She was curious about the sites a younger colleague frequented and felt it would be “nice to meet someone”. Her husband had died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage about 10 years before, and it had plunged her into years of grief and darkness.

Then, she chanced upon Teng Nee Peng’s profile. The widower went on at length about himself and how he was looking for a loving, sincere and honest woman for a long-term relationship, with a view to marriage.

In contrast, her profile was super short. She said she was independent and had four cats. She did not even use her real name.

Koh, who works part-time in publishing, said: “I admired him for being so forthright. I thought he was so brave to put himself out there and when I saw that he is a biker, I said, ‘Pass’! My first impression is that he has a sense of adventure, so he can’t be a stick-in-the-mud then.”

When Teng received her message, he was on a motorbike trip to Myanmar. They started chatting, and he asked for her photograph.

The 63-year-old, who is a retired project manager in the construction industry, said: “When I saw her picture, I thought, ‘She is quite a hot chick’.”

By the time they met online, Teng had been dating for a while. His wife had died five years before, living just 10 months after her diagnosis of end-stage colon cancer.

After she died, grief sucked the life out of him, he said. “It was very difficult. We used to do everything together. After she died, I tendered my resignation as I saw no point in working any more,” he said. “I was walking around like a zombie.”

After the grief had eased, he decided to look for a new partner.

Before he met Koh, he had met three or four women through match.com. One divorcee in her 40s used a shot of a Korean actress as her profile picture; she turned out to be “a bit rotund” and nothing like the actress at all.

None of these meetings got past the first date.

In November 2013, Koh came along and the pair quickly hit it off.

Teng said: “We felt very comfortable with each other. I was struck by the fact that she has a mind of her own, she is cheerful and frank. And she took a chance on me.”

After less than six months of dating, they decided to marry. “At this age, there is no need to pussyfoot around the topic,” Ms Koh said. “I looked at him and I just knew I could spend the rest of my life with him.”

Koh has no children from her first marriage. Teng’s two adult sons were very encouraging about his new union, he said.

Their family, friends and even Teng’s late wife’s mother were all very happy for them. In 2015, the pair said I do – at the age of 61.

They had the works, as Koh describes their wedding: A church wedding and garden party for 150 guests.

So far, their marriage has been wonderful, Mr Teng said.

Koh said: “Both of us had happy (first) marriages and we brought that love and happiness into our marriage. We were not looking for replacements (for our former spouses) as we have dealt with our grief first.”

The phone talk between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on Saturday has shown that the world’s two largest economies have a common will to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, analysts said.

The concerned parties should avoid remarks and actions that could escalate tensions in the peninsula, Xi told Trump, adding China is ready to work with the United States to appropriately resolve the issue.

The phone call was made hours after Trump issued fresh threats of swift and forceful retaliation against Pyongyang, warning that its leader “will regret it fast” if he takes any action against US territories or allies.

Trump warned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Thursday of “an event the likes of which nobody’s seen before”, following Pyongyang’s disclosure of a plan to fire missiles near the US territory of Guam.

Xi stressed that China and the US have common interests in achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and maintaining peace and stability there. The concerned parties should strive to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation to reach a political solution, Xi said.

The Chinese president said that Beijing places high value on Trump’s state visit to China later this year, urging teams from both sides to make good preparations for the visit.

On the Korean nuclear issue, Trump said the US fully understands China’s efforts to resolve it, and is willing to continue to keep close contact with Beijing on major international and regional issues of common concern.

Ruan Zongze, executive vice-resident of the China Institute of International Studies, said the phone call signaled that it is necessary for China and US to cooperate on the denuclearization of the peninsula

“China expressed its position at this crucial moment, showing its role of being a responsible power,” Ruan said, adding that China and the US should promote political and peaceful solutions to the nuclear issue.

A military confrontation could escalate if the crisis is not managed properly, he said, adding that the planned military exercise between US and Republic of Korea next week might stimulate the DPRK, which will not ease tensions.

Both Washington and Pyongyang should be restrained rather than provoke each other to escalate tensions and increase the risk of conflict, he said.

On Aug 5, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2371 to impose new sanctions on the DPRK that bans its exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood, in response to its two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July. Since 2005, the DPRK has carried out five nuclear tests and numerous missile tests.

Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, said in an article in The Wall Street Journal on Friday that “since denuclearization requires sustained cooperation, it cannot be achieved by economic pressure”.

“So which parties should negotiate, and over what? An understanding between Washington and Beijing is the essential prerequisite for the denuclearization of Korea,” he said in the article.

The footage showed the as-yet-unnamed cub being weighed and measured by keepers at the zoo, and napping, crawling and playing with her mother, Shin Shin.

