text:
Sook Ching

Sook Ching was a mass killing that occurred from 18 February to 4 March 1942 in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese. It was a systematic purge and massacre of 'anti-Japanese' elements in Singapore, with the Singaporean Chinese particularly targeted by the Japanese military during the occupation. However, Japanese soldiers engaged in indiscriminate killing, and did not try to identify who was 'anti-Japanese.'

Singapore was a crucial strategic point in World War II. From 8 February to 15 February, the Japanese fought for control of the city. The combined British and Commonwealth forces surrendered in a stunning defeat to the outnumbered Japanese on 15 February which led to its fall. The loss of Singapore was and still is Britain's largest surrender in history.

Three days later after the fall on 18 February, the occupying Japanese military began mass killings of a wide range of "undesirables", who were mostly ethnic Chinese, influenced by the events of the Second Sino-Japanese War that was raging simultaneously as far back as 1937. The operation was overseen by the Imperial Japanese Army's Kempeitai, its secret police. Along with Singapore, the Sook Ching was subsequently also extended to include the Chinese population in Malaya, which was also under occupation by the Japanese. Concurrently, non-Chinese individuals were also not completely spared in other parts of Asia under Japanese occupation; the Japanese had also killed at least 150,000 Tamil Indians as well as an additional 90,000 civilians in Burma and Thailand, many of which were also forced to work on the Siam–Burma Railway, infamously known as the Death Railway.

The aim for such a purge was to intimidate the Chinese community, which was considered by the Japanese to be potentially the main centre of resistance to Japanese aims of territorial expansion throughout the Asia-Pacific. The Japanese had also thought of it as a "revenge" for their perceived anti-Japanese activity in the Sinophone regions, such as procuring financial aid for China after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and during the Second Sino-Japanese War. As a consequence, Sook Ching was aimed primarily at Chinese political and social activists, volunteers fighting on the side of the Allies, as well as representatives of Chinese triads. In practice, however, the arrests and executions were carried out by the Japanese in a completely arbitrary manner, with many civilians randomly killed in summary executions even if they took no part in any organised resistance.

After the war, the Japanese authorities acknowledged that the massacre took place, but disagreed about the number of deaths that Japan had caused. Japan alleged that no more "than 6,000 deaths" had occurred, while Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was himself almost a victim to Sook Ching, stated that verifiable numbers would put it at "about 70,000", including the figures in Malaya. When mass graves were discovered in 1962, Singaporeans heavily lobbied for their government to demand compensation as well as an official apology from the Japanese government. On 25 October 1966, the Japanese government ultimately agreed to reimburse S$50 million in reparations, half of which constituting as a grant and the rest as a loan. However, the wording used for this reimbursement was classified as a "gesture of atonement", with words such as "damages" or "reparations" being avoided by the Japanese. Furthermore, the Japanese government continued to refuse to accept legal responsibility for the massacre, which would include carrying out an official investigation or inquiry of the deaths. No official apology was made. Remains of Sook Ching victims would subsequently continue to be unearthed by Singaporeans for decades after the massacre. In 1963, the Civilian War Memorial was constructed in memory of the civilians killed during the occupation, including Sook Ching. Remains belonging to some of the victims were also placed in a tomb under the memorial. In 1992, the various Sook Ching massacre sites around the country such as Changi Beach, Katong, Punggol Point, Tanah Merah and Sentosa were designated with historic plaque markers as heritage sites by the Singaporean government's National Heritage Board, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occupation.

Japan
The Japanese referred to the Sook Ching as the Kakyō Shukusei (華僑粛清, 'purging of Overseas Chinese') or as the Shingapōru Daikenshō (シンガポール大検証, 'great inspection of Singapore'). The current Japanese term for the massacre is Shingapōru Kakyō Gyakusatsu Jiken (シンガポール華僑虐殺事件, 'Singapore Overseas Chinese Massacre').

Singapore
Singapore's National Heritage Board (NHB) uses the term Sook Ching in its publications. In Chinese languages, the term (肅清, Hokkien siok-chheng/sok-chheng, Teochew sog4 cêng1, Mandarin sùqīng ) means, among other things, "eradication" or "purge".

