Blockchain technology allowed 17 million people to travel between China’s Guangdong province and Macau amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Macau and China’s southern Guangdong province have a mutually recognised health code system powered by blockchain
This
allows both sides to validate the health status of travellers without
directly exchanging personal data, hence complying with local privacy
laws
Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk outside the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau on January 22, 2020. Photo AFP
EVEN amid a global travel standstill due to the coronavirus, more than 17 million people travelled between Macau and China’s southern Guangdong province since May.
This is thanks to a mutually recognised QR health code system using a crucial piece of technology: blockchain.
Blockchain technology is seen as a secure way to transfer data as it stores records in a network of computers instead of a centralised system. Each new record is linked to previous ones, making it extremely difficult for anyone to make changes.
The mainland China-macau health code system, based on technology by Chinese opensourced blockchain platform Fisco Bcos and Webank, a fintech developer backed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings, provides a solution to a major challenge to crossborder travel, Fisco Bcos said in a press release.
“Health authorities in Chinese mainland and Macau need to verify the health information submitted by users crossing the border and yet they are not supposed to exchange data directly with each other to stay in compliance with their corresponding regulations,” the blockchain platform said.
The health code system uses blockchain to encrypt the identification and personal health information of travellers, storing it in a consortium blockchain network which grants access only to authorised organisations.
This way, health authorities on both sides are able to verify whether travellers are in good health and have been in contact with any known Covid-19 cases without actually accessing personal data, thus complying with privacy regulations on both sides of the border that prohibit the direct exchange of such information.
With the code and valid negative coronavirus test results, Macau travellers are now exempt from a 14-day quarantine when entering China.
Chinese travellers from outside Guangdong province can also participate in the system to travel into Macau without quarantine requirements as long as they allow Guangdong authorities to access their data.
“The whole process does not involve transmission of data between back-end platforms,” said Fan Ruibin, head of blockchain technology at Webank.
“The original data is still stored in the local authority’s data centre.”
The technology “greatly improves the efficiency and accuracy of information verification across borders” and saves travellers the trouble of filling in personal information repeatedly on different platforms, Fisco Bcos said.
The average time of setting up the mutually-recognisable health code for the first time is 100 seconds and it takes less than three seconds to repeat the procedure thereafter, according to the statement.
Technically speaking, the system allows “both authorities to recognise a person’s health conditions through asymmetric cryptographic technology”, which uses a pair of related keys to encrypt and decrypt a message and protect it from unauthorised access or use, said Gao Chengshi, a cryptography expert and a member of the Blockchain Committee of the China Computer Federation.
“The technology itself isn’t complicated, and can be easily introduced to other countries and regions as long as the authorities are willing to conduct such mutual recognition of health identities,” Gao said.
America goes to the polls, China unveils its five-year plan: analysing Beijing versus Biden & Trump
In this very special edition, the SCMP Political Economy team count down to a seismic day in the global calendar - November 3. China will release details of its next five-year plan, the same day of the US presidential election. John Carter and William Zheng draw a line between the two events - including a specific detail from a Beijing press conference with huge symbolic meaning for China. Economist Andy Rothman explores China's economic recovery and frisks three post-election scenarios, while former USTR staffer Benjamin Kostrzewa discusses a rollercoaster four years for trade lawyers, and casts an eye ahead to the next four years. #scmppodcasts
US President Donald Trump vowed to again defy the polls
as he sprinted through five swing states Sunday, while his opponent Joe
Biden urged supporters to “take back our democracy” by voting in two
days.
“Stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation is highly important for
providing employment for key groups of people and increasing their
income" - Premier Li Keqiang
China will roll out new measures to catalyze entrepreneurship and innovation with special focus on employment of and business start-up by college graduates and other key populations, the State Council’s executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided Wednesday.
The nationwide initiative spurring entrepreneurship and innovation is a crucial underpinning for sustaining and expanding employment, and nurturing new drivers of growth. Premier Li Keqiang highlighted the need to further take forward the entrepreneurship and innovation initiative, and catalyze its role in promoting employment, especially for college graduates.
The meeting underlined the imperative to make all-round efforts to maintain stability on the six fronts and security in the six areas.
Given the shocks caused by COVID-19 and shifting environment for development, the meeting urged keeping to the strategy of innovation-driven development, and spurring society-wide entrepreneurial activities and innovation, to unleash market vitality and people’s creativity.
