https://www.scmp.com/rss/320040/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Each year, millions of Myanmar’s impoverished citizens are deprived of nearly half of their country’s gross domestic product from lucrative jade mines that produce prized gems smuggled into China and sold throughout the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Greater initiative is required from the Hong Kong, Taiwanese and Chinese governments, whose affluent populations are fuelling the lucrative jade trade Little of the US$31 billion earned last year through the sale of jade has created safe... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1891837/jade-buying-hong-kong-cannot-turn-blind-eye-exploitation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1891837/jade-buying-hong-kong-cannot-turn-blind-eye-exploitation?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Dec 2015 07:15:15 +0000 For all the rhetoric from the International Olympic Committee about a sustainable legacy, it's hard to believe that an ecologically responsible tournament is the committee's top priority. On the heels of the environmentally devastating Sochi Games, swathes of a 500-year-old "sacred" forest were cleared recently for a three-day skiing competition to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Even as Pyeongchang's organising committee promised to replant 1,000 of the trees... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1866860/58000-reasons-why-south-korea-failing-create-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1866860/58000-reasons-why-south-korea-failing-create-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Oct 2015 05:55:09 +0000 Having recently rented my first Airbnb stay on a vacation, I've started looking into monthly sublets on the site and imagined making extra income from a spare room. It's easy to appreciate how companies such as Airbnb and FlipKey empower individuals to generate income on their own terms. But the downside of short-term rentals has gotten far less attention. By participating, we are putting job security and affordable housing at risk. Asia's infrastructure and governments are also ill-prepared to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1842776/asia-must-get-grips-airbnb-and-growing-gig-economy-make?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1842776/asia-must-get-grips-airbnb-and-growing-gig-economy-make?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jul 2015 07:30:15 +0000