Planning of the massacre
According to postwar testimony taken from a war correspondent embedded with the 25th army, Colonel Hishakari Takafumi, an order to kill 50,000 Chinese, 20 percent of the total, was issued by senior officials on Yamashita's operations staff, either from Lieutenant Colonel Tsuji Masanobu, Chief of Planning and Operations, or Major Hayashi Tadahiko, Chief of Staff.

Hirofumi Hayashi, a professor of politics at a university and the co-director of the Center for Research and Documentation on Japan's War Responsibility, writes that the massacre was premeditated, and that "the Chinese in Singapore were regarded as anti-Japanese even before the Japanese military landed". It is also clear from the passage below that the massacre was to be extended to the Chinese in Malaya as well.

"The purge was planned before Japanese troops landed in Singapore. The military government section of the 25th Army had already drawn up a plan entitled 'Implementation Guideline for Manipulating Overseas Chinese' on or around 28 December 1941. This guideline stated that anyone who failed to obey or co-operate with the occupation authorities should be eliminated. It is clear that the headquarters of the 25th Army had decided on a harsh policy toward the Chinese population of Singapore and Malaya from the beginning of the war. According to Onishi Satoru, the Kenpeitai officer in charge of the Jalan Besar screening centre, Kenpeitai commander Oishi Masayuki was instructed by the chief of staff, Sōsaku Suzuki, at Keluang, Johor, to prepare for a purge following the capture of Singapore. Although the exact date of this instruction is not known, the Army headquarters was stationed in Keluang from 28 January to 4 February 1942 ... The Singapore Massacre was not the conduct of a few evil people, but was consistent with approaches honed and applied in the course of a long period of Japanese aggression against China and subsequently applied to other Asian countries. The Japanese military, in particular the 25th Army, made use of the purge to remove prospective anti-Japanese elements and to threaten local Chinese and others to swiftly impose military administration."

Targeted groups
The Japanese military authorities defined the following as "undesirables":

 * Activists in the China Relief
 * Wealthy philanthropists who had contributed generously to the China Relief Fund, such as modernist architect Ho Kwong Yew, who designed and built many notable houses in Singapore for the wealthy Chinese community
 * Adherents of Tan Kah Kee, leader of the Nanyang National Salvation Movement
 * Hainan people, who were perceived to be communists
 * China-born Chinese who came to Malaya after the Second Sino-Japanese War
 * Men with tattoos, who were perceived to be triad members
 * Chinese who joined the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army
 * Civil servants and people likely to sympathise with the British, such as Justices of the Peace and members of the legislative council
 * Anyone who possessed weapons and were likely to "disrupt public security"

Screening
After the fall of Singapore, Masayuki Oishi, commander of No. 2 Field Kenpeitai, set up his headquarters in the YMCA Building at Stamford Road as the Kenpeitai East District Branch. The Kenpeitai prison was in Outram with branches in Stamford Road, Chinatown and the Central Police Station. A residence at the intersection of Smith Street and New Bridge Road formed the Kenpeitai West District Branch.

Under Oishi's command were 200 regular Kenpeitai officers and another 1000 auxiliaries, who were mostly young and rough peasant soldiers. Singapore was divided into sectors with each sector under the control of an officer. The Japanese set up designated "screening centres" all over Singapore to gather and "screen" Chinese males between the ages of 18 and 50. Those who were thought to be "anti-Japanese" would be eliminated. Sometimes, women and children were also sent for inspection as well.

According to Kevin Blackburn, associate professor at Nanyang Technological University:

"The screening and identification process for 'anti-Japanese' Chinese proved little more than a device to prevent Chinese resistance to a general massacre. In practice, Japanese troops did not adhere to any criteria for screening 'anti-Japanese' elements, despite an order on paper listing the types of people who were 'anti-Japanese', such as communists, volunteers who had fought with the British forces, businessmen who had financed the resistance to the Japanese invasion of China, and gangsters ..."

"However, the process of screening was, in practice, far more indiscriminate. At one screening center, all Chinese males who walked through one particular entrance was taken away in trucks to be shot, while those who happened to take another pathway were released."