New drivers of growth will be fully harnessed to support jobs and market entities, with a particular focus on the employment of college graduates, rural migrant workers who have returned to their hometowns and other key populations.
“Stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation is highly important for providing employment for key groups of people and increasing their income. Competent departments should work out greater support for the employment of college graduates and rural migrant workers,” Li said.
A series of concrete measures were adopted at the meeting. Support for entrepreneurs and innovators will be scaled up. Special funds will be earmarked from central budgetary investment for the development of the entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration centers.
Idle factory buildings and under-used land will be brought into full play as part of greater support for key entrepreneurial and innovation projects.
Government-invested incubators will provide a portion of their venues free of charge to college graduates and rural migrant workers.
One-off subsidies may be granted to first-time entrepreneurs returning or moving to the countryside, who have kept their business start-ups in regular operation no less than a year.
Demonstration programs for boosting employment by entrepreneurial activities will be carried out. Enterprises, entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration centers, and online platforms will be encouraged to jointly provide training on entrepreneurial skills in nursing, elderly care, domestic services, tourism and e-commerce to help shape the expectation of job-seekers and broaden their prospects for employment.
“We need to provide proper guidance for college graduates in their expectations for jobs, and encourage them to start their own businesses,” Li said.
The entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration centers will be encouraged to build platforms for integrated cross-regional development involving companies of different sizes. And platforms providing specialized services will be built for the commercialization of scientific and technological research outcomes.
Financial institutions will be encouraged to provide insurance services for the financial leasing of equipment and entrepreneurial activities.
Restrictions on sectors where insurance funds may be used for financial equity investment will be lifted, and the quota transfer of equity investment and venture capital investment will be piloted in regional equity markets.
The meeting urged stepping up basic research in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, and encouraging teenagers to learn and explore basic theories.
“University students need to be further encouraged to study and research basic theories, to underpin the country’s ability to innovate. Without a solid ground in basic research, it is impossible to make significant progress,” Li stressed.
The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government made the decision to reopen businesses on Monday to prevent economic losses of close to RM100 billion.
In a live address, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the country has already lost up to RM63 billion for the duration of the movement control order (MCO) since it began on March 18.
Most economic sectors in Malaysia will open from Monday (May 4) with health protocols in place, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in his Labour Day message.
In his speech that was broadcast live on Friday, Mr Muhyiddin said: "With advice from the Ministry of Health, based on data collected, and protocol outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO), the government has decided to open its economic sectors carefully, while implementing stringent health standard operating procedures (SOP)."
"Almost all economic sectors and business activities will be allowed to operate from May 4, depending on protocols and SOP decided by authorities."
However, Mr Muhyiddin explained that some industries and business activities will remain closed as they involve mass gatherings, and where social distancing is difficult to enforce.
These includes cinemas, karaoke lounges, reflexology centres, nightclubs, Ramadan bazaars, Hari Raya Aidilfitri bazaars, sale carnivals as well as all conferences and exhibitions.
Furthermore, sports activities that involve body contact and mass gatherings will also not proceed. These include football, rugby, swimming in public areas and all indoor sports.
Meanwhile, outdoor activities such as badminton, tennis, cycling, golf and running in small groups with not more than 10 people, will be permitted.
Describing this as the "conditional movement control order (MCO)", Mr Muhyiddin added that restaurants, with enough space to ensure social distancing between customers, will also be allowed to open.
However, he maintained that religious activities such as Friday prayers and other prayers in congregation in mosques will not be permitted.
Interstate travel, including to return to hometowns for the upcoming Aidilfitri celebration, is not allowed, he added.
Malaysia MCO file photo
Malaysia's movement control order came into effect since Mar 18, 2020. (File photo: Bernama)
Mr Muhyiddin also said that schools and institutions of higher learning will remain closed.
"A full list of activities that will is prohibited will be reflected on the National Security Council website:www.mkn.gov.my " he said.
"The list will be reviewed from time to time depending on the number of COVID-19 cases," he added.
As of Friday, there are a total of 6,002 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Malaysia, of whom 4,171 or 69.5 per cent have been discharged.
MALAYSIA HAS SUCCESSFULLY CONTROLLED SPREAD OF COVID-19: MUHYIDDIN
Mr Muhyiddin made the announcement to open most economic sectos following a decrease in new COVID-19 cases across the country in recent weeks, a sign that the MCO has proven to be fruitful.
