San Francisco Tests Its Limits On Public Nudism
SAN FRANCISCO – “No shoes, no shirt, no service” is a sign you see in a lot of US stores. In San Francisco, restauranteurs may soon have to add “no pants” to the list, as a row flares over nudism in the vibrant heart of the city's gay community.
On a sunny September day, Woody Miller strolls through the district, known as Castro. He's tall and fit, with a long grey beard and heavy silver nose ring – and wearing nothing more than sneakers, a baseball cap and a watch.
“I go naked on a nice day because I like the feel of the sun and the air on my skin,” says Miller, 55, who is one of the city's growing number of public nudists, popularly known as Naked Guys.
“There's nothing obscene about the human body,” he adds. “The belief that there is, is something that's taught. It's just another form of prejudice.”
Home to the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro – where sex shops coexist with trendy cafes and bars – is still one of the most free-thinking neighborhoods in this famously liberal city.
But even the Castro has its limits, says Scott Wiener, a 14-year resident of the neighborhood and its newly elected Democratic member of the San Francisco city council.
He is proposing legislation that would require nudists in San Francisco to cover public benches or seats before sitting down on them, and to cover themselves altogether before entering a restaurant.
Violators would be fined $100 for a first offence, $200 for a second, and $1,000 or more – plus a year in jail – a third time around.
The Castro is “ground zero” when it comes to public nudity, and particularly Jane Warner Plaza, an enclosed seating area at the throbbing intersection of Castro and Market streets, the councillor said.
“In the last few years, it's become more obnoxious and in your face,” he said. They hang out and pick up a lot of the seats there, and sit down without covering. It's unsanitary.”
Miller thinks Weiner's initiative is unnecessary.
“Putting something down before you sit down? I think that's common etiquette,” he said. “You don't need to legislate that. It's right there in the 'nudist handbook'. You don't go anywhere without your towel.”
California state law prohibits exposing one's genitals “with lewd intent” – but the way the law is applied in San Francisco, so long as no-one is obviously aroused, what's lewd is in the eye of the beholder.
Members of the public can perform a citizen's arrest, but police won't arrest nudists absent a complaint.
Miller's disdain for Weiner's proposal is shared by another Castro nudist, writer and businessman George Davis, 65, who in 2007 ran for mayor on a platform of making clothing optional in Golden Gate Park.
“It's an irrational fear,” he said, wearing a hat, sunglasses and a mobile phone on his hip, and referring to worries about nudism and public health. “You ought to be more afraid if I cough on you than sitting where I sat.”
Wiener's bill would also ban restaurants from serving naked patrons, an idea that Michael England, a server at Orphan Andy's, a 24-hour diner in the Castro, thought rather redundant.
Orphan Andy's already has a dress code – typical right across the United States – that requires diners to wear shirts and shoes, “and pants, too, I suppose.”
But Davis pointed out that other restaurants do serve naked diners. “I don't know why they want to burden restauranteurs with a whole other level of bureaucracy,” he said. “It just seems to be a little bit micromanaging.”
Supporting the bill is James Viggiano, 57, a San Francisco resident and regular visitor to the Castro who recalls going to a few restaurants and seeing clients with nothing on.
“I don't think that's healthy (and) I find that offensive when we've got kids living around here, and we've got tourists, and all of a sudden we're becoming a nudist colony,” he said.
But over at the Hot Cookie bakery, owner Dan Glazer thinks the Naked Guys might be a tourist attraction in their own right.
“My intuition is that it helps business,” he says. “We have no problem with naked people at Hot Cookie. We sell cookies in the shape of penises.”
Wiener says his proposal – which is waiting to be heard by the San Francisco city council's public safety committee – won't trample on the right to self-expression.
“Some people view this as an infringement on San Francisco being different and not being mainstream. If I was proposing to ban public nudity, I would understand,” he said.
“But sitting uncovered on public seating has nothing to do with being an odd or different neighbourhood.”
For dedicated nudist Davis, however, there is one thing that will make him cover up: San Francisco's famously unpredictable weather. “The wind is winning,” he says, pulling on a pair of trousers.