The following passage is from an article from the National Heritage Board:

"The inspection methods were indiscriminate and non-standardised. Sometimes, hooded informants identified suspected anti-Japanese Chinese; other times, Japanese officers singled out 'suspicious' characters at their whim and fancy. Those who survived the inspection walked with 'examined' stamped on their faces, arms or clothing; some were issued a certificate. The unfortunate ones were taken to remote places like Changi and Punggol, and unceremoniously killed in batches."

According to the A Country Study: Singapore published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress:

"All Chinese males from ages eighteen to fifty were required to report to registration camps for screening. The Japanese or military police arrested those alleged to be anti-Japanese, meaning those who were singled out by informers or who were teachers, journalists, intellectuals, or even former servants of the British. Some were imprisoned, but most were executed."

The ones who passed the "screening" received a piece of paper bearing the word "examined" or have a square ink mark stamped on their arms or shirts. Those who failed were stamped with triangular marks instead. They were separated from the others and packed into trucks near the centres and sent to the killing sites.

Execution
There were several sites for the killings, the most notable ones being Changi Beach, Punggol Point and Sentosa (or Pulau Belakang Mati).

In a quarterly newsletter, the National Heritage Board published the account of the life story of a survivor named Chia Chew Soo, whose father, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters were bayoneted one by one by Japanese soldiers in Simpang Village.

Extension to Chinese community of Malaya
At the behest of Masanobu Tsuji, the Japanese High Command's Chief of Planning and Operations, Sook Ching was extended to the rest of Malaya. However, due to a far wider population distribution across urban centres and vast rural regions, the Chinese population in Malaya was less concentrated and more difficult to survey. Lacking sufficient time and manpower to organise a full "screening", the Japanese opted instead to conduct widespread and indiscriminate massacres of the Chinese population. The primary bulk of the killings were conducted between February and March, and were largely concentrated in the southern states of Malaya, closer to Singapore.

Targeted locations
Specific incidents were Kota Tinggi, Johore (28 February 1942) – 2,000 killed; Gelang Patah, Johor (4 March) – 300 killed; Benut, Johor (6 March) – number unknown; Johore Bahru, Senai, Kulai, Sedenak, Pulai, Renggam, Kluang, Yong Peng, Batu Pahat, Senggarang, Parit Bakau, and Muar (February–March) – estimated up to 25,000 Chinese were killed in Johor; Tanjung Kling, Malacca (16 March) – 142 killed; Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan (15 March) – 76 killed; Parit Tinggi, Negeri Sembilan (16 March) – more than 100 killed (the entire village); Joo Loong Loong (near the present village of Titi) on 18 March (1474 killed, entire village eliminated by Major Yokokoji Kyomi and his troops); and Penang (April) – several thousand killed by Major Higashigawa Yoshimura. Further massacres were instigated as a result of increased guerilla activity in Malaya, most notably at Sungei Lui, a village of 400 in Jempol District, Negeri Sembilan, which was wiped out on 31 July 1942 by troops under a Corporal Hashimoto.

Mass murder of Tamils of Malaya and Singapore
The Japanese also killed about 150,000 Tamil Indians in Thailand and Myanmar during the war, although it is believed that the true number of deaths is much higher for the Tamil Indians. It excludes the death toll of the Malayali Indians. The Indians came from Singapore or Malaya under Japanese supervision.

Japanese camp guards frequently killed entire Indian families or the entire Indian population of whole camps. They also killed Indian families or camps that were infected with typhus, sometimes for sadistic reasons. Aside from killing the Indians, Japanese soldiers often gang raped Tamil women after which they would force other Indian coolies to rape the Indian women.

Death toll
Due to the lack of concrete written records by the Japanese when orchestrating the massacre as well as many of the deaths being the result of random summary executions, the official death toll remains unknown. Japan acknowledged the massacre after the war, but alleged a death toll of about 6,000, whereas the Singaporean Chinese community as well as prime minister Lee Kuan Yew alleged a death toll of about 70,000 to 100,000. Retrospective analysis by historians as well as the scale of mass graves that was discovered decades after the massacre ranges the death toll at about 25,000 to 50,000.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Hishakari Takafumi, a newspaper correspondent at the time, the plan was to ultimately kill about 50,000 Chinese, and half that (25,000) had already been achieved when the order was received to scale down the operation. He said Major Hayashi Tadahiko told him that "it had been found to be impossible to kill the whole of the 50,000 people, as after half that number had been killed an order was received 'to stop the massacre.

