Reader's Corner: Apr 23 2008
Re: Philippines Fowl Play!
The agenda of PETA to promote vegetarianism in the Philippines is one of the absolute lunacies of this century born out of the most distorted beliefs and idea of their perfect world.
Livestock raising for food and farming is two of the most important source of livelihood among the poorest of the Filipino people to feed their family and send their children to school with high hopes of giving them a better life someday, or at least to find better jobs to have higher incomes to sustain them in return when they grow old.
Livestock raising for food and farming is two of the most important source of livelihood among the poorest of the Filipino people to feed their family and send their children to school with high hopes of giving them a better life someday, or at least to find better jobs to have higher incomes to sustain them in return when they grow old.
The livestock and poultry industry including aquaculture is the biggest consumer of corn, cassava meal, copra meal, soy bean meal and a lot more that you can think of as feedstuffs needed to process and manufacture these feeds. And the collapse and closure of these industries will create a domino effect that will affect everything from loss of job, income of farmers, increase of prices, and eventually starvation and illiteracy of their children.
The sight of these PETA activist dressed in vegetable leaves calling for vegetarianism is one of the most distorted mentalities or behaviors that any person can show. Closing their eyes and turning back their face from the poor Filipinos crawling in their farm fields to survive their everyday lives, and giving their smile and teary eyes instead to all the animals is lunacy.
Jemima Gimotea,
Bacolod City, Philippines
Re: Oldest WHO celebrates 60th
As the WHO regional office for Southeast Asia celebrates its 60th anniversary, we are reminded that the global health scenario has changed dramatically over the decades. Cheap and convenient transportation nowadays has facilitated the spread of diseases across borders, which makes it imperative for all nations to be part of the global health security network.
Ironically, despite Taiwan’s proximity to the Southeast Asian region and the country’s advanced health care system, it remains outside of that global health network. This has created a gap that the world will simply not be able to afford should a pandemic break out.
The WHO is working under the pretense that the People’s Republic of China, a country that has absolutely no jurisdiction over Taiwan, can speak on the island democracy’s behalf. Last year, China delayed informing Taiwan for a full 10 days regarding contaminated corn from Thailand after receiving the health alert from the WHO. And Taiwan fought on its own during the SARS outbreak because the WHO did not provide any timely information or assistance — an oversight for which China was directly responsible.
In a worst-case scenario, those who would kowtow to China’s unreasonable and reckless dictates should ask themselves: who will really suffer in case of a deadly pandemic: Will it be just the Taiwanese, or will the entire world bear the brunt of this protection gap?
Brian Su
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office,
Vancouver, B.C.
Re: Japanese whale killers
I cannot imagine a country like Japan would massacre thousands of whales in the antarctic whale sanctuary and then try to kill more whales everywhere else. The oceans belong to everybody, not just the Japanese. The International community should put a halt to this crime immediately.
We should boycott every Japanese product and not visit this country until they realise the harm they are doing to mother earth.
Sriyantha,
Ratmalana, Sri Lanka
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