Fri 17 Jun 2005 02:09 pm CSTAUSTIN (myDNA News)
An Indonesian man recently tested positive for the bird flu virus, marking the first human case of the deadly virus in the country.
The man, a poultry farmer from the island of Sulawesi in eastern Indonesia, tested positive for the H5N1 strain but did not show any overt symptoms of the virus. After further investigation, it was found that due to the low count of virus antibodies in his bloodstream, the man was not exposed recently to the virus and he no longer carried the virus.
The bird flu has assailed many regions of Asia. China, along with many other countries, has participated in mass slaughters of livestock in an effort to curb the disease.
Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) are worried that bird flu could rapidly spread and possibly mutate. Indonesia does not put healthcare at the forefront of their economic budget, and as such, infected individuals may not be able to receive the care necessary to treat and stop the virus from spreading. Also, there was a recent report which concluded that the H5N1 virus could mutate in subjects with both the avian flu and the ordinary flu, creating a strain that is much easier to transmit and could result in a global pandemic.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Friday, June 10, 2005
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Indonesians struggle to save for future
The Jakarta Post, June 10 2005
For taxi driver Sandy, in his 20s, meeting his family's daily needs is a hard task, and it is even more difficult for him to put money away in a savings account. The burdens on him have gotten heavier since the government's decision to increase fuel prices by 29 percent on March 1.
But Sandy, who has worked as a taxi driver for a year, still manages to allocate a little money for his top priority: his children's education.
"I just recently paid Rp 1 million (US$105) to enroll my five-year-old daughter in a kindergarten," said the father of two.
With a monthly income of about Rp 1 million, Sandy has to seek extra money to feed his family by running a small-scale printing shop.
"The printing shop has helped me and my wife so that we can save a little bit," he said.
According to a recent survey by market research firm ACNielsen, savings came in at number one, when respondents were asked where their spare money goes.
The company said on Thursday that 57 percent of its 510 respondents nationwide preferred to put their spare money into a savings account over other expenditures. The figure is slightly lower than last year's 59 percent.
The online survey, conducted between April 11 and May 10, shows that paying off debts, credit cards and loans is second with 36 percent.
ACNielsen Indonesia Executive Director Catherine Eddy said in a press briefing that consumer spending for holidays had increased to 28 percent in the first half of this year from 26 percent in the corresponding period last year.
Surprisingly, cash allocations for retirement funds were the lowest with only 5 percent, although the figure is higher than last year's 2 percent.
"Indonesians lack of interest in putting their money into retirement funds is similar to many neighboring countries such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand," said Chaterine.
According to ACNielsen -- which interviewed 21,261 respondents worldwide over the internet in 38 markets for the survey -- spending patterns emerged in different areas when it came to how the respondents allocated disposable income.
More than one-third, or 36 percent, of the world's consumers put extra money into savings, followed by out-of-home entertainment, holidays or vacations and new clothes.
In Europe, most consumers put cash into savings accounts for upcoming vacations or buy new clothes, more than any other region. By contrast, Asians remain the world's super savers with 51 percent putting their money away for a rainy day.
For Sandy, who occasionally has the desire to buy new outfits or take vacations, saving for his family's future has become his main goal in life.
"I have long for a better living, but surely hard for me to even have a glance at it with the country's existing economic condition," he said. (001)
For taxi driver Sandy, in his 20s, meeting his family's daily needs is a hard task, and it is even more difficult for him to put money away in a savings account. The burdens on him have gotten heavier since the government's decision to increase fuel prices by 29 percent on March 1.
But Sandy, who has worked as a taxi driver for a year, still manages to allocate a little money for his top priority: his children's education.
"I just recently paid Rp 1 million (US$105) to enroll my five-year-old daughter in a kindergarten," said the father of two.
With a monthly income of about Rp 1 million, Sandy has to seek extra money to feed his family by running a small-scale printing shop.
"The printing shop has helped me and my wife so that we can save a little bit," he said.
According to a recent survey by market research firm ACNielsen, savings came in at number one, when respondents were asked where their spare money goes.
The company said on Thursday that 57 percent of its 510 respondents nationwide preferred to put their spare money into a savings account over other expenditures. The figure is slightly lower than last year's 59 percent.
The online survey, conducted between April 11 and May 10, shows that paying off debts, credit cards and loans is second with 36 percent.
ACNielsen Indonesia Executive Director Catherine Eddy said in a press briefing that consumer spending for holidays had increased to 28 percent in the first half of this year from 26 percent in the corresponding period last year.
Surprisingly, cash allocations for retirement funds were the lowest with only 5 percent, although the figure is higher than last year's 2 percent.
"Indonesians lack of interest in putting their money into retirement funds is similar to many neighboring countries such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand," said Chaterine.
According to ACNielsen -- which interviewed 21,261 respondents worldwide over the internet in 38 markets for the survey -- spending patterns emerged in different areas when it came to how the respondents allocated disposable income.
More than one-third, or 36 percent, of the world's consumers put extra money into savings, followed by out-of-home entertainment, holidays or vacations and new clothes.
In Europe, most consumers put cash into savings accounts for upcoming vacations or buy new clothes, more than any other region. By contrast, Asians remain the world's super savers with 51 percent putting their money away for a rainy day.
For Sandy, who occasionally has the desire to buy new outfits or take vacations, saving for his family's future has become his main goal in life.
"I have long for a better living, but surely hard for me to even have a glance at it with the country's existing economic condition," he said. (001)
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