Japanese historian Hirofumi Hayashi wrote in another paper:

"According to the diary of the Singapore garrison commander, Major General Kawamura Saburo, the total number reported to him as killed by the various Kenpeitai section commanders on 23 February was five thousand. This was the third day of mop-up operations when executions were mostly finished. It is alleged by Singapore that the total number of innocent Chinese and Peranakan civilians killed was forty or fifty thousand; this point needs further investigations."

Having witnessed the brutality of the Japanese, Lee made the following comments:

"But they also showed a meanness and viciousness towards their enemies equal to the Huns'. Genghis Khan and his hordes could not have been more merciless. I have no doubts about whether the two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary. Without them, hundreds of thousands of civilians in Malaya and Singapore, and millions in Japan itself, would have perished."

Prominent victims
Chinese film pioneer Hou Yao had emigrated to Singapore in 1940 to work for the Shaw brothers as well as to largely avoid the Japanese invasion of China. Because Hou had directed and written a number of patriotic Chinese "national defence" films against that invasion, he was targeted by the Japanese immediately after Singapore fell and killed at the beginning of the massacre.

Trial
In 1947, after the Japanese surrender, British authorities in Singapore held a war crimes trial for the perpetrators of the Sook Ching. Seven Japanese officers: Takuma Nishimura, Saburo Kawamura, Masayuki Oishi, Yoshitaka Yokata, Tomotatsu Jo, Satoru Onishi, and Haruji Hisamatsu, were charged with conducting the massacre. Staff officer Masanobu Tsuji was the mastermind behind the massacre, and personally planned and carried it out, but at the time of the war crimes trials he had not been arrested. As soon as the war ended, Tsuji escaped from Thailand to China. The accused seven persons who followed Tsuji's commands were on trial.

During the trial, one major problem was that the Japanese commanders did not pass down any formal written orders for the massacre. Documentation of the screening process or disposal procedures had also been destroyed. Besides, the Japanese military headquarters' order for the speedy execution of the operation, combined with ambiguous instructions from the commanders, led to suspicions being cast on the accused, and it became difficult to accurately establish their culpability.

Verdict
Saburo Kawamura and Masayuki Oishi received the death penalty while the other five received life sentences, though Takuma Nishimura was later executed in 1951 following conviction by an Australian military court for his role in the Parit Sulong Massacre. The court accepted the defence statement of "just following orders" by those put on trial. The condemned were hanged on 26 June 1947. The British authorities allowed only six members of the victims' families to witness the executions of Kawamura and Oishi, despite calls for the hangings to be made public.

The mastermind behind the massacre, Masanobu Tsuji, escaped. Tsuji, later after the trial and the execution, appeared in Japan and became a politician there. Tsuji evaded trial, but later disappeared, presumedly killed in Laos in 1961. Tomoyuki Yamashita, the general from whose headquarters the order seems to have been issued, was put on another trial in the Philippines and executed in 1946. Other staff officers, who planned the massacre, were Shigeharu Asaeda and Sōsaku Suzuki. But, as Shigeharu was captured in Russia after the war, and Suzuki killed in action in 1945 before the end of the war, they were not put on trial.

The reminiscences of Saburo Kawamura were published in 1952 (after his death) and, in the book, he expressed his condolences to the victims of Singapore and prayed for the repose of their souls.

Mamoru Shinozaki (February 1908 – 1991), a former Japanese diplomat, has been described as instrumental as key prosecution witness during the Singapore War Crimes Trial between 1946 and 1948. Shinozaki remains a controversial figure, with some blaming him for saying positive things about the accused (despite being a prosecuting witness); views on him continue to vary, with opinions ranging from calling him the "wire-puller" of the massacre or criticizing him for "self-praise" in his autobiography to calling him a life-saving "Schindler" of Singapore.

