20 Million Lost Jobs in China

While many seem to think that the economy slowdown is not affecting China much, do think twice. Based on this estimation by China's Ministry of Agriculture, about 20 Million China's migrant workers from rural areas who go to cities in China to work, have suffered job loss recently due to the global financial crisis.

This is definitely significant, as 20 Million is about double Malaysia's workforce.

This news is quoted from Xinhuanet.com

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BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- About 20 million of China's migrant workers have returned home after losing their jobs as the global financial crisis takes a toll on the economy, said a senior official here on Monday.

Chen Xiwen, director of the office of the central leading group on rural work, said about 15.3 percent of the 130 million migrant workers had returned jobless from cities to the countryside.

The figures were based on a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture in 150 villages in 15 provinces, carried out before the week-long Lunar New Year holiday which began on Jan. 25.

His remarks came a day after the central government issued its first document this year, which warned 2009 will be "possibly the toughest year" since the turn of the century in terms of securing economic development and consolidating the "sound development momentum" in agriculture and rural areas.

The country's economic growth slowed to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, dragging down the annual rate to a seven-year low of 9 percent.

The document urged local and central government departments to adopt measures to create jobs and increase rural incomes.

Companies were asked to take on more social responsibilities and give rural migrant workers more favorable employment treatment. Flexible employment policies and more training chances were also encouraged.

Meanwhile, local government departments should increase investment to provide favorable tax and fee policies to those who lost jobs in cities and expect to find new work in their hometowns.

The government also urged departments to map out basic pension insurance measures suitable for rural conditions and migrant workers to ensure their rights.

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Combat Epidemic Outbreak Fund-raising Campaign

This is a pleading of donation by China Synergy Programme for Outstanding Youth Alumni. It is a program that I got the opportunity to go in 2004.

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Dear CSPers,
Synergizing Out
Fight Against Epidemic with Earthquake-ravaged Sichuan

May 12 2:28pm - a moment that all Chinese will never forget. The devastating earthquake in Sichuan has taken over 60,000 lives. Over 200,000 people were injured and more than 80% of the buildings in some cities collapsed. For the past week, the earthquake scene touched our hearts. To show our borderless support, the CSP Alumni in Hong Kong launched the “Combat Epidemic Outbreak Fund-raising Campaign” to synergize our power again to help our fellow friends in Sichuan.

Polluted waters, cramped living conditions in temporary shelters and insufficient sanitary facilities are now seriously threatening the lives of those who just escaped from the earthquake. Without clean water and proper treatment of waste disposal, infectious disease outbreaks are likely to occur soon. According to Hong Kong’s infectious disease specialist, who came back from the quake-suffered area in Dujiangyan, some people there are already showing signs of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.

Restoration of good sanitation are vital for controlling any outbreak of communicable diseases. Therefore, we call for the support of all CSPers on our “Combat Epidemic Outbreak Fund-raising Campaign”. Every dollar you donate will be used to acquire supplies including chlorine disinfectant equipment, shelters, and mobile sanitation facilities.

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all for your generous support in advance. We hope that through our donation, we can show them that our love and care for them goes beyond our respective borders.

Please also forward this email to your friends so that more people can support our campaign.

Yours sincerely,
China Synergy Programme for Outstanding Youth Association


Address: 18/F, Sun House, 90 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan, HK
Tel: (852) 2117 0326 Fax: (852) 2536 0605
Email: alumni@chinasynergy.org.hk
Website: http://www.chinasynergy.org.hk/cspa

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Letter of Appeal – Draft 1Attachment

1:Zhou Peng, an CSP7 Alumni graduated from the Medical School of Sichuan University, is involved inthe rescue team at Huaxi Hospital in Sichuan. Below is the message he sent to the CSP students overthe past week.

Date: 13 May 2008 11:16:52 PM GMT+08:00All your caring messages touch my heart. There had been no mobile phone reception here inSichuan since yesterday and the connection has just resumed.I came back from the hospital at 6pm last night. I am still in fear every time I think about theearthquake last night. Most patients here are from nearby Chengdu. The patients fromquake-affected areas are still unreachable. Even though the first medical team we sent toWenchuan yesterday hasn’t come back, a second team, today, forged ahead and left for the city,without fear and regret.Rain is pouring all day today, just like yesterday the people here in Chengdu are mourning. Wehaven’t experienced such a disaster for almost 80 years!Tomorrow will be a better day!

Date: 14 May 2008 9:01:26 PM GMT+08:00Come back from DujiangyanToday I went to Dujianyan with the ambulance. I thought I was already psychologically prepared,however I was still shocked when I arrived. The earthquake flattened the entire city, with only a fewbuildings barely standing with gigantic cracks. Dead bodies are put on the road side. The schoolthat our rescue team went to found 100 students dead and only 5 children survived.

