Monitor

MISCELLANEOUS

Stories from around the world

Asahi Shimbun

Japan

AN ADVISORY body to the prime minister is calling for a unified response by Japanese society to stem the rise in juvenile crime. In a report submitted on Thursday, the Juvenile Problem Council said juvenile delinquency is nearing a fourth peak since the Second World War. Last year on average, 16.9 juveniles per 1,000 were arrested, the agency said. The report observes that juvenile criminals are self-centred, lack respect for society's rules and are marked by the inability to control their desires or impulses. It blames these tendencies on a lack of discipline brought on by an overprotection of juveniles' rights and freedom. The report urges parents to exercise flexibility in dealing with children.

Bangkok Post

Thailand

THERE IS calm in the southern seas, but it's a calm before the storm. Faced with a precipitous drop in their catch, thousands of small anchovy fishermen decided it was not worth going out to sea while larger trawlers with strong floodlights hogged up the fish at night. What have our policy makers done to control this destruction? Precious little. The collapse of the Thai seas will destroy this industry and lead to social unrest resulting from the scrambling for the remaining limited resources.