“The baby panda is now fluffy with increasing body hair,” zoo director Yutaka Fukuda said at a press conference.

“She will grow even cuter as more panda-like characteristics begin to emerge,” Fukuda said.

The rare birth of the panda in June triggered a frenzy of media and public excitement in Japan, with businesses keen to cash in.

The zoo has invited the public to suggest names for the cub, and said it had received some 250,000 submissions. The panda’s name will be announced in September.

The cub, which turned 60 days old on Friday, weighed 3,010.4 grammes (6.6 pounds) — nearly three times heavier than a month before, according to the zoo.

She also measured 43.9 centimetres (17.3 inches) in length, up from 29.5 centimetres at 30 days, the zoo added.

In the video footage, the panda is shown crawling around, using her front paws to drag her body across the floor. It will take another month before she is able to support her body weight on all four paws, zoo officials said.

Although the panda’s eyes are now open, she can so far only sense light and can’t yet see objects, they said.

The panda’s mother, Shin Shin, who mated with male Ri Ri in February, had given birth to another cub in 2012. It was the first panda birth at the zoo in 24 years — but the baby died from pneumonia just six days later.

The role of teachers is set to become much different from that of today.

Schools of the future will be packed with a combination of artificial intelligence and personalized learning tools, education experts predicted.

“Students will not spend much time at school as they do now. They might have to come to school only for morning classes or even every other day,” said Gim Chae-chu, president of the Korean Educational Development Institute, a research group that develops educational goals, methods and policy solutions for South Korea’s Ministry of Education.

“After-school classes and self-study sessions will disappear in future schools,” Gim told The Korea Herald.

While at school, students will be involved with various forms of learning activities, he said. “For example, in one corner of a classroom, students would be engaged in lessons tailored toward their individual needs, interests and pace of learning with digital gadgets such as smart pads. In another corner, others would be exploring the upcoming content on the Internet.”

Teachers will play different roles as advisers, coaches, and facilitators who help students to learn in more self-motivated ways in future, Gim said.

Lee Kyung-ho, head of Future Education Research Institute, said that smart learning would be a new norm.

From primary and secondary schools, machine-assisted educational platforms will enable learners to study at their own pace and repeat subjects, courses or chapters that they are struggling with, Lee said.

“Traditionally, what teachers found it most challenging was meeting individual demands of students, regardless of a class’ size,” said Lee.

“New platforms based on AI will change that. Data on millions of lessons will help identify learning algorithms and patterns of individual students, suggesting a whole new approach to interact with students.”

There are already scoring robots on the market, albeit it still in their early stages, with the potential to free teachers from the tedious work of grading and allowing them to focus more on in-class activities.

A paradigm shift in education

As technology changes faster, so does the role of education, according to Han Yu-kyung, an education professor at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University.

A new education paradigm will ensure that learning is not to prepare students for one single profession or job skill, but to help them nurture the ability to constantly adapt to changing demands.

“It won’t be like just teaching students a set of fixed knowledge with textbooks over a fixed period. It has to be a lifelong learning process more responsive to the future workforce in a way that students can discover their true passions and talents,” Han said.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution across the world will inevitably change the way we think about work and “make us to think more creatively” than ever before. In the course of the transformation, outdated models of learning need to be replaced to cope with unknown challenges lying ahead, Han added.

Some of the challenges are already emerging, says Song Gil-young, an executive vice president of AI-based big data analytics company Daumsoft.

“Automated robots are already replacing low-skilled humans in various fields of jobs. In less than 50 years, AI machines will be able to beat humans many of the intellectual fields, including law and medicine.”

The main focus of education, therefore, should be on cultivating students’ competencies to identify and solve problems independently, not on operating machinery or doing basic programming, Gim Chae-chu of KEDI said.

“It is difficult to say that South Korean schools are successfully doing the job. It is because Korean education continues to focus more on delivering basic information and knowledge provided by textbooks. Fostering students’ capabilities to identify and solve problems so that they will be better prepared for the rapidly changing job market will be a must,” Gim said.

“We also need to change the evaluation system. We need to evaluate students based on whether they have the ability to create something by themselves or to identify and solve problems independently rather than evaluating them with written, multiple-choice tests.”

Will a college diploma still guarantee a better-paying job in the future? Not likely, say the experts.

“I believe that the value of college diplomas from famous universities will be gradually depreciated,” Gim said.

“In future, what’s important is not whether you possess knowledge. AI will beat humans in that. What is required is the ability to utilize that knowledge creatively.”

Three days of relentless downpours sparked flash floods and landslides that have killed at least 70 in Nepal and 73 across northern and eastern India.

Around 200,000 are living in emergency camps in Assam in northeast India, which suffers frequent flooding during the annual monsoon rains.

