Japanese supermarkets reporting last-minute rush on some items

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http://sg.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/asia/article.html?s=singapore/headlines/991219/asia/afp/Asia_bunkers_down_for_millennium_bug.html

[snip]

The main exception is high-tech Japan, with major supermarkets reporting a last-minute rush on bunker items like tinned food, batteries and water.

"Sales of water in early December more than doubled from last year and sales of oil stoves tripled and those of battery and gas cooking stoves doubled," said a spokesman for Daiei Inc. supermarket chain in Japan.

China is also worried, so much it has moved the official New Year's holiday back to the last day of 1999.

Most government departments and industries in China have said they are ready, although Y2K problems surfaced on April 9, 1999, the 99th day of the year, and on September 9 -- or 9/9/99.

[snip]

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), December 19, 1999

Answers

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Sunday, December 19 9:28 AM SGT

Asia bunkers down for millennium bug

HONG KONG, Dec 19 (AFP) -

With less than two weeks to go before the new millennium's day of reckoning, most of Asia is facing the Y2K computer bug with calm, possibly careless, abandon.

The main exception is high-tech Japan, with major supermarkets reporting a last-minute rush on bunker items like tinned food, batteries and water.

"Sales of water in early December more than doubled from last year and sales of oil stoves tripled and those of battery and gas cooking stoves doubled," said a spokesman for Daiei Inc. supermarket chain in Japan.

China is also worried, so much it has moved the official New Year's holiday back to the last day of 1999.

Most government departments and industries in China have said they are ready, although Y2K problems surfaced on April 9, 1999, the 99th day of the year, and on September 9 -- or 9/9/99.

But elsewhere in Asia -- including some countries where only the privileged few have computers -- people say they have more important things to worry about.

In South Korea, the government has already stockpiled essential fuels and food in case of war with rival North Korea.

"The general atmosphere remains calm," said Seo Kwang-Hyon of a Y2K task force. "We have received no reports on citizens' stockpiling of those necessities."

Another tech-savvy state, Singapore, has assured its citizens all basic services and bank functions will proceed normally.

In India, state-run defence companies have stockpiled fuel and raw materials but the locals seem satisfied with the authorities' assurances the country is Y2K compliant.

Neighbouring Pakistan has given no warnings to its 130 million people about possible food or money shortages and there are few signs anyone is worried enough to start hoarding.

The New Year falls during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when most Pakistanis fast from sunrise to sunset.

Thailand has set up a centre to ease Y2K worries and has distributed five million booklets on how to prepare, but it is unclear whether anyone has bothered to read them.

A more convenient Y2K hotline has been inundated with calls, mostly concerning banking and air travel. Understandably, people in the country which triggered Asia's 1997 economic crash are concerned mainly with their bank deposits.

In Cambodia, the only stockpiling reported has been in northern Siem Reap, where locals are hoping to cash in on the thousands of thirsty tourists expected for a sound and light show at historic Angkor Wat.

Philippine Science and Technology Secretary Filemon Uriarte summed up the prevailing attitude when he said: "It is not necessarily the Y2K problem that will cause problems. Rather it is the panic caused by the Y2K problem."

In steamy Manila there have been no government orders to store essentials and most locals are reluctant to do so.

Filipinos have taken note of the highly publicized case of pensioner Faustino Timbol, who withdrew his lifetime savings to prepare for the millennium bug only to see it devoured by thieves.

The only sales rush in the Philippines has been on firecrackers -- not exactly essential items in an emergency.

Australians have been watching with amusement the news of stockpiling in Japan, confident no technological disasters will interrupt their long summer holidays.

But those not on the beach over the New Year will be able to click on to www.y2kaustralia.gov.au for status reports, colour-coded green for all-clear, yellow for minor glitches and red for serious bug attack.

Malaysia has spent an estimated 1.85 billion ringgit (487 million dollars) on millennium bug problems and expects the investment to pay dividends.

In Taiwan, where a major earthquake brought devastation in September, most people see little threat although supermarkets seem busier than usual.

In Hong Kong, the government has been quick to assure people it is Y2k compliant, although at least one foreign embassy here is warning its nationals to prepare for the worst by filling bathtubs with water.

Vietnamese authorities' most immediate concern is dealing with two recent floods. To cope with Y2K, Hanoi is relying on the resilience of the Vietnamese people who are well accustomed to living with scarcities.

In Bangladesh, officials are so confident the country's two major stock exchanges will be the only trading houses in the world to operate during the vulnerable period.

Experts say pandemonium could break out at the tick of midnight on December 31 if computers which only read the last two digits of the year fail when their clocks strike 2000.

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-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), December 19, 1999.


Linkmeister did you see those mysterious lights over Shively the other night? The news stations are reporting they were "ice crystals in the sky", sounds like things are getting stranger and stranger.

-- Rev. Louis Coleman (you@know .who), December 19, 1999.

Except that it's nowhere near the "last minute". Give it a week..

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 20, 1999.

The reason most Japanese will prepare is that they are

1) used to earthquakes.

2) will be expected to share what they have with their neighbors. If they don't have enough for their neighbors, they will starve.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.


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