Guest Comments by the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF)
CHINA -- Veterinarians and animal welfare experts from around the world are gathering in Suzhou Province on October 28 to begin a three-day conference about the importance of animal welfare in the role of veterinarians in China. The Chinese Veterinary Medical Association’s 3rd China Veterinary Conference features speakers from China, Britain and Thailand.
The conference has been organized by the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) together with organizations like Animals Asia and the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education (JMICAWE). It happens as globalization, industrialized farming and a burgeoning pet industry place China’s veterinary profession under pressure to meet international expectations on animal-welfare standards.
Discussions will relate to companion animals, livestock, laboratory activities and wildlife species. Topics include humane education, meeting the OIE minimum competencies in animal welfare, humane slaughter, animal welfare of livestock, animal welfare in scientific research and improving welfare in veterinary clinics. The conference is supported by Animals Asia, the Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (HKSPCA) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).
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National Basketball League of Canada president Andre Levingston has announced a new team for the province of Quebec, based in Montreal, to play in the upcoming 2012-13 season. This comes as the league decided to remove the Laval Kebs from its roster. “The Kebs placed third last year, but then experienced ongoing challenges that require us to move in a different direction to ensure the league’s continuity and long-term stability,” Levingston said. “We are grateful to Quebec fans and hope that their support will continue in Montreal and across the province.” The National Basketball League of Canada aims to provide high-calibre action and affordable family entertainment. Its second season, with teams also in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, tips off on November 2.
Anthony Bennett
National Basketball League of Canada, Toronto
Montreal: ready for action?
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ESCAPE FROM ASIA IN CRISIS (Part 6)
By Lily Bond
Editor’s Note: Born in New Zealand, the author lives and teaches in Thailand. Although fictionalized, this story closely follows the real-life stories of two Asian immigrants.
Linh’s Story
Until late 1979, Linh’s family lived a laboring-trading lifestyle. With no chance to attend school, Linh learned lessons at her mother’s side.
In Vietnam then, a growing hatred emerged towards anyone of Chinese ancestry. Meanwhile, Vietnam waged war against Pol Phot’s regime in Cambodia, known as Kampuchea under the Khmer Rouge. In 1979, Phnom Penh fell to the Vietnamese who set up a puppet government.
Some of history’s atrocities happened then. The Vietnamese had backing from the bigger Communist regimes in China and the Soviet Union. Due to the united Western hostility to communism, including that in Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge secured covert support from the United States and Britain (whose people provided training on using landmines) in the 1980s. The West’s support of the Khmer Rouge delayed Cambodia’s recovery for another decade.
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 Reviewed by Lynley Capon
Holidays make a great time to read, but sometimes I wonder what to read next. At the suggestion of a fellow beach-resort guest, I took up Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (2010, Random House, 473 pages) and soon could not put it down.
Hillenbrand, the award-winning author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001), devoted seven years to research. A victim of chronic-fatigue syndrome, she enlisted help to gather data about the life of Louis Zamperini, but never met the hero of her book in person.
Unbroken, which chronicles the life of an Olympian and Second World War airman, tells of mischief, adventure, achievement, heroism, horror, degradation and redemption. Born in New York in 1917, Zamperini miraculously remains alive, having survived incredible odds.
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