
SINGAPORE – Visitors to Mandai Columbarium are advised not to leave food offerings unattended in order to reduce encounters with monkeys in the area, said the National Environment Agency (NEA). This reminder comes after a Facebook post on May 1 by Mr Loke Jun Xiong, who said the animals were harassing visitors during Qing Ming Festival prayers. 'A whole troop of monkeys was harassing visitors doing Qing Ming at Mandai Columbarium this morning. Once they see the food, they will come and surround,' he wrote on the Complaint Singapore page, which has around 244,500 members as at 3.30pm on May 13 . 'The worrying thing is that they're not even afraid of humans,' he added. 'Another family got attacked, and they had to throw lighted candles and sand at the monkeys. Soon someone will get hurt.' Several videos accompanying the post showed monkeys taking food left as offerings for the deceased. A monkey approaching startled visitors at Mandai Columbarium. PHOTO: LOKE JUN XIONG/FACEBOOK According to Mr Loke, the incidents occurred during the Qing Ming Festival, a traditional Chinese occasion also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day. During the festival, families visit the graves or columbarium niches of their ancestors, and make offerings of food such as roasted meat and fruit , along with placing incense and paper tributes. This year, the festival was observed on April 4. Including the official date, the festival is observed for a 20-day period, encompassing the 10 days before and the 10 after. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the NEA said it has i mplemented various preventive measures to manage such encounters, as the columbarium is located near a nature reserve. 'These include putting up advisory posters at various columbarium blocks to inform visitors of the dos and don'ts when encountering monkeys,' said the agency. 'Notices have also been put up to remind visitors not to leave food offerings unattended. Food offerings are cleared regularly after prayers to minimise food availability.' Several monkeys were seen climbing overhead bars and taking food left as offerings for the deceased at Mandai Columbarium. PHOTO: LOKE JUN XIONG/FACEBOOK The NEA added that rubbish bins at the site are specially designed to minimise rummaging of their contents by animals and must be kept covered at all times. Members of the public are also encouraged to refer to NParks' wildlife advisory titled 'What to do when you encounter a long-tailed macaque', which provides practical tips on managing such incidents. They include: Do not bring food or plastic bags when visiting nature areas. If you are carrying food and are approached by a monkey, remain calm and walk away slowly. Do not attempt to retrieve the food or bag. Do not try to hit the monkey. This may be seen as a form of aggression and may provoke the animal. Avoid direct eye contact with the monkey, as it can be perceived as a threat. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Nikkei Asia
01-05-2025
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Tariffs push Apple closer to Asia and Alibaba challenges DeepSeek
Hello everyone! This is Lauly, sending greetings from Taipei. Usually, people in Taiwan enjoy a four-day holiday at the beginning of April -- Children's Day and Tomb-Sweeping Day (a bit of an odd combination, I know). But this year was different, at least for people involved in the tech and media industries, thanks to Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs. An industry friend jokingly said that the U.S. president had turned the holiday into a real "tomb-sweeping day." Personally, the first two weeks after Trump's announcement were a nightmare as I chased sources across the supply chain for their reactions, tried to comprehend myself what was going on, and on top of that took care of my son, who was sick the entire time. I was particularly stunned when I found out that a scoop my colleague and I had drafted the night before had become nearly useless the next morning after Trump suddenly said that every country except China would have a 90-day grace period on the new tariffs. We had to start over, going back to sources and reworking the story. I shared my feelings with a long-time industry friend and he said, "Now you know how we have felt everyday since April 2." Almost everyone I've met recently has had big dark circles under their eyes. Paul Peng, chairman of leading Taiwanese display maker AUO, said: "People asked what we should do. I have only two pieces of advice: Eat well and sleep well." I think such a calm mindset is what I needed, too. After working feverishly for three weeks, including weekends, I left everything behind and made a spontaneous short trip with my family to Sun Moon Lake in the central Taiwanese city of Nantou last week. It was the best decision I made recently. The weather was perfect and the turquoise lake, stretching out toward misty, forested mountains, radiated tranquility. Sun Moon Lake always has a magic ability to immediately relax your muscles, make your breath deeper and calm your mind. If you ever come to Taiwan, I highly recommend a trip to Sun Moon Lake. The short trip -- which included a wonderful nighttime firefly tour that my son absolutely loved -- helped recharge my energy and reset my exhausted brain. The tariff war was just as chaotic when I returned to work this week, but I feel I have more capacity to cope with the uncertainties. And nothing lasts forever, after all. A senior executive with an Apple supplier who has been in the industry for more than 40 years told me he thinks the tariff war will de-escalate in two or three months and then the supply chain should have a clearer picture of what to do next. "And let's see," he added, "whether the tariff war will 'Make America Great Again' or "Make America Great Alone.'" In other news, #techAsia will be taking a break next week due to the Golden Week holiday in Japan. We will be back to our regular schedule on May 15. See you then! Opposite outcome What was the first response by Apple when the Trump administration escalated tariffs on Chinese imports to as high as 145%? Instead of rushing to bring production home, it doubled down on Southeast Asia and India. The Cupertino-based tech giant's immediate strategy to deal with the tariff war shows just how far off a "Made in America" iPhone remains, even if Trump and his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, insist otherwise, write Nikkei Asia's Lauly Li and Cheng Ting-Fang. Apple helped suppliers to buy equipment to boost production, told suppliers that the majority of U.S.