KINGDAO HARNSIRICHAI was dressed in Thai traditional costume while walking around the Dali University campus for the whole day on December 15, waiting to perform a Thai classical dance to greet foreign ministers and delegations from the Lancang Mekong Cooperation (LMC), who were there for diplomatic meetings.

Kingdao

“I’m the only Thai student here so they told me to greet and perform a dance to show Thai guests, but I don’t know about the meeting,” she said.

While there are training opportunities and scholarships under the LMC framework, Kingdao studies the Chinese language at the university based on her own interest and pays for it herself.

“I know China is rising and growing. People of my generation keep saying that China will give us opportunities to make money,” she told The Nation. “So I saved all my money and came here to learn Chinese.”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education from Dhonburi Rajabhat University, which has an exchange programme with Dali University, Kingdao said she hoped that learning Chinese would help her to be prepared in the future when China has more engagement and stronger relations with Thailand.

“I want to open a language school in Bangkok when I return. Since I graduated to be a teacher, teaching Chinese language would be a perfect job, right?”

The picturesque Dali University campus is among the Chinese educational institutions designated to support the LMC human development project to improve China’s status and spread Chinese knowledge, technology and know-how among people from other Mekong basin countries.

Long before the establishment of the LMC in 2015, Dali University had cooperative relations with many Thai universities including Burapha, Chiang Mai and Prince of Songkla. There have been more than 800 students and academics involved in several cooperation and exchange programmes since 2003, according to Duan Lin, chairman of the Dali University Committee.

The university has particularly strong programmes in medicine and biodiversity.

Kingdao said she had learned about Dali University after attending a one-month exchange programme three years ago.

“It would be better if our educational institutes in Thailand gave us more information and scholarships,” Kingdao said. “I’ve struggled a lot to enrol here since I have to pay 14,250 yuan [Bt71,250] a year for my education.”

However, she has a teaching assistant job at the university’s Thai Language Department that contributes to her tuition.

In Tianjin, where a high-speed train can reach Beijing in only 40 minutes, Pattana Traisikkha, a 20-year-old vocational student at the Tianjin Sino-German University of Applied Science (TSGUAS), said his life was a bit easier after he had obtained a partial scholarship.

Pattana (with glasses) demonstrates robot controlling to his junior classmate

The Thai-Chinese student, who is also known also as Tang Zi Qing, finished his vocational certificate in electronics from Chitralada Vocational School three years ago before coming to Tianjin.

Initiated during the first visit of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to the university in 2013, the cooperative effort enrolled an initial group of six Thai students at the campus, all of whom have finished their education, said Professor Zhang Xinghui.

Pattana is in the third class and plans to finish his diploma in mechatronics next year. “With a half scholarship from Chitralada, I have to pay Bt70,000 for the tuition fee, which is still relatively expensive compared to our standards,” he said.

“But it’s worth it, I think since I have learned a lot of advanced mechatronic technology and robotics,” he said. Mechatronics refers to a multidisciplinary field including electronics, mechanics and computer engineering.

“I’m learning about robot controls, which will be useful for assembly line production. Pneumatics and hydraulics are also my subjects, Pattan told The Nation, while showing junior classmates, including an Indonesian and Cambodian, how to control a robot in manual mode.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang announced in the first summit of LMC leaders in March last year that China would provide 18,000 scholarships and 5,000 training opportunities for students from Mekong countries over three years.

Both Dali University and the TSGUAS were designated in the plan, and officials and students from Mekong countries have subsequently poured into the campuses.

Students Pakamon Chaiyawan and Puri Boonyoprakan finished their degrees in agriculture from Lopburi Agriculture and Technology College before obtaining full scholarships for media and movie studies at TSGUAS’s Faculty of Art.

“Everything from the language to our major subjects was very hard when we started a year ago,” said Pakamon. “But it’s okay now since we can adjust and hope we will finish our degree here.”

In the future, students who do not have sufficient funds or are struggling with the Chinese language should be able to study in their home countries after Li announced vocational education and training centres in its Mekong partner countries.

Zhang, who is the Chinese Communist Party secretary at TSGUAS, said the university had already set up the Lancang-Mekong Vocational Training Centre in Cambodia. “In five years, we will make the training centre become an international training centre in Cambodia to serve all Mekong countries and Asean nations,” he said.

The LMC and the training centres, as well as many other mechanisms for cooperation in the region, are being developed to serve China’s strategy of the “One Belt One Road Initiative” for growth and development, he said.

Authorities on Monday confirmed they have found the bodies of 36 remaining workers trapped inside the burned NCCC Mall here.