- AFP/al
Channel News Asia
More Willing To Think About Death
SINGAPORE: Death may still be a relatively taboo topic in Singapore, but statistics from the Health Ministry (MOH) show that more people are warming up to the idea of signing a “living will”, instructing doctors not to prolong their life with extraordinary life-sustaining treatment if they become terminally-ill and unconscious.
While only 500 signed up for an Advanced Medical Directive (AMD) each year between 1997 to 2004, the figure has jumped nearly four-fold to 1,900 a year in the subsequent years to 2010. Current numbers stand at 14,000 and seven have been administered, according to the MOH.
An MOH spokesperson attributed the growing acceptance to how end-of-life care has developed “from a single intervention at the point of terminal illness to a more holistic and comprehensive approach of advance care planning”.
The AMD, which was legislated in 1997, is a legal document voluntarily signed by patients. The possibility of signing such a document can come up when patients discuss with medical professionals their future medical care in the event the patient becomes incapacitated from making his own decisions – a process called advance care planning.
Patients can seek clarification about their conditions and their available options, which will assist healthcare workers in clinical decision-making.
“Such conversations can take place earlier in the course of illness and can continue over several consultations,” said Associate Professor Pang Weng Sun, senior consultant at the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
The Agency for Integrated Care is aiming to facilitate “end-of-life conversations”, and has trained 190 facilitators to do so. It plans to train another 240 by the end of this year.
Its spokesperson told TODAY that the Government has set aside S$18 million to embark on the programme, which includes both training and raising awareness of this scheme.
While there is growing interest in AMDs, a Lien Foundation report found that doctors felt the number of such livings wills are low.
Said Dr Lalit Krishna, a senior consultant in palliative medicine at National Cancer Centre Singapore: “We live in a society which still considers the discussion of death as taboo
Walking Tours Along 7 Circle Line Stations
SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is extending its Art in Transit Programme to seven MRT stations along the Circle Line.
The Circle Line Art in Transit Programme, launched Friday by the LTA, SMRT and Art Outreach, will take visitors on a two-hour tour through the seven stations – Paya Lebar, Dakota, Mountbatten, Stadium, Nicoll Highway, Promenade and Esplanade.
Visitors can take the tour to view artwork by top Singaporean artists which have been incorporated as part of the interior to tell the culture and history of the neighbourhood around each station.
The LTA began its Art in Transit Programme in 2008 at four out of 19 stations along the North East Line (NEL).
It said more than 1,300 participants have taken that tour so far.
Mr Andrew Mead, senior design manager (Architecture) at LTA said: “The stations of our rail network are an ideal palette to bring together the works of some of Singapore's best artists. The Circle Line's art, like NEL's brings to life the culture of the neighbourhood.”
Art Outreach Singapore chairman Mae Anderson said the enthusiastic response from the public encouraged them to extend the programme for the Circle Line.
“The North East Line tours were formally launched in 2009, and we had a wonderful response from the public. I think members of the public were very much appreciative of finding out the stories behind the art work. The warm response certainly encouraged us to start working with SMRT for the Circle Line tours.”
He added: “I think the Promenade station is rather interesting because the art work is about the history of the station, about people working and playing together at the same place at the waterfront once, I find that quite interesting.”
- CNA/cc/fa
Channel News Asia
Man Charged With Fernvale Road Murder
SINGAPORE: A jobless man has been charged with murdering his wife in a flat at Block 441B Fernvale Road in Sengkang on Wednesday.
Singaporean Lee Show Fui, 32, is accused of killing his coffeeshop assistant wife, Madam Tang Shi Fang, 37, between 9am and 4pm that day.
Channel NewsAsia understands that Madam Tang was a China national who later became a Singapore citizen.
The tall, bespectacled Lee turned up in court Friday in a green top and in a pair of dark-coloured pants.
He told the court he did not murder his wife.
Lee is now remanded at the Central Police Division and will be back in court, next Friday.
