Getting to the top traditionally takes a two-day trek but these days most visitors opt for a 20-minute ride by cable car instead — the latest flashy tourist attraction to heighten concerns over rapid development destroying Sapa’s natural beauty.
Known by some as the Tonkinese Alps, the former French outpost has seen a tourism boom in recent years with a new highway from the capital and hotels popping up at breakneck pace.
“If more and more building (happens), then one day we will lose Sapa, we won’t have any more mountain,” said guide Giang Thi Lang, from the Black Hmong ethnic group.
Vietnam’s tourism industry has taken off in recent years, especially among domestic visitors with growing appetites and budgets for travel.
The country has also become a draw for foreign visitors turning their backs on better-known Southeast Asian destinations such as Thailand’s Chiang Mai, seeking instead a road less travelled.
But some lament the commercialisation of Vietnamese treasures, with reports of locals complaining about multi-course meals served in Ha Long Bay’s famous caves, or trash-strewn beaches in the resort town of Phu Quoc.

‘They didn’t listen’

In Sapa town, where heaps of rubble mark hotel sites under construction, the number of rooms has surged from 2,500 in 2010 to 4,000 last year, according to official figures.
Visitor numbers have snowballed too, reaching around 700,000 last year, and revenues have more than tripled since 2010 to $50 million.
Part of that growth is thanks to the cable car — the longest of its kind in the world according to operators — which opened in February with the capacity to ferry 2,000 people to the top of the mountain daily.
“It’s good for Sapa when they can attract more tourists… and we have a big number of the local people that can find jobs,” said Nguyen Van Manh, deputy director of Sapa’s Tourist Information Center, adding that the sector provided employment to thousands.
But some locals tell a different story.
“Before the cable car, there were more porters from the village with regular work,” said Hmong trekking guide Ma A Tro from Fansipan’s summit, where he had just led a two-day trip.
“Now with the cable car there, village residents no longer have jobs, mostly becoming freelance construction workers.”
The government ignored opposition to the cable car, he said, lamenting that business has dwindled since its construction with fewer people climbing the mountain.
“We talked to them, but they didn’t listen. The central government came and said they had to do it, so they did it,” he added.

‘Disappointed’
Some tourists also say Sapa is losing its appeal, with Fansipan’s picturesque summit replaced by concrete steps, souvenir shops and still-under-construction temples.
“I imagined I would come to the top and it would be really natural, but it’s developed here, so for me it’s a bit disappointing,” said trekker Duong Hoang Minh, who hiked to the top of the 3,143-metre (10,311-foot) peak.
But still, he decided to take the cable car down and agreed that more people can enjoy the mountain because of it.
“For other people I think it’s better because it’s safer for them,” said the 23-year-old teacher, his white sweatpants slicked with fresh mud.
Most tourism operators agree the boom has brought much-needed development — roads, schools and clinics, for example — to a region where the majority of the population belong to one of Vietnam’s 53 ethnic minorities, who have traditionally lagged behind the rest of the country.
But without sustainable growth Sapa risks “shooting itself in the foot”, said Hubert de Murard, manager of the Topas Ecolodge about 18 kilometres (11 miles) from Sapa town.
The lodge, with its 25 white granite bungalows overlooking a rice terraced valley, employs mostly locals, was built using materials found nearby and was designed to blend in with the surrounding environment — a business model de Murard said he’d like to see newcomers adopt.
He worries that some investments have been short-sighted, aimed at maximising the number of visitors.
“For a natural destination like here, with a preserved environment, this would not really be good,” he told AFP as the sun set over the yawning valley behind him.
“We need to be a bit more careful to avoid the mistake of mass tourism in Sapa.”

More than 300 Red Shirts took part in the demonstration outside the office of Malaysiakini on Saturday afternoon, where they shouted slogans calling for the news portal’s closure, according to an epa journalist on the scene.

Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos, who is also a member of the ruling United Malays National Organisation party, said the action was organized to protest donations allegedly made to Malaysiakini by the Open Society Foundation, a grant-making organization run by billionaire Soros.