Date: 15 May 2008 12:29:19 AM GMT+08:00Come back from DujiangyanThe Huaxi Hospital I served at is the world’s biggest single block hospital with 5000 beds and is thesupport centre for the province for this disaster. We received patients that who were not able to getfurther treatment at the quake-affected zone. We have cleared all the beds in order to have morespace for the patients. We are now in immediate need for surgeons.

Date: 15 May 2008 12:35:50 AM GMT+08:00Support Arrived!The medical team from Zhongshan hospital arrived and brought us 35 anesthesiologists!

Date: 15 May 2008 12:48:22 AM GMT+08:00First group of injured from earthquake
Today, the air force transported 47 children to the hospital. Some of them have family contactinformation with them, meaning that their parents are still alive. Sadly though, most of the childrenare without family contact information and are believed to have been orphaned by theearthquake catastrophe. Upon arrival, 12 of them are affected by bacteria and their limbs had tobe removed. As all operation rooms are full, we can only do the operation along the stairways.

Date: 15 May 2008 1:08:30 AM GMT+08:00Our Spirits are with themJust want to send a text message to everyone during the break. Thanks so much for all yourencouragement. I feel that you are all besides me cheering me up. People around me showedunwavering determination during this battle. Though we are in need, we also help others. Our spiritsare with them. Thanks so much!

Date: 18 May 2008 11:13:43 PM GMT+08:00Psychological StatusThe psychological impact for the injured is increasing. More and more patients came to our hospital.Now, together with Sichuan Hospital we have more than 2000 patients, and the hemodialysisapparatuses runs 24-hour everyday. More importantly, now there are only a few hemodialysisapparatuses for children and it’s definitely insufficient.Dear folks please be assured that I am still fine. Just that the aftershocks every night disturbed mysleep and scare me a bit! Yesterday Ms. Leung gave a call to the CSP at Sichuan University and wereally appreciated it!The weather is very hot these days and today the trucks from Chengdu carried strong odors. Weexpect that we will have a tough war against the epidemic in the next few days!

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Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Charity Dinner at Opus, U and Cava restaurants on Jalan Bangkung

Thanks to Lee Henn for forwarding this.

If any of you have a charitable heart, this could be something for you to consider!

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Dear Friends

On 3rd May, Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta, killing an estimated 100,000 people. On 12th May, tragedy struck again, this time an earthquake in rural Sichuan province in China, leaving an estimated 15,000 people dead. These tragedies have also left countless others homeless, without food and clean water, proper sanitation and exposed to disease. It is these people, that we need to help.

Opus, U and Cava restaurants on Jalan Bangkung have decided to come together to organize a charity food fest in aid of the people affected by the tragedy in Myanmar and China. I hope you can join us to in this effort.

Details as follows:

Venue: Opus, U and Cava at Jalan Bangkung
(see www.opusbistro.com.my for map)

Date and Time: Sunday 25th May, 6pm-10pm

Ticket Price: By minimum donation of RM100 per ticket
Tickets can be purchased on the day
at Opus/U/Cava, but please RSVP with us for
catering purposes.

100% of ticket sales will go to Mercy Malaysia
and other International Aid Agencies.

Ticket entitles you to a buffet dinner and
fruit punch at Opus, U and Cava.

Contact Person: Peter Yew : 012 298 5838
For further information Edward Soo: 016 280 3321

Thank you for caring. Together, lets make this world a better place.

We look forward to seeing you at Opus/U/Cava on Sunday, 25th May.

Please help us pass this email on to your friends and family.


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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Help for Sichuan Earthquake

As everyone would have known that there is a huge Earthquake happening in Sichuan that has claimed more than 20,000 of lives, and in overall, the total death toll might reach beyond 50,000 precious lives.

I am sure many of you are playing your part in whichever way you can to help.

I found this Facebook group, which puts in resources to help the Sichuan Earthquake victim. It could be found here .

There are various fund raising ways highlighted there, and I will put a few here for you to support (copied directly through the facebook link above). I do not do any verification on its genuineness, so do your due diligence!