If convicted of murder, he will face the death penalty.
- CNA/cc/fa
Channel News Asia
Chinese Manufacturer Pulls Bullet Trains Over "flaws"
SHANGHAI: More than 50 bullet trains on a new fast link between Beijing and Shanghai will be recalled because of “flaws,” their manufacturer said Friday, in a fresh blow for China's high-speed rail industry.
The move to pull 54 trains from the flagship line came a day after Beijing said it was suspending approval of new railway projects and cutting speeds on newly-built tracks after a deadly collision of two high-speed trains last month.
The state-owned company said the recall would allow it to analyse problems that have plagued train services on the new line, which was built at a cost of $33 billion and only opened on June 30.
“China CNR Corp … is recalling 54 CRH380BL bullet trains produced by our subsidiaries that are already in operation to systematically analyse causes of flaws,” the firm said in a statement filed with the Shanghai stock exchange.
The recall would allow it to “conduct an overhaul to ensure their quality and safety,” said the statement, which was approved by the railway ministry.
It will affect around a quarter of services on the new line, which has suffered a series of delays and power cuts since its launch.
China's government has made the construction of the world's biggest high-speed rail network a key political priority and last month's crash, combined with problems on the Beijing-Shanghai link, was a major embarrassment.
The accident killed 40 people and sparked a public outcry amid allegations the government had disregarded safety concerns in its rush to develop high-speed railways.
The concerns have forced China to slam the brakes on the rapid expansion of its high-speed rail network, the biggest in the world at 8,358 kilometres (5,193 miles) at the end of 2010.
The government had planned for it to exceed 13,000 kilometres by 2012 and 16,000 kilometres by 2020, before the State Council, or cabinet, said on Wednesday it would halt the approval of new railway construction projects.
The government also ordered cuts to the speed of trains running on newly-built high-speed lines and said safety checks would be conducted on all existing fast links as well as those under construction.
The government has said a faulty signalling system was to blame and promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the disaster.
On Friday, the official China Daily newspaper quoted Luo Lin, the government minister heading the investigation team, as saying the accident was “completely avoidable” and likely caused by design defects.
State-owned China CNR Corp said earlier this week that the railway ministry had ordered it to halt shipments of the same model of trains as that involved in the recall after problems caused a series of delays on the Beijing-Shanghai fast link.
The company said an automatic braking system installed in the trains had caused the delays on the high-profile line.
The trains, which were made by CNR unit Changchun Railway Vehicles Co, were installed with sensors that sent alerts to automatically slow the train down, it said.
A spokesman for the company told AFP the trains affected were based on technology used in another model made in partnership with the German technology giant Siemens.
Tan Xiaofeng said the “small but widespread” problems with the CRH380BL model affected components including the trains' heat sensors and would not compromise safety, but could hit punctuality.
“They (heat sensors) worked fine in checks and trials. But once installed in the trains, they are likely to give wrong warnings as affected by the environment,” he said.
The recall was the latest sign that concerns over the safety and reliability was taking a toll on China's rail manufacturing industry.
On Thursday another company, China Railway Group, said it had scrapped plans to raise 6.24 billion yuan ($975 million) in a private share placement.
The Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed railway construction firm cited uncertainties about obtaining government approval for the share placement following changes in policy.
CSR Corp, the maker of the trains involved in the July crash, said Thursday two major shareholders would delay the public trading of the 6.52 billion non-tradable shares they held for three more years.
Trading of China CNR Corp's stocks was suspended on Thursday, according to a statement on the Shanghai stock exchange, and had not resumed by Friday morning.
- AFP/cc
Channel News Asia
Fugitive Back In Court
SINGAPORE: A fugitive appeared before a district court Friday, 14 years after he was charged with one count of molest in 1997.
Tan Leng Hwa, 57, had been trying to evade the authorities when he fled Singapore for Malaysia.
It is not known when he left Singapore or how long he had been on the run.
Tan also got into trouble with the law in Malaysia when he was accused of being part of a group that had kidnapped Mr Lee Kar Shiang, 20, in Johor in January, last year.