The largely Malay group claims the funds given to Malaysiakini were to be used to influence the next general elections, with an aim of toppling the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak. Despite demonstrators shouting at police, the protest remained largely peaceful and ended late Saturday afternoon, with pledges from Yunos for another gathering later in the month.

In a statement Saturday, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan said the site is under the full control of journalists and editors, not investors. “When it comes to outsiders or even Malaysiakini shareholders influencing our editorial (output), that is completely impossible,” Gan said at a press conference following the rally.

Each participant then held four pencils to form a giant line measuring 837.6 meters, which organizers claimed constituted a new world record, though this has not been officially confirmed.

The event was organized as part of the “One Million Lapis” campaign, spearheaded by the Council for the Welfare of Children in coordination with SM Cares, the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Supermalls.

The campaign has sought to promote “writing as a basic right” and has been collecting pencils that will be given to elementary school students who don’t have access to necessary supplies. More than 3.1 million pencils were reportedly donated during the campaign, many of which were used at the event on Saturday before they were due to be distributed among underprivileged children.

Police on Friday fired tear-gas at protestors who were trying to meet Joko to demand the prosecution of Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama – better known by his Chinese nickname “Ahok” – for remark she made in September which some Muslims considered to be blasphemous.

“We regret the event at night when the protestors should have disbanded but instead turned to rioting,” Joko said. “We see that(the protest) has been exploited by political actors seeking to take advantage of the situation.”

One person died from an asthma attack following the clashes,which broke out at night after most of the estimated 100,000demonstrators left peacefully, police said.

Joko urged the public to remain calm and said that the case involving Purnama, a key ally, would be investigated promptly and transparently.

In a video circulating on the internet last month, Purnama said his opponents in next year’s gubernatorial election had used a verse from the Koran to deceive voters and prevent him from winning another term.

Many Muslims in Indonesia interpret the text in question as prohibiting them from electing non-Muslims as their leaders.

Purnama became Jakarta’s first ethnically-Chinese governor when he took over from Joko in 2014.

Backed by Joko’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, he is seeking another term in the election scheduled for February 15.

Purnama has apologized for the Koran remarks, but his expression of remorse failed to appease hardline Muslims.

Blasphemy is defined in Indonesia as “publicly expressing hostility to, misusing or disparaging any of the recognized religions” and is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country, where many people follow a moderate form of Islam. While hardliners have launched occasional agitation in the past, protests on such a large scale have been rare.
The atmosphere in Jakarta was tense and some companies asked employees to work from home, access to business districts was restricted and embassies urged caution.
Truck loads of soldiers and police, some equipped with rifles, were on patrol and others secured shopping malls. A total of about 18,000 security personnel are expected to be deployed in the sprawling city of 10 million, police said.
The protesters, led by a group called the Islamic Defenders Front, are calling for Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahja Purnama, a Christian and the first ethnic Chinese in the job, to be jailed for blasphemy.
They say he insulted the Koran by dismissing a political attack by an opponent who urged opposition to Purnama by citing a verse from the Koran.
“He is not Muslim but he humiliated the Koran,” protester Muhammad Said told Reuters.
“Don’t refer to anything in the Koran, especially interpreting it incorrectly … I call on God to jail him.”
Purnama served as deputy to President Joko Widodo whenWidodo was city governor from 2012 to 2014, and has long been seen as an ally of the president.
Widodo would work as usual yesterday, with plans to visit a rail construction project at the capital’s airport, presidential spokesman Johan Budi told reporters.
Budi said Wiranto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, and state secretary Pratikno were expected to meet representatives of the protesters.
Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla called for a peaceful protest in a joint statement on Thursday, saying “everything and everyone should continue to work as normal”.
Police are investigating the case against Purnama, who has apologised for the remarks. Widodo, a Muslim, has vowed not to interfere in any legal proceedings against Purnama, according to the Indonesian Clerical Council.
Many of the protesters wore white robes and Muslim caps and gathered at the central Istiqlal Mosque, the biggest mosque in the country, before they began moving towards the presidential palace, with their numbers expected to swell.
Critics say Widodo’s government has not done enough to contain the religious and ethnic tension that is mounting ahead of a city governor election in February.
Purnama, popularly known as “Ahok”, has a reputation as a tough reformer.
He will compete for re-election against two Muslims – Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, a son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and a former education minister, AniesBaswedan.
Ethnic Chinese make up just over one per cent of Indonesia’s250 million people, and they typically do not enter politics.
There has been opposition to the hardliners on social media and some banners draped from an overpass called for respect of diversity.
“Your religion or ethnicity doesn’t matter, as long as you can do something good for everybody,” said one banner.
Indonesia suffered a series of Islamist militant attacks early in the last decade. In the most serious incident, 202 people were killed in bombings of a nightclub on the island of Bali in 2002.
An attack in Jakarta early this year by supporters of Islamic State raised fears of a new wave of violent militancy.