Reparations
When Singapore gained full self-government from the British colonial government in 1959, waves of anti-Japanese sentiments arose within the Chinese community and they demanded reparations and an apology from Japan. Prior to self-governance, the British colonial government had only demanded war reparations for damage caused to British property during the war, but not the ones suffered by the Chinese, Malays, and Indians. Actions such as these, among others, was what resulted in many of the local populace of all ethnic groups feeling that the British were no longer competent in Singapore's administration and defence after the war.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry declined Singapore's request for an apology and reparations in 1963, stating that the issue of war reparations with the British had already been settled in the San Francisco Treaty in 1951 and hence with Singapore as well, which was then still a British colony. Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew responded by saying that the British colonial government did not represent the voice of Singaporeans. In September 1963, the Chinese community staged a boycott of Japanese imports by refusing to unload aircraft and ships from Japan, which lasted for a week.

Lee, however, was also a pragmatist, and was actually somewhat concerned by the boycott. He felt that the tenacious emphasis on the martyrdom of the Sook Ching victims would disrupt the fragile ethnic balance and destroy his efforts to build a united Singaporean national identity, in addition to obstructing Singapore's laissez-faire economic policy at the Port of Singapore. As a result, he took the position that the commemoration activities must be aimed at paying tribute to all civilian victims of the Japanese occupation, irrespective of their ethnic origin. After all, he added that the Japanese were brutal to all ethnic groups. Lee also wanted Japan's compensation to the families of Sook Ching victims to also complement contributing to the development of Singapore.

Acknowledgement
According to Hirofumi Hayashi, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs "accepted that the Japanese military had carried out mass killings in Singapore ... During negotiations with Singapore, the Japanese government rejected demands for reparations but agreed to make a 'gesture of atonement' by providing funds in other ways."

Nevertheless, the Japanese government was motivated to provide compensation to Singapore because of the potential economic damage to Japan as a result of a boycott or sabotage by the local Chinese should Singapore's demands be rejected. They also saw the potential for Singapore's post-war ensuing success and was keen on repairing their relations.

With Singapore's full independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, the Singapore government made another request to Japan for reparations and an apology. On 25 October 1966, Japan agreed to pay S$50 million in compensation, half of which was a grant and the rest as a loan. However, Japan did not make an official apology. These payments were also classified as a "gesture of atonement", and not "damages" or "reparations". Also, the Japanese government refused legal responsibility for the massacre and an investigation into the death toll.

Remains and commemoration
Due to the fact that only a few remains of Sook Ching victims were found during the occupation and in the first post-war years, the families of the murdered did not have the opportunity to commemorate their relatives while respecting Chinese traditions. For this reason, a Taoist ceremony was held in early 1948 in the neighbourhood of Siglap in the eastern part of Singapore, in what is known as the "Valley Of Tears" – where mass graves from the Japanese occupation period were suspected to be, a Taoist ceremony was held to "soothe hungry ghosts."

Thousands of Singaporean Chinese – mostly family members of the victims – took part in it. In the same year, a special committee was established, chaired by local businessman Tay Koh Yat. His task was to find the remains of Sook Ching victims. For the first dozen or so years, the effects of the committee's work were, however, extremely modest.

Discovery of mass graves
It was not until 1962 that the mass graves of Sook Ching victims were accidentally discovered at the "Valley Of Tears" in Siglap. On the initiative of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, search and exhumation work began – also in other alleged Japanese crime scenes. In the years 1962 to 1966, nearly 100 graves were discovered. The Chinese community called for the construction of a cemetery in Siglap and a monument to the victims of the massacre. The remains of the victims of the Sook Ching would continue to be unearthed by locals for decades after the massacre.

Heritage sites
A memorial to the victims of the Japanese occupation, known as the Civilian War Memorial, was erected at Beach Road in central Singapore. It was unveiled on 15 February 1967, 25 years after the fall, during a ceremony attended by prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The monument consists of four pillars, 67.4 meters high, symbolizing the four largest ethnic groups in the country. The pedestal of the memorial also has inscriptions written in Singapore's four official languages, English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. Under the monument, there is a tomb containing the remains of Sook Ching victims, which were found from 1962 to 1966. Every year on 15 February, on the anniversary of Singapore's surrender, ceremonies are held at the Civilian War Memorial in honor of the victims of the war.

The massacre sites of Changi Beach, Katong, Punggol Point, Tanah Merah and Sentosa were marked as heritage sites in 1992 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Japanese occupation.