Another 15,000 have had to leave their homes in the eastern state of Bihar, which borders Nepal and where one official said seven rivers in Bihar were at danger levels.

Huge swathes of the state were submerged in 2008 when a river burst its banks across the border in Nepal, with the two countries trading blame for the disaster.

A massive landslide in the mountainous northern state of Himachal Pradesh swept two passenger buses off a hillside and into a deep gorge, killing at least 46 people on Sunday.

In Nepal, over 48,000 homes have been totally submerged by the floods and 21,000 people displaced, according to police.

As emergency workers struggled to reach far-flung areas, the country’s home ministry said another 47 people were missing, presumed dead.

The Nepal Red Cross warned that shortages of drinking water and food could create a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Himalayan country.

“In many parts of the country there is a scarcity of safe drinking water creating a high risk of health hazards,” spokesman Dibya Raj Poudel told AFP.

“Several villages and settlements are unreachable. Telecommunications, mobile phones are still not working so it difficult to give a full assessment.”

The southern lowlands of Nepal known as the Terai have so far born the brunt of the monsoon deluge.

The Terai is Nepal’s most fertile region and the economic toll is expected to be severe.

“We are getting reports that about 70 percent of agriculture area in the Tarai is inundated,” said Shankar Sapkota, senior agricultural economist with the government.

“Paddy fields, vegetable plantation and fish farms have been affected but right now we cannot confirm the extent of damage.”

The rains are now expected to shift westwards and authorities in Nepal have begun evacuating 74,000 people from the area expected to be hit.

Nearly 150 people have been killed in Nepal since the beginning of the rainy season in late June.

Hundreds have died in torrential rain, floods and landslides in neighbouring India during the monsoon, which hits the country’s southern tip in early June and sweeps across the nation, lasting into September.

In the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand — which borders Nepal — three people were killed in a landslide late Sunday triggered by heavy rains, local police official Ajay Joshi told AFP.

South Korea has undergone dramatic development since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The country prides itself in its fast pace of life and change that took root as the country rose out of poverty.

Looking ahead to 2030, the country is expected to continue to change rapidly, facing many difficult challenges — some familiar but others unprecedented.

The biggest of all will be those brought on by an aging population, something unimagined only a few decades ago.

The process, observed in many industrialized nations, is accelerated here by the rapidly increasing life expectancy coupled with one of the world’s lowest birthrates.

According to projections, the average male and female life expectancy will reach 84.07 and 90.82 years, respectively, in 2030, making South Koreans some of the longest living people in the world. In comparison, male and female life expectancy stood respectively at 78.98 years and 86.17 years in 2015.

The increase in life expectancy will be a mixed blessing for a rapidly aging nation. According to the Bank of Korea’s projections, South Korea will be a super aged society in 2030, with 24.5 percent of the population being over the age of 65.

The year 2030 will also see the country’s arrive at a demographic cliff, when the population begins to shrink. According to projections, South Korea’s population will peak in 2031 at 52.96 million million, only 1.3 million larger than the current population of 51.4 million. From there on, the number of South Koreans will begin to decrease quickly, falling nearly 2 million by 2045. The drop will also reduce the economically active populations, dragging down with it the country’s economy.

The changes projected to take place here are not all bleak.

Despite the perennial talk of economic slowdown, the country’s gross domestic product is projected to reach $2.57 trillion by 2030, growing by more than 40 percent from the $1.81 trillion projected for 2017. The average Korean will also spend less time at work each year in 2030. On average, Koreans spend nearly a quarter of the year working, or 2,071 hours, but the figure is expected to drop to 1,800 hours by 2030.

If the Moon Jae-in administration’s plans work out, the country will also have become much greener, generating about a fifth of its electricity from renewable sources.

Will there be a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula in 2030? That seems to be the hardest to predict right now, with threats of a war with North Korea reaching a new level.

A local television presenter is facing heavy criticism for an inflammatory on-air suggestion that rape victims should not resist their attackers, and should instead accept sexual assault to avoid being killed – a reference to a brutal rape and murder of a 18-year-old woman in Svay Rieng province last week.

Hang Meas TV morning presenter Meas Rithy on Thursday was discussing the case of casino worker Sovan Somalin – who went missing after she hired a taxi in the casino town of Bavet and was later found dead in a small pond, facedown and tied to a rock – with his copresenter Ros Sotheavy when he made the startling suggestions.

“If you happen to be in the tiger’s clutches, please agree with them and do not resist them. That will cause them to kill you – just try to save your life,” he said.

“Some women should not scream or scold the rapist, because when you are caught in the tiger’s teeth let it be. Let them rape you.”

Rithy claimed to be conveying messages from women he had met having dinner last week, adding that these women had asked him to express the above suggestions. Then, seemingly addressing rapists, he asks them not to murder their victims, all the while failing to condemn the act of sexual assault.