Mayor Sara Duterte said the bodies of the victims have been recovered and were being processed by police forensics for proper identification.

Senior Supt. Wilberto Rico Neil Kwan Tiu, director of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Southern Mindanao, provided additional details during a Mass held near the ill-fated mall on Monday.

Most of the relatives sobbed and wept as Kwan Tiu relayed the sad news. He said they did what they could to save the trapped  workers of the American firm, Research Now SSI.

“We drilled holes on the walls, used ladders to reach the upper floors but the toxic, thick smoke and extreme heat of up to 700 degrees Celsius turned the responders back and prevented us from immediately reaching the inner portions of the building,” Kwan Tiu said.

He said the firefighters’ protective equipment could not withstand the searing heat. They had to conduct fire suppression first before they could get inside further.

The regional fire chief said at least 33 firetrucks from various fire stations and volunteer fire brigades throughout Davao region responded to the general alarm, and the closest firefighters arrived on the scene in minutes.

Addressing tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at the Vatican to hear the pontiff’s fifth “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and The World) message, Francis called for “peace for Jerusalem and for all the Holy Land.

“We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.

“Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders.”

The pontiff’s plea came as fresh tensions simmered in the West Bank following President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Following Trump’s lead, Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales said Sunday his country would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Trump’s announcement on December 6 unleashed demonstrators and clashes, including in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank where Christians marked the birth of Jesus at a midnight mass.

“May the Lord also sustain the efforts of all those in the international community inspired by good will to help that afflicted land to find, despite grave obstacles the harmony, justice and security that it has long awaited,” the pope said.

The pontiff also mentioned other global flashpoints such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan and Venezuela, after stressing that the “winds of war are blowing in our world”.

“Let us pray that confrontation may be overcome on the Korean peninsula and that mutual trust may increase in the interest of the world as a whole,” the 81-year-old said.

– Fewer tourists in Bethlehem –

Earlier, celebrating midnight mass in the ancient town, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, used his homily to lambast the wars that “the Herods of today fight every day to become greater, to occupy more space”.

Criticising Trump’s announcement, Pizzaballa insisted “Jerusalem is a city of peace, there is not peace if someone is excluded. Jerusalem should include, not exclude,” stressing the principle that Jerusalem is a city for both peoples and the three Abrahamic faiths.

Hundreds had gathered in the cold on Bethlehem’s Manger Square to watch the annual scout parade towards the Church of the Nativity, built over the spot where tradition says Mary gave birth to Jesus.

But the square was noticeably quieter following the violence between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli army in the past weeks.

Twelve Palestinians have been killed since Trump’s declaration, including a 19-year-old who died of his wounds on Sunday nine days after he was shot during a Gaza protest.

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, in moves never recognised by the international community.

Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and interpreted Trump’s statement as rejecting their right to a capital in east Jerusalem, although the Americans deny this.

– First Xmas in Homs in years –

Christmas decorations have meanwhile become more visible in Christian areas of Syria’s capital Damascus this year.

In the central Syrian city of Homs, Christians will celebrate Christmas with great fanfare for the first time in years after the end of battles between regime and rebel forces — with processions, shows for children and even decorations among the ruins.

In Iraq too, this year marks a positive turning point for the Christian community in the northern city of Mosul.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was meanwhile due to pay tribute to the cities of London and Manchester which suffered terror attacks this year.

“This Christmas, I think of London and Manchester, whose powerful identities shone through over the past 12 months in the face of appalling attacks,” the 91-year-old monarch was to say in the pre-recorded televised message.

London suffered two deadly terror attacks, while 22 people — including children — were killed during an attack at Manchester Arena following a performance by US singer Ariana Grande.

Meanwhile a tragic Christmas weekend in the Philippines was compounded Monday by the deaths of 20 people killed in a bus collision while travelling to mass.

Dozens of people were feared killed in a fire Saturday in the southern city of Davao. Thousands were displaced by floods and landslides from a storm that also killed more than 200 others on Friday.//AFP

The man was injured in the failed attempt and taken to hospital. He had gas cartridges in the car and jerrycans containing petrol.

He had also laid out a bag with inflammable material in front of another building — the headquarters of the CDU party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The police were alerted by the building’s caretaker, who found the bag. Berlin police are investigating the incident.//AFP

The man, who was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, for allegedly attempting to smuggle firearms out, appeared to be a regular student with no signs of being radicalised. His father is said to be a former businessman who lived in a rather large house.

However, the business failed and his parents were then divorced. The mother was forced to work as a ge­­neral worker in a school canteen.

When that failed, it became a kitchen for a chicken rice seller.

A neighbour in Kuching, who wanted to remain anonymous, said Muhd Alfie has also never been abroad, and the farthest he has tra­velled was to Kuala Lumpur.