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ONLINE
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Donate online via Google - http://www.google.com/chinaearthquake/

Donate online via Mercy Corps -
http://www.mercycorps.org/chinaearthquake/

Donate via World Vision -
http://www.worldvision.org

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---- NON-PROFITS ----

LEARN THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO PUT YOUR MONEY TO WORK BY VISITING:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=760

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=4606&uid=34709060992

Direct donation to the Red Cross Society of China is the best way to put your money to immediate use, without having some of it going to fund overhead expenses

If you do want to donate through a U.S. charity, please use CharityNavigator to compare your options for the ones with the HIGHEST "Program Expenses". This means that a larger percentage of your donation is actually going to the cause, rather than administration purposes

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U.S.
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You can now donate directly to the American Red Cross China Relief fund. The link is provided below, before you donate, please read the paragraphs regarding fund use:

https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=252516977&df_id=3198&3198.donation=form1

Additional information regarding relief efforts by the American Red Cross is provided here
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/Intl_profile_ChinaEarthquake.html

ARC has a four star rating from Charity Navigator for its effective use of donations. http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/content.view/catid/2/cpid/43.htm

Please know that the full amount of your donation will be used towards the Chinese Relief effort by ARC, ALTHOUGH up to 9% of the donation could be used to fund admin expenses incurred by the American Red Cross from coordinating the relief effort from the U.S. residents.

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CHINA
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Directly wiring your donation to Chinese banks is possible:

Account name: Red Cross Society of China
开户单位：中国红十字会总会

RMB Donations:
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China:
人民币开户行: 中国工商银行 北京分行东四南支行
人民币账号: 0200001009014413252

Foreign Current Donations:
CITIC Bank branch:
外币开户行：中信银行酒仙桥支行
外币账号: 7112111482600000209

Hotline: (8610) 65139999
Online donations:
Red Cross Society of China website: www.redcross.org.cn

中国红十字基金会同时也接受社会各界捐赠：
http://www.crcf.org.cn/donationol/donation.asp
Thank you Clare Gu for the notification!

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HONG KONG
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Online donation for Hong Kong Credit Card Holders
Hong Kong Red Cross:
Thank you Fan Zhang!

https://www.redcross.org.hk/donation/user_donation.asp?langId=2

http://www.worldvision.org.hk/eng/appeal/Sichuan/emer_frame_e.html

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CANADA
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Allows online donors to direct their funds to the China Earthquake Relief effort
https://www.paypaq.com/redcross/new/index.php

or

http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=27348&tid=001

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U.K.
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Direct donations to the Chinese Earthquake Effort via Online Payment has been posted.
Thank you Anna Judson for the notice!

http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=81125




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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Olympics Torch Run KL Leg

21st April 2008, with 109 days before 8th August 2008, Kuala Lumpur played host to the 29th Summer Olympic Torch Run. It is a great occasion and priviledge for Kuala Lumpur, to be selected as one of the cities where the torch is brought around.

Today, 80 torch bearers, including Sultan Azlan Shah (who jogged under a heavy rain), brought the torch around various parts of KL, from Dataran Merdeka to Stadium Merdeka to KL Tower and then to Petronas Twin Tower.

I was thinking of running, but then in the end, I didn't run. I just went to KLCC to see the closing ceremony. It was very packed, but sadly the bulk of those who bothered to attend are those students from China. Easily, 80-90% of those attending (except for police, officers etc) are from China. They showed their patriotism, with flags pasted/painted on their face, and also some carried huge China's flag. They were shouting "Jia You, Beijing" and "Jia You, China" too in Mandarin!

I am just wondering where are all the KLites. It is at a very convenient place at Petronas Twin Tower, but somehow fellow Malaysians just don't care and don't bother to show up. Maybe the rain could be a reason, but why aren't we be patriotic and come forward to cheer for our country.

When the VIP from China Olympic Committee shouted Malaysia Boleh, there was no reaction from the crowd and that happened at Petronas Twin Tower and it is a huge shame.

Also, the organizing committee seemed quite unprepared. The souvenirs to be presented was not ready when the name was read. Some of the recipients somehow didn't go up stage or seemed blurred. And our KL Mayor gave prizes at the stage one level lower than where China's Ambassador is. I'm not sure whether that's the protocol or it is a misplan. It just looked wierd.

And after it was over, Putra LRT definitely is not ready to take care of the crowd. It was huge bottleneck. Just wish we had done better in this.



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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Volunteer in Rural China

Call for Application: VOLUNTEER IN RURAL CHINA

2008 summer, May 26 . June 28 | Learn, Inspire, Teach, and Serve in Rural China

Apply at Dream Corps | deadline: March 02, 2008

Dream Corps, an innovative nonprofit student organization, is recruiting 30 to 40 highly motivated volunteers who are interested in education oriented community building projects in rural areas and urban migrant communities in China during summer 2008.

This program is an exciting opportunity for students, researchers, and young professionals interested in international development, rural education, and the non-profit sector in China. Although spoken Chinese is not strictly required, it is highly preferred.

Additional information about the programs can be found at Dream Corps or contact info08@dreamcorps.info with any questions.


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