He highlighted in his speech that Malaysia's economy has suffered a loss of RM2.4 billion (US$560 million) each day since the MCO was implemented. The total losses are estimated at RM63 billion, he added.
Should MCO be extended for another month, Malaysia would see a further loss of RM35 billion, the prime minister said.
In his speech, Mr Muhyiddin highlighted how discipline showed by residents to stay at home during the MCO has brought encouraging results.
He explained that this has helped boost the Ministry of Health's capabilities in treating COVID-19 patients. Malaysia will have enough manpower, beds in hospitals, quarantine centres, medication, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and testing labs in case infection rate rises again.
He also acknowledged that in the coming months, it would be impossible for any countries to achieve zero new COVID-19 cases, Hence, Malaysia has to upgrade the capabilities of its public healthcare services to "face any possibilities", he added.
"Even though we have successfully controlled the spread of COVID-19, do not be careless. Stay vigilant. Practise social distancing, wash your hands frequently, wear a face mask in public and quickly see a doctor if you have any symptoms," said Mr Muhyiddin.
Parents, nurseries should compromise on fees during MCO
The move by childcare centres or nurseries (taska) to demand full fees despite the Movement Control Order (MCO) which enters its sixth week, has become a thorny issue for parents involved.
In fact, this is one of many grouses voiced by parents when majority of the nurseries insisted that the fees must be paid in full to cover certain costs as well as to pay their staff salaries.
An e-hailing driver from Johor Baru, Amir Hamzah, said parents and the nurseries should compromise and have an understanding and empathy to come up with a win-win solution for all parties to solve the crisis.
Amir, 37, said the nurseries should not think about the profit alone by charging the same fees as before, given the fact that many expenses could be saved during the MCO.
This includes saving on utility bills such as electricity and water, stationery sets, and daily meals for the children as well as receiving wage subsidy from the government under the Prihatin Tambahan economic stimulus package.
“It is not that we don’t want to pay at all, we understand the staff salaries depend on the fees, but calculations must be made by deducting unused costs from the full payment of the monthly fees.
“If the fees remain the same, that means the nurseries are making more profits before MCO while some parents are experiencing a complete loss of income. Like me, for example, e-hailing drivers are finding so hard to make ends meet as people choose to stay home,” he told Bernama.
Throughout the MCO, the nursery has allowed Amir, who allocates RM1,000 monthly for his two children - son and daughter - to defer his payment without offering any discounts.
“They do conduct online classes for an hour daily but the effectiveness is not the same as face-to-face in a classroom, especially when children are below four years old,” he said.
Even the cost of buying learning materials and a printer was borne by parents, he added.
Sharing a similar sentiment, a bank employee who wants to be known as Atirah, 39, said the nursery has given her a half-price discount for May, with a condition that both March and April fees must be settled in full.
“Otherwise, they will terminate my three-year-old daughter’s enrollment. My husband and I are working throughout MCO as we are in the essential services. We are forced to send our child to another babysitter as the centre is closed.
“We paid in full for March despite being unable to send her to the centre for two weeks. Since MCO has been extended, we hope the nursery would compromise by offering discounts or the government to come up with fees standardisation,” she said.
Meanwhile, a member of Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia (ARCPM) Board of Trustees, Shamsinah Che Shariff, said many small nurseries or kindergartens were having trouble staying afloat as many parents have refused to pay the monthly fees.
Most of the nurseries have no issues of deducting all other costs as some families may also be affected financially by the MCO and it would be wise for both sides to come up with an agreement, she said.
“If the income of the parents has been affected, they can show the proof and discuss with the management, it should not be a problem. It is also fine if (parents) want the meal costs to be deducted.
“The utility bill is not so much compare to the love and care as well as good services provided for the children. The nurseries still need to pay rent, salaries and must make contributions to Employers Provident Fund and Social Security Organisations,” she added.
However, she said, some parents did settle the full payment although they were offered discounts as they understood the value of the nurseries and kindergarten as a professional provider.
She added that small nurseries have been severely affected when parents decided not to make payment since they were looking after their children at home.
In the meantime, Shamsinah said the efforts of teachers and caregivers to conduct online lessons was a proof that they were willing to put extra efforts to ensure that children did not miss the learning process apart from making most of their time with quality activities.