Tan and three others were charged with the offence in Malaysia.
According to Malaysian media, they were accused of demanding a ransom of RM$2 million in exchange for Mr Lee's release but agreed to a smaller amount after negotiations.
However, it was reported that all four were given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in a Johor High Court, this February.
Malaysian media said that a judge there granted the discharge as the four did not receive the money.
But they were re-arrested and taken to a magistrate's court to face another charge of wrongful confinement.
Malaysian police handed Tan over to their Singapore counterparts earlier this year.
Here, Tan is accused of molesting a then 16-year-old girl in a Mandai forested area on September 30, 1996.
He was also charged, Friday, with stealing a car in 1998.
No bail was offered and Tan will be back in court on August 19.
- CNA/cc
Channel News Asia
‘Air-Conditioned Clothes’ Help Japan Beat Heat
TODA, Japan: As jackets go it looks far from fashionable, but its Japanese maker cannot meet sky-rocketing demand for “air conditioned” coats with built-in fans.
Kuchofuku Co. Ltd, whose name literally means “air-conditioned clothing”, has seen orders soar amid power shortages in Japan after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
As parts of the nation sweat out an uncomfortable summer shackled by restrictions on electricity use, demand has grown for goods that provide guilt-free respite from the unrelenting summer heat.
Two electric fans in the jacket can be controlled to draw air in at different speeds, giving the garment a puffed-up look. But this has not deterred those happy to be cool rather than “hot” when it comes to fashion.
“I work in a very hot place and have to wear long sleeved outfits, so I came over to buy this to stay cool and to prevent heat stroke,” said Ryo Igarashi, 33, as he left the Kuchofuku office after buying an air-conditioned jacket.
Igarashi said the clothing offers him relief at hot construction sites where he, coincidentally, installs air conditioners in buildings.
Nearly 1,000 companies in Japan use Kuchofuku, including automobile giants, steelmakers, food companies and construction firms.
Among its other products, the company also sells air-conditioned cushions and mattresses that use Kuchofuku's patented plastic mesh system that allows air to circulate while supporting weight.
The products have taken on extra significance since the closure of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and a government decree obliging big companies in the Tokyo and Tohoku northern region to reduce power usage by 15 per cent to avoid blackouts.
Initiatives such as “Super Cool Biz” encourage employees to ditch jackets and ties and turn down air conditioning, while the power-saving drive has also sparked demand for cooling gadgets.
Imports of electrical fans through Tokyo port hit a record high in May, jumping 70 per cent from a year earlier to 1.24 million units, according to the customs office.
The fans in the Kuchofuku jacket are connected to a lithium-ion battery pack that lasts for 11 hours on a single charge, consuming only a fraction of the power used by conventional air-conditioning, said company president Hiroshi Ichigaya.
Ichigaya said his clothing offers a counter-intuitive solution: that by wearing more, a person can feel cooler than if baring it all.
“People are now trying to wear as little as possible in such campaigns as Super Cool Biz, but wearing more Kuchofuku makes you feel much cooler,” Ichigaya told AFP.
Up to 20 litres per second of air circulates throughout the jacket and escapes through the collar and cuffs, drying off sweat and cooling down the wearer.
The idea of “personal air-conditioning” struck Ichigaya – a Sony engineer for two decades until the early 1990s – when he was trying to invent an air conditioner that would use little electricity.
“It came to me that we don't need to cool the entire room, just as long as people in it feel cool,” he said.
Kuchofuku, first launched in 2004, typically draws demand from factories and construction sites but the company has recently seen orders come in from office workers and housewives.
A standard air-conditioned jacket sells for around 11,000 yen ($140), with others priced higher.
A central government official recently approached the company to buy half-a-million jackets, but Ichigaya said he had to turn the order down because the company was unable to boost production in time to meet demand.
The company will sell a total of 40,000 jackets, cushions and other air-cooled products this year, double last year's figure, Ichigaya said, adding that sales would reach 80,000 if he could manufacture enough.