Among other sites, this specific war monument plaque was erected at the Changi Beach Park (near Camp Site 2) in the eastern part of Singapore. The inscription on the monument plaque, which was also repeated in Singapore's three other official languages of Chinese, Malay and Tamil, as well as in Japanese, reads:

66 male civilians were killed by Japanese Hojo Kempei (auxiliary military police) firing at the water's edge on this stretch of Changi Beach on 20 February 1942. They were among tens of thousands who lost their lives during the Japanese Sook Ching operation to purge suspected anti-Japanese civilians among Singapore's Chinese population between 18 February and 4 March 1942. Tanah Merah Besar Beach, a few hundred metres south (now part of Singapore Changi Airport runway) was one of the most heavily-used killing grounds where well over a thousand Chinese men and youths lost their lives. — National Heritage Board.

Legacy
The massacre and its post-war judicial handling by the colonial British administration incensed the Chinese community. The Discovery Channel programme commented about its historic impact on local Chinese: "They felt the Japanese spilling of so much Chinese blood on Singapore soil has given them the moral claim to the island that hasn't existed before the war". Lee Kuan Yew said on the Discovery Channel programme, "It was the catastrophic consequences of the war that changed the mindset, that my generation decided that, 'No ... this doesn't make sense. We should be able to run this [island] as well as the British did, if not better. "The Asiatics had looked to them for leadership, and they had failed them."

Germaine Foo-Tan writes in an article carried on the Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) website:

"While the quick defeat of the British in Singapore was a shocking revelation to the local population, and the period of the Japanese Occupation arguably the darkest time for Singapore, these precipitated the development of political consciousness with an urgency not felt before. The British defeat and the fall of what was regarded as an invincible fortress rocked the faith of the local population in the ability of the British to protect them. Coupled with the secret and sudden evacuation of British soldiers, women and children from Penang, there was the uneasy realisation that the colonial masters could not be relied upon to defend the locals. The Japanese slogan 'Asia for Asians' awoke many to the realities of colonial rule, that 'however kind the masters were, the Asians were still second class in their own country'. Slowly, the local population became more aware of the need to have a bigger say in charting their destinies. The post-war years witnessed a political awakening and growing nationalistic feelings among the populace which in turn paved the way for the emergence of political parties and demands for self-rule in the 1950s and 1960s."The memories of those who lived through that period have been captured at exhibition galleries in the Old Ford Motor Factory at Bukit Timah, the site of the factory where the British surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942.

Genocide classification
A published undergraduate thesis from the University of Oregon in 2020 argued that the circumstances surrounding Sook Ching should be defined as a genocide instead of a massacre. It is argued that since the crime was racially motivated, targeting primarily Chinese men of working age, the crime fits the classification of genocide as the pursuit of destroying and/or reducing that group's population.

Book sources

 * Kang, Jew Koon (1981). "Chinese in Singapore during the Japanese occupation, 1942–1945." Academic exercise – Dept. of History, National University of Singapore.
 * Kang, Jew Koon (1981). "Chinese in Singapore during the Japanese occupation, 1942–1945." Academic exercise – Dept. of History, National University of Singapore.
 * Kang, Jew Koon (1981). "Chinese in Singapore during the Japanese occupation, 1942–1945." Academic exercise – Dept. of History, National University of Singapore.

title: Sook Ching


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Sredni Vashtar

"Sredni Vashtar" is a short story by Saki (Hector Hugh Munro), written between 1900 and 1911 and first published in his 1911 short story collection The Chronicles of Clovis. It has been adapted for opera, film, radio and television.

Plot
Conradin, a sickly 10-year-old boy, lives in the care of his despised, overbearing and controlling cousin Mrs De Ropp. He relies on his vivid imagination not only to keep him strong enough to survive, but also to serve as his escape from the real world. Rebelling against Mrs De Ropp's oppressive care, Conradin secretly keeps two animals in an unused garden shed: a hen, which he adores, and a polecat-ferret, which he fears and keeps locked in a hutch. Gradually, Conradin begins to venerate the ferret as a god, naming it Sredni Vashtar. He worships it weekly, bringing offerings of flowers and berries, and stolen nutmeg for special occasions.

Mrs De Ropp grows concerned over Conradin's visits to the shed. She discovers the hen, and sells it. She announces the sale to Conradin, expecting a protest, but to her surprise the boy does not respond. But in secret, he changes his worshipping rituals and asks of his god an unnamed boon: "Do one thing for me, Sredni Vashtar".