“With the technology, the online teaching initiative definitely needs a little assistance from parents, but parents should also see that it takes a lot of effort from teachers to make extra preparation to conduct the lesson,” she added. — Bernama
For those who are arguing on both sides that we must open now or it is too soon to open, *this is the most important thing you need to know*.
Here's the most asked question to answer:
*When will it be SAFE to end the lockdown, to re-emerge?*
*May 1st? Or May 15th?* *Or June end? Or July end? Or August?*
Here's the real answer: *Never*. *It will never be "SAFE.*”
Why ?
Social distancing, staying at home, all of these measures - were these not meant to "cure" Covid-19 ?
*No at all ! These were measures to slow it down, so as to not overwhelm our healthcare system*.
For the most part, so far we've done that.
However it should be clearly understood that It does not change the virality of Covid-19 ; or how it spreads from one person to another.
*Nor does it have any effect on the mortality rate*. *It was intended to just delay it until we find a PERMANENT CURE .*
A very important point to note here is that - As soon as we re-emerge, the virus will spread again, & the people with weak immune systems will still succumb to it in large nos .
*This is a harsh fact which all of us have to realise .*
The people who missed it this time, may eventually get it - regardless of whether we re-emerge on May 1st or September 30th ......
*What is it , that we need to do now ?*
We need to protect our healthcare system in every possible way to handle the load, but we don't need to mislead ourselves over the outcome of this quarantine.
*Hard Truth of life now is* - *It is slowing it down, but not curing it.*
Eg : If you're driving to Alor Setar from Kuala Lumpur at 50 miles an hour or 100 miles an hour, the distance doesn't change, isn’t it ???
Therefore the need of the hour now is -
*if our lifestyle is causing you to have a weakened immune system, use this lockdown time to correct that*. This should be one of our major resolutions / actionables now without any doubt !
*Otherwise, you've placed a “heavy target “ on your own back* *which will be very difficult to carry* ...
Youngsters as well as older *people should understand & make sure that this is not the time for indulging in comfort food* - but it's a time to give ourselves the healthiest, most robust immune system our body is capable of.
*How can this be achieved*? 1 - By Having healthy , nutritious food ,
2 - Compulsory, 8-hour, night sleep.- drink lime water ( warm water ) daily morning without fail ;
3 - Not having refrigerated or aerated drinks ;
4 - Detox yourself everyday &
5 - maintain social distancing for next couple of weeks/ even months until we have a vaccine or definite, standardized, proven medicine that ensures rapid cure.
It's as simple as this !!!
Hope you all understand that this is just the beginning & not the end .
We need to be careful about ourselves by maintaining real good healthly & hygienic habits in this lockdown period !
Founder of The Grayzone disputes conspiracy theories targeting China
https://youtu.be/uBp3oqTMRjs
Trump Wrongly Suggests Virus Will 'Just Go Away' As U.S. Deaths Top 60,000
https://youtu.be/mTnIW7o1pqE
Political dysfunction defines U.S. COVID-19 response
https://youtu.be/0cI2hjyutcs
Anyone without a scales over his eyes and who has not succumbed to cerebral shampooing by the West will have realised by now that large parts of its media are biased, if not outright antagonistic, in their reporting of |"China.
FROM the riots in Hong Kong last year, whitewashed as peaceful pro-democracy protests, to the lockdown of Wuhan and other Chinese cities, derided as draconian and an abuse of human rights, the sting was always there, and often not even hidden in between the lines.
All this will be denied, of course, and not just by those media owners and employees but also the readers and viewers who swear by them. It is futile to debate them, such is their ideological bias that they leave themselves no room for doubt, much less introspection. They are entitled to their reading of China, of course, as are their critics to theirs.
It is perfectly understandable that Western media, especially those that publish and broadcast in English, will want to push what they believe is the interest of the West. No one should expect them to speak up for China and other non-Western nations. Or question the liberal democracy dogmas they have grown up with.
To be fair, there are also not a few among them who genuinely believe that what they do is also for the good of the Chinese suffering under the yoke of a totalitarian regime. And so they have gone at it full tilt, especially the Anglophone media.
It would be foolish for people in this part of the world not to see all this for what it really is - a war, not yet a shooting one but a war by other means nonetheless. Only the wilfully blind will fail to see that it is being waged by the United States and some of its allies to stymie a rising China just so they can hold on to their global hegemony.