-bound iPhones, MacBooks and iPads need to be made in India and Vietnam, and rushed more component production to Thailand, as Nikkei Asia first reported in mid-April. However, the reality is that even Southeast Asia and India -- where Apple and other electronics makers have been pushing hard to diversify production for years -- still struggle to compete against China and its ultra-efficient supply chain, never mind moving such manufacturing to the U.S. Shifting an entire supply chain is extremely challenging. For instance, while some MacBooks, Mac Mini and iMacs are now labeled "Made in Vietnam" or "Made in Thailand," not all of the components were produced or all of the assembly carried out there due to lack of sufficient technicians, skilled workers, while some low-margin components are not yet feasible to be moved out of China. Cluster effect Chinese tech giant Huawei is making strides in the artificial intelligence chip market, having started deliveries of its advanced AI "cluster" to domestic clients, writes the Financial Times' Zijing Wu. The move comes as Chinese companies face increasing limitations on accessing Nvidia's high-end semiconductors because of tightening U.S. export controls. Sources indicate that Huawei has already sold over 10 sets of its CloudMatrix 384, a system that interconnects a substantial number of AI chips. These initial deliveries are destined for data centers serving various Chinese tech firms. Industry analysts have been impressed by Huawei's rapid development and deployment of CloudMatrix. "The development of Huawei's CloudMatrix 384 means China now has an AI system capable of beating Nvidia's," said Dylan Patel, founder of chip consultancy has told clients its CloudMatrix performs significantly better than Nvidia's popular NVL72 cluster in terms of computing power and memory, according to a company presentation reviewed by the Financial Times and people with knowledge of the matter. CloudMatrix 384 does have several disadvantages, including higher energy consumption and more demanding software maintenance. But given China's abundant power resources and engineering talent, it still represents a compelling alternative for clients now restricted from Nvidia's most advanced technology, said people with knowledge of the sales. AI optimism Unimicron, Taiwan's leading supplier of chip substrate and printed circuit boards, expects strong demand from high-end AI data centers to drive higher growth -- if the tariff war between the U.S. and China does not escalate further, Nikkei Asia's Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li write. "So far, we don't see any customers adjusting their orders due to the tariffs, but overall we do have concerns that higher tariffs or escalating geopolitical tensions could hit global demand and eventually, directly or indirectly, impact orders," company chairman T.J. Tseng said. Unimicron, which counts Nvidia, Intel and Apple among its customers, is currently building its first manufacturing facility in Thailand, with plans for it to enter production in the second half of this year. Tseng said his company has been considering investing in the U.S. in response to recent geopolitical developments, but has no concrete plans to do so at the moment given the lack of a supply chain and customer demand to support such a move. Alibaba's DeepSeek riposte The AI model race in China is getting hotter and hotter. E-commerce giant Alibaba released Qwen3, the latest generation of its open-source large language model family, in a bid to challenge DeepSeek in artificial intelligence capabilities and efficiency, writes Nikkei Asia's Cissy Zhou. Alibaba said Qwen3 sharply reduces computing power compared with its peers and that its flagship Qwen3-235B-A22B outperforms a number of models released by major rivals -- namely DeepSeek-R1, OpenAI-o1, Grok-3 and Gemini-2.5-Pro -- in a range of benchmark tests. These include mathematical reasoning, coding proficiency, and tool and function calling capabilities, a measure of a model's ability to select and use the best external tools for a task. The highly anticipated release, which local media says took around seven months of work, comes as competition heats up among Chinese AI companies, particularly since the emergence of DeepSeek early this year. Last week, Baidu released two new AI foundation models that it claims cost "a fraction" of comparable offerings from DeepSeek. Suggested reads 3. (Nikkei Asia) 4. Samsung warns US tariffs will dent memory chip and smartphone sales (FT) 5. (FT) 6. Japan's lower house passes AI bill as nation targets Western investment (Nikkei Asia) 7. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan hints at foundry collaboration with TSMC (Nikkei Asia) 8. China and South Korea extend battery battle from EVs to grid storage (FT) 9. TikTok to enter Japan e-commerce as it seeks expansion outside US (Nikkei Asia) 10. Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China (FT)