“I was shocked to learn about his arrest. He seemed like a good kid, always greeting us,” he told The Star yesterday.

He said Muhd Alfie also did not appear to be involved in any religious group as he was often attending classes at a private college here, where he was reading law.

According to one of Muhd Alfie’s uncles, who only wanted to be identified as Nizam, the young man quit his law studies because of financial problems.

Nizam said he was shocked to learn of the arrest.

He described Muhd Alfie as a quiet person who did not get into any trouble.

“He must have been used by someone else. Look at the pictures of his arrest. He looks calm and not guilty,” he said.

Nizam said the youth’s father and mother were both too stunned for words after they heard of their son’s arrest.

“The mother has just gone blank. She simply does not know what to say,” he said.

Suspected to be an Islamic State member, Muhd Alfie was arrested at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi while attempting to board Thai Airways Flight TG342 to Bangkok recently.

It was reported that Pakistan authorities seized four pistols, eight ammunition magazines and 70 bullets hidden in his bag and shoes.

It is believed that Muhd Alfie is now being questioned by intelligence agencies over his alleged links to Islamic State and as to why he concealed pistols and ammunition in his luggage and shoes.

Clad in a robe and skullcap du­ring the arrest, Muhd Alfie reportedly went to Pakistan on a 14-day social visitor’s pass.

According to the neighbour, he must have gone after attending a wedding reception in the housing area on Dec 10, the date he was last seen.

“I don’t think anything was amiss. He showed up in a white baju me­layu. I’ve never seen him wear a robe before,” he said.

He said that although Muhd Alfie was friendly, he appeared to be reserved.

“His parents are divorced and he was living with the father here with a younger brother. The mother lives not far away with another younger brother while his elder sister lives in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

He also said Muhd Alfie’s father has not been seen since the police visited the house on Saturday evening.

A Malaysian intelligence source said there was a possibility that Muhd Alfie entered Pakistan with the intention to get arms and smuggle them into Malaysia with specific intentions, including terrorism.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre announced the inquiry as the government raised the toll from Saturday’s NCCC mall fire in the southern city of Davao to one dead and 38 missing.

The fire compounded the Christmas misery in the south of the mainly Catholic nation where tens of thousands were also displaced by floods and landslides from a storm that also killed more than 200 others on Friday.

“By punishing those responsible, we can set an example to others so that, hopefully, there will be no repetition of those tragedies,” Aguirre said in a statement.

Deadly blazes occur regularly in the Philippines, particularly in slum areas where there are virtually no fire safety standards.

US-based market research company SSI confirmed on its website late Sunday that 37 of its 500 employees were “lost” from its Davao unit, which leased the four-storey building’s top floor.

– ‘Terrible tragedy’ –

“This terrible tragedy has left us with heavy hearts. We offer our condolences and prayers to the families and loved ones of the victims,” chief executive Gary Laben said in the statement.

The company said it has arranged for counselling for its employees, and will support funeral arrangements and set up a fund to assist the bereaved.

Local authorities on Sunday said no-one trapped in the fire would have survived and firemen have only managed to retrieve one unidentified body so far.

Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, a daughter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, raised the toll from the tragedy on Monday, saying 38 other people apart from the recovered body found were missing — two more than previously listed.

The city’s fire marshal had described the shopping mall as “an enclosed space with no ventilation”, though the authorities said they had yet to determine the cause of the blaze.

The building’s administrators on Sunday denied allegations from survivors that there were inadequate emergency fire exits and that some of them were locked.

“There is no truth to that allegation. In fact as per accounts of those who got out, they were able get out thru the fire exit,” Thea Padua, the mall’s public relations officer, told AFP by text message.

– Slow recovery –

Some relatives of those missing criticised rescuers for what they felt was the slow pace of recovery efforts.

“They seem so relaxed,” said Jolita Basalan, weeping as she waited for news of her missing 29-year-old son Jonas who worked at the call centre.

“They are not pained because they don’t have a child there. They told us to come here but no one is moving,” she told AFP.

Corruption and exploitation mean supposedly strict fire standards are often not enforced in the Philippines.

In 2015, a fire tore through a footwear factory in Manila, killing 72. Survivors of that blaze blamed barred windows and other sweatshop conditions for trapping people inside the factory.

In the deadliest fire in the Philippines in recent times, 162 people were killed in a huge blaze that gutted a Manila disco in 1996.

With low wages but strong English language skills, the Asian nation is a popular destination for international companies to set up customer call centres in its big cities including Davao, 900-plus kilometres (more than 500 miles) south of Manila.//AFP