- AFP/fa
Channel News Asia
PTC To Track Affordability Factor When Deciding Fare Adjustments
SINGAPORE: Public Transport Council Chairman Gerard Ee said the “affordability factor” will be tracked when looking at fare increases proposed by Singapore's two main public transport operators.
Mr Ee, who was speaking on Channel NewsAsia's revamped discussion programme “Talking Point”, said the council will not just “blindly” look at the fare adjustment formula.
He said the amount of money that people spend on public transport is monitored, and that over the last few years, a smaller proportion of household income is being spent on public transport.
On a suggestion that operators wean themselves from oil dependence by exploring eco-friendly technology, Mr Ee said it's something that can be looked into.
“The use of electric buses and all that, it will come. It will definitely be there and we are very close to that event. Technology is improving very rapidly and I'm looking forward to the day where we have cleaner environment through the use of electric vehicles,” said Ee.
Viewers can catch the new season of “Talking Point” on Sunday night at 10.30pm, Singapore/Hong Kong time.
- CNA /ls
Channel News Asia
UN’s Highest Court To Rule On Thai Troop Withdrawal
THE HAGUE: The UN's highest court is to rule Monday on a request by Cambodia for an immediate Thai troop withdrawal from a disputed border area around an ancient Khmer temple, where clashes have taken place.
International Court of Justice president, Judge Hisashi Owada, is expected to read the court's order at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) at the Hague-based Peace Palace, where the ICJ is seated.
“The court will deliver an order Monday on Cambodia's request for Thailand to stop military activity” in the area, an observer close to the ICJ told AFP, adding Owada would be accompanied by a 14-judge bench and two ad hoc judges.
Cambodia in late April launched a bitter legal battle before the ICJ in which it asked for an interpretation of a 1962 ICJ ruling around the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.
At the same time, while the court pondered its decision, Cambodia also asked judges to approve provisional measures including an immediate Thai troop withdrawal and a ban on all Thai military activity there.
Although Thailand did not dispute Cambodia's ownership of the temple, secured by the 1962 ruling, both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claimed the 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) area surrounding the Khmer complex.
The two countries orally argued their cases before judges at the end of May with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong asking for “an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Thai forces from those parts of Cambodian territory situated in the area of the temple of Preah Vihear.”
Phnom Penh also asked that “Thailand refrained from any act or action which could interfere with the rights of Cambodia or aggravate the dispute in the principal proceedings.”
Thailand's ambassador to the Netherlands, Virachai Plasai, responded by saying his country requested the ICJ to scrap Cambodia's case from the court's general list.
Bangkok however did say in June that it would respect the ICJ's order.
In February, the United Nations appealed for a permanent ceasefire after 10 people were killed in fighting near the Preah Vihear temple.
However fresh clashes broke out in April further west, leaving 18 dead and prompting 85,000 civilians to flee.
Cambodia said although there had been clashes in the past, Thai aggression substantially increased after July 2008, when the UN's cultural body UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage site.
But the 11th-century complex has been at the centre of a long legal wrangle between Thailand and Cambodia — which first took its southeastern Asian neighbour to the ICJ in 1959 over the issue.
Established in 1945, the ICJ is the UN's highest judicial organ and it settles disputes between states. It is the only one of six principal UN organs not located in New York.
- AFP/fa
Channel News Asia
Fake Bedding Product Syndicate Busted
SINGAPORE: Police have broken up a major local syndicate involved in the sales and distribution of counterfeit bedding products.
Five people were arrested in a raid on Wednesday at Blk 18, Toa Payoh Lorong 6.
Police seized more than 9,000 pieces of counterfeit bedding products worth some S$120,000.
They bear the trademarks of popular cartoon characters and English Premier League clubs.
The syndicate supplied these counterfeit bedding products to makeshift retail stalls island-wide.
Investigations into the case are ongoing.
Persons found in possession of counterfeit goods for trade or distribution may face a fine of up to S$10,000 per article or a maximum fine of S$100,000 for all items, or a maximum jail term of five years, or both.
- CNA/ir
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