REUTERS

At the opening ceremony held at Holiday Inn in Alor Setar, he said relying on equipment to monitor would not be effective in eliminating all illegal activities related to nuclear and radioactive material at the border of Malaysia and Thailand. The collaboration with relevant agencies, sufficient funds and increased awareness on nuclear and radioactive material would help to achieve the mission.

He said Malaysia has sufficient equipment to control the influx of nuclear and radioactive material. However, it still works with Thailand in sharing information.

He said that since 2005, Malaysia has installed Radiation Portal Monitors at checkpoints and in its airspace. In 2009, the Customs Department of Malaysia had collaborated with the US to install two sets of Radiation Portal Monitors. In 2011, assisted by the international atomic agency, the monitors were placed at Padang Besar, respectively in Perlis. Two other sets of monitors were installed at West Port in Port Klang and the unloading bay respectively.

The event is jointly organised by the Atomic Energy licencing board and National Security Council, assisted by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Activities included the training held at Sadao, southern Thailand.

The report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the plane’s final satellite communications were “consistent with the aircraft being in a high and increasing rate of descent” when it vanished.
Analysis of the right outboard flap — which was found off Tanzania — showed it was “most likely in the retracted position at the time it separated from the wing”, suggesting the plane was not configured for landing before it smashed into the ocean.
The bureau noted that the width of the defined search area was appropriate “to encompass all uncontrolled descent scenarios from the simulations”.
“This report contains important new information on what we believe happened at the end of MH370’s flight,” Australia’s Transport Minister Darren Chester said at the start of a three-day meeting in Canberra where experts will plan the final stages of the search.
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 passengers and crew.
Despite a massive underwater hunt far off Western Australia’s coast, no trace of the jet has been found.
Investigators have however confirmed that three pieces of debris recovered along western Indian Ocean shorelines came from MH370.
More than 110,000 square kilometres (42,470 square miles) of a 120,000-square-kilometre search arc have been scoured so far and the operation is due to wrap up in early 2017.
The findings of the ATSB’s new report, which analysed satellite data, end-of-flight simulations, recovered sections of the plane and debris drift modelling, confirm extensive testing by US manufacturer Boeing and the Australian defence department.
Experts at the meeting will “review all the available data and analysis associated with the search to date”, Chester said in a statement.
Their findings will “inform the remainder of the search effort, and develop guidance for any future search operations.”
“There are currently more than 20 items of debris of interest to the investigation team which have been located on the coasts of Africa, Madagascar, the island of Mauritius, Reunion and Rodrigues,” he added.
Ongoing drift analysis also suggested the search was in the right place, the ATSB said, noting it was “unlikely debris originated south of the current search area.
“The northernmost regions were also found to be less likely,” it added.
The governments of Australia, Malaysia and China, where most of the passengers were from, this year agreed to pull the plug on the operation once the search area was fully scoured unless “credible new information” emerged.