“Please rapists, after the rape, don’t murder. After raping, why not keep their life?” he said.

In closing, Sotheavy chimed in by blaming victims for taking private taxis, as Somalin had, instead suggesting that women only use buses with other passengers on board.

The comments over the weekend caused uproar on social media, with an online petition receiving more than 1,500 signatures asking for an apology from the two presenters.

Reached yesterday, Rithy quipped that he wasn’t important enough to deserve an online petition, but said that he had no intention to “look down on women”.

“If they found my words upsetting, I am not afraid to make a public apology if what I said really upset them, because I do journalism for society,” he said.

He pointed out that the show was aired live and there was potential for making mistakes.

The comments came a day before the Ministry of Information officially released a code of conduct on reporting violent crimes against women, with Ouk Kimseng on Friday reminding journalists and news organisations to refrain from publishing disparaging pictures, comments and opinions about victims of violent assault.

Article 11 of the code prevents organisations from publishing judgments about the causes of such assaults, such as the victim’s economic status, clothing and education, whereas Article 12 explicitly says they “must not blame or put the fault on the women when violence happens to them”.

Yesterday Kimseng said Rithy should put out a correction if he had violated the newly instated code. Failing that, he added, the victim’s family could file a complaint with the police or courts.

While the code does not contain any punitive measures, the Information Ministry has said the 1995 Law on the Press could be used for any punishment.

“The code is just a consensus that we should not do this or that. For how wrongful it is, we have the public to judge,” he said, adding that the ministry was not the “justice police” in charge of meting out punishments.

A staffer with the show – who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press – said that as of yesterday evening, there was no talk of internal disciplinary measures for the presenters.

Ros Sopheap, head of Gender and Development for Cambodia, said Rithy’s comments were unacceptable, and called him the embodiment of “a person who does not respect women’s rights at all”.

“It happens a lot, especially with Meas Rithy at Hang Meas. Every time he speaks [about women] we are not happy, but try to send them feedback,” she said. “This time we cannot stand by.”

She added that it was up to the government to take action to show how serious they were about the code of conduct, but also pointed out that Rithy’s comments resonated beyond the morning show anchor, with victim shaming a common occurrence in the Kingdom.

Rachana Bun, country director for ActionAid Cambodia, was one of the people to start the online petition demanding that the two presenters tender apologies for their comments and for Hang Meas to sensitise its reporters on covering women’s issues. “He was justifying and normalising the crime. We did not want to only feel frustrated, but also to take personal action this time,” she said.

Phan Ratana, spokesman for the Svay Rieng Provincial Court’s prosecutor’s office, said the two suspects in Somalin’s rape and murder – Chhoeuy Socheat and Phleak Mony – had been charged by the court under Article 205 for “murder with torture, cruel acts or rape”.

The session with the Pakatan Harapan chairman had to be halted abruptly after about 90 minutes when the former prime minister was answering a question on the 1985 Kampung Memali tragedy in Baling, Kedah.

He had been asked if he would take responsibility for the bloodshed which left 18 people, including four policemen, dead.

Dr Mahathir, who was standing on the stage, responded that police action at that time was done according to their standard operating procedures.

But even as he started speaking, a slipper was flung from the crowd towards the stage, followed by a shoe, several mineral water bottles and a chair.

The hall erupted into chaos as two flares were also thrown, one of them towards the section where members of the media were seated.

Several Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia members immediately rushed to the stage and escorted Dr Mahathir and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Pribumi deputy president Mukhriz Maha­thir, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng out to safety via the back entrance of the hall.

Shouts were heard from the audience, including from a group of youths wearing Pribumi’s Armada (youth wing) T-shirts as they gave chase to several individuals.A youth wearing a similar T-shirt was seen being assaulted at the parking area outside while a shirtless youth was chased by a mob back into the hall and beaten up.

Pribumi Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman told a press conference later that the incident was a clear sabotage attempt.

He said the event organiser adhered to all requirements set by the police in organising the forum, which was open to public participation.

“Apart from police permit, we had Rela volunteers and 150 members from Pakatan Harapan in charge of security.

“The culprits behind the chaos are not Pribumi or Pakatan members. They were wearing fake Arma­da T-shirts,” he said.

Shah Alam OCPD Asst Comm Shafien Mamat confirmed that three youths aged 17, 18 and 19, had been arrested.

“The three, two of whom are college students, were nabbed by members of the public before they being handed over to police,” he said.

ACP Shafien noted that the orga­ni­sers have been briefed on the re­­quirements, which included ensu­ring the safety of all participants.

“We will summon the forum organisers to have their statements taken soon,” he said.//AFP