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Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

OCTOBER 1, 1999 VOL. 25 NO. 39

Letters

Coronary Care
I read with great concern "In the Beat of a Heart" [HEALTH SPECIAL REPORT, Aug. 6] regarding the coronary angiogram procedure. Your caption "The Angiogram" said the procedure takes 45 minutes. This is clearly inaccurate, as an average angiogram should take only 10 minutes. This exaggeration in time may worry patients unduly. Of more concern is the statistic in the same article reporting a 15% risk in a coronary angiogram. This is extremely high. The worldwide figure for complications of a heart attack during the procedure in which a blood clot forms in the artery should be less than 0.1%. The lay public reading this article may get extremely worried with this figure and may therefore decline having this important diagnostic test undertaken.
In general, a surgical team is never on "standby" for this procedure as it is extremely safe except for high-risk and unstable patients. The test is very important for determining the extent of a patient's coronary artery disease. A surgical team is only required during interventional procedures such as coronary angioplasty. The public can be assured that the angiogram is extremely low-risk and safe and provides critical information in the diagnosis of important underlying coronary artery disease.
Dr. Alfred Cheng
Head and consultant cardiologist
Department of Cardiology
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Singapore


The U.S. government recently decided to fund the research project on "master cells" culled from human embryos ["Grown to Order," Aug. 6]. This will no doubt speed up the research by years. I hope and pray that religious and ethics groups opposed to this major medical breakthrough will quickly realize that the prospect of benefits to living humans far outweighs any ethical or religious concerns.
E.L. Arevalo
Augustine, Florida
United States


The Broadband Challenge
Your COVER STORY on the "Broadband Bonanza" [Sept. 3] clearly shows that despite the Asian Crisis, telecom carriers and technology entrepreneurs have been hard at work to transform Asia into a fully digital environment with interactive applications for the home and office via broadband technology. With the convergence of technologies into our daily lives, it is now up to vertical markets such as banking, finance, credit card firms, retail, the media and other sectors of society to make use of these cutting-edge applications to attract and retain customers.
You highlighted the "biggest uncertainty" of broadband to be that of content. Clearly, many Asian industries have not kept pace with technological developments which the Internet brings. In the new millennium, the use of technology will mean that telecom carriers and Internet service providers need to develop solutions together with the service industry and other consumer-based sectors in order to offer services and content compelling enough to attract the Asian consumer. If non-technology players are not active in this process of content development and service offerings, broadband may well end up as an expensive white elephant.
Steven Yeong
Singapore



This edition's table of contents | Asiaweek home

AsiaNow



WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner



TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state



ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness


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