Demonising and then isolating China, through disinformation and misinformation, is just one of the means. In the relentless pursuit of that goal, truth, to paraphrase what Hiram Johnson, US Senator for California, first said in 1918, has become the first casualty of this war. So much for the self-serving cant about these media being “respected” providers of fair, objective and balanced coverage.
Does all that matter? I submit that it does, to the millions in Singapore, Malaysia and many other former British colonies who have relied all these years on the English-language global media for their news, analyses and commentaries.
It’s time they woke up, if they have not already done so, to the fact that their understanding of what is happening in China, and, for that matter, many other places from Syria to Venezuela, is being shaped by those media with an unholy agenda.This awakening cannot come too soon as some Western media are piling on the pressure by echoing the spurious demands of anti-China politicians that Beijing must pay for the damage caused by the Covid-19 virus which it has set loose on the world.
If allowed to escalate and proliferate, this incitement of people whose lives are being devastated by the pandemic, is sure to result in more racist attacks against people of Chinese ethnicity, particularly in Western countries. It may well spin out of control into an armed confrontation between two sides, very possibly in the South China Sea.
But what can ordinary readers and viewers do? Well, they can send these media organisations a message. Those who have no problem taking pen to paper should write a protest note to them each time they spot a deliberate distortion - or to their respective regulator.
Nothing will come out of it, for sure, but those who are neither pro- nor anti-China but believe in fair play have to take a stand against deliberate bias and make it clear they will not stand for it.
It is in their enlightened self-interest to do so; if these media can target China now, then they can just as easily turn on their country next and cause damage, as was the case for Hong Kong when the Anglophone media turned a blind eye to all the fire-bombing, vandalism and vicious attacks against innocent citizens, and glorified the perpetrators as freedom fighters.
For those not inclined to write, they can just stop reading or viewing biased media. There are Singaporeans who have cancelled their subscription of The New York Times and ceased watching CNN over the slanted coverage of the Hong Kong riots. Yes, they care enough for Hong Kong and, more importantly, for fair play.
Sure, protesting this way may be inconvenient for those who are monolingual in English as there are few other media organisations that can rival the top Western players in global coverage and reach.
According to Comscore, the audience research agency, as at July last year, CNN had 166 million unique multi-platform visitors, BBC 148 million, Yahoo 117 million and FoxNews.com 111 million.
But choices in English are still there - Al Jazeera, which says it has more than 65 bureaus around the world and whose Arabic, English and other language networks have a combined reach into more than 220 million households; and CGTN, China’s global television network, which says its free-to-air English service reaches 85 million viewers in over 100 countries.
Admittedly, Al Jazeera and CGTN are nowhere near CNN or the BBC in reach and brand value but any fair-minded reader/viewer who has followed their work for a sustained period knows their products are nothing to sniff at.
Anecdotal accounts suggest that CGTN and, in particular, its presenter Liu Xin are gaining traction among the better educated in Singapore because of their measured and fact-based approach to presenting news and commentaries.
The accent of this commentary is on biased reporting of China. If readers and viewers are reluctant to forgo following Anglophone media despite their thinly veiled bias against China and other non-allied powers like Iran, then the least they can do is to also watch or read nascent competitors for balance.
And not to forget: their own English language national or regional media, too - whether it be the South China Morning Post, The Star in Malaysia or The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia in Singapore. They make no self-glorifying claims to being the gold standard for good journalism but they do try to be objective, fair and balanced.
Individually, each may not have the resources of the existing global players. But in this regard, there is no reason why they cannot pool resources where possible and compete on the world’s media stage. Fair, constructive competition cannot be bad for media consumers. And the English-language media landscape deserves more than just the Anglo-Saxon narrative.
By Leslie Fong, a former editor of The Straits Times. The views here are his own. Source link
The US Navy said on April 21 that the USS America and two
other vessels entered the South China Sea. In the face of the raging
coronavirus epidemic in the US, Washington has shown no intention to
halt pressuring China on the South China Sea issue.
The racist remarks about the novel coronavirus and the
subsequent racial discrimination, racial contradictions and racial
conflicts are all blatant provocations against modern civilization that
should be resisted by the international community. All responsible media
in the world should firmly adhere to justice and jointly protect the
basic values of human civilization.
Cooperation is the most effective solution to fix that
loophole. But if the world cannot keep a sober head on this, there will
probably be a more profound crisis waiting for humanity after the
pandemic is gone.
