Maids for sale in Singapore and a Japanese punk headed for space
Elon Musk and Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa speak before a Falcon 9 rocket during the announcement that Maezawa will be the first private passenger who will fly around the Moon aboard the SpaceX BFR. Photo: AFP
Elon Musk's space transport company SpaceX has chosen its first private passenger as Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, founder and CEO of online fashion retailer Zozo. Maezawa, 42, will take a trip around the moon aboard the company's forthcoming Big Falcon Rocket spaceship. He plans to invite six to eight artists, architects, designers and other creative people on the week-long journey. Maezawa, a former drummer in a punk band, said he wants his guests to be inspired to create once they return to Earth "to inspire the dreamer in all of us". "I wish to create amazing works of art for humankind," Maezawa said. "Just thinking about it now gets my heart racing." Musk said the billionaire will pay "a lot of money" for the lunar orbit but declined to disclose the exact amount.
Domestic helpers enjoying a picnic in the shade at Gulung-gulung park in Singapore. Rights groups slammed adverts on a Singapore website selling Indonesian domestic helpers. Photo: AFP
Online ads in Singapore selling Indonesian maids were slammed as "unjust and demeaning" in a rare flare-up of tensions between the neighbours over domestic helpers. The adverts surfaced on online marketplace Carousell under the username "maid.recruitment". They reportedly offered the services of several helpers from Indonesia, while some ads indicated maids had been "sold". The posts on the site, which operates in several Asian countries and describes itself as "a simple way to sell the clutter in your life", were removed. Wahyu Susilo, executive director of Indonesian NGO Migrant Care, "strongly condemned" the adverts and called for those behind them to be brought to justice. "This is very unjust and demeaning to the migrant workers' dignity," he said.
Passengers stand on the tarmac after an emergency landing because of lost cabin pressure on a Jet Airways flight in Mumbai. Photo: Reuters
A cockpit mix-up on a Jet Airways flight 9W 697 from Mumbai to Jaipur on Thursday left more than 30 passengers bleeding from their ears and noses after the crew simply forgot to flick a switch regulating cabin air pressure. The plane carrying 166 passengers was forced to return to Mumbai as the alarming symptoms became apparent, the airline said, with one traveller describing "panic" on board. Those affected were given medical attention while alternative flights were arranged. People on board posted photos and videos of the calamity online. Failing to flip the "bleed switch" caused oxygen masks to deploy when the aircraft was gaining altitude, the nation's aviation regulator said.
South Korean actor Lee Jong-suk arrives at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport last Friday to meet fans. Photo: Instagram
Extreme efforts by two Thai female fans who disguised themselves to meet their South Korean idol raised concerns about security procedures at Thailand's main airport. The women's misadventures were exposed when one posted photos on Instagram detailing how they got into the secure arrival zone at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport last Friday to greet soap opera star Lee Jong-suk face-to-face. The posts explained how they dressed up as customs officers and were helped by two officials. "Thank you, my dear friend, Piano, for finding out Suk's flight. Sai, for getting an official to let me into the departure gate," the fan wrote. "I was also the first person to touch Suk's hand!" she said. Lee, 29, went to Bangkok for a fan meeting session on Saturday, where tickets just to high-five the television celebrity cost 5,500 baht (US$170).
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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