When Conradin's visits to the shed do not cease, Mrs De Ropp investigates further, and discovers the locked hutch. Suspecting guinea pigs, she ransacks his room, finds the key, and goes down to the shed, forbidding Conradin to leave the house. While she is gone, Conradin slowly begins to accept defeat, knowing that his god was not real and that his cousin will come out of the shed in triumph. But when Mrs De Ropp fails to reappear after some time, Conradin begins to chant a song of victory. Eventually he sees the ferret emerge from the shed, with dark wet stains around its jaws and throat. It passes out into the garden.

A sour-faced maid announces tea and asks for Mrs De Ropp. Conradin tells her that she has gone to the shed, and makes himself a piece of buttered toast. As he enjoys his toast, there are screams from the maid, calls for help from the kitchen staff, and later the sound of something heavy being carried into the house. As voices discuss fervently who should break the news to the boy, Conradin calmly makes himself another piece of toast.

Adaptations
On September 15, 1941, an adaptation of "Sredni Vashtar" began the premiere episode of the CBS Radio series The Orson Welles Show. Blanche Yurka portrayed Mrs. De Ropp, with Conrad Binyon as Conradin and Brenda Forbes as Matilda.

"Sredni Vashtar" has been adapted as a chamber opera three times. In 1988 the composer Robert Steadman and the author Richard Adams wrote the 75-minute Sredni Vashtar. In 1996 Cuban-born composer Jorge Martin and librettist Andrew Joffe with the American Chamber Orchestra produced Beast and Superbeast, a group of four chamber operas based on stories by Saki, including "Sredni Vashtar". Martin also composed a Piano Fantasy on Sredni Vashtar In 2010 the story was again adapted by Nicholas Pavkovic and Jim Coughenour and performed at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

This story was adapted for American television and aired on a ghost anthology series called Great Ghost Tales on August 24, 1961. "Sredni Vashtar" was the basis of the 1979 horror film The Orphan, also known as Friday the 13th: The Orphan, by the director John Ballard. In 1980 it was adapted for Spine Chillers. In 1981, the short film Sredni Vashtar by British director Andrew Birkin won a BAFTA award and was nominated for an Oscar. In 2003 Angela M. Murray produced a version of the story in the Tartan Shorts series for the BBC, set in Scotland and including shadow puppetry. "Sredni Vashtar" was further adapted with two other Saki stories for a 2007 broadcast on BBC4 titled Who Killed Mrs De Ropp?

Tom Baker read the story as part of the 1978 BBC series Late Night Story.

The story has inspired film directors of the Czech Republic three times: Vaclav Bedrich's cartoon film of 1980, Martin Faltyn's 1981 graduation film from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, and Pavel Marek's 1995 graduation film from the FAMU. It has even been the inspiration for a Czech rock band, who named themselves after the story.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Sredni Vashtar


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Everett Transit

Everett Transit is the public transit authority of Everett, Washington, the only city in Snohomish County not to belong to Community Transit. As of 2017, Everett Transit operates 42 buses within Everett on ten routes. Its annual ridership in 2016 was about 2 million.

Everett Transit became a department of the City of Everett in 1969, though it traces its roots back to the first public transit service to operate in the city, Everett City Lines, which began in 1893. The system has several hubs, including Everett Station, Everett Community College, Seaway Transit Center, and Everett Mall Station.

A budget crisis in the late 2010s had led to discussions about merging the system with Community Transit. , Everett Transit has a fleet of 42 buses, of which 19 are battery electric models from Proterra and Gillig.

title: Everett Transit


text:
Mausu Promotion

Mausu Promotion (株式会社 マウスプロモーション), formerly known as Ezaki Productions, is a Japanese talent management agency representing a number of prolific voice actors.

Male

 * Shinya Fukumatsu
 * Kenji Hamada
 * Mitsuhiro Ichiki
 * Atsushi Imaruoka
 * Kentarō Itō
 * Kengo Kawanishi
 * Ryūichi Kijima
 * Naomi Kusumi
 * Junpei Morita
 * Toshihiro Nakamura
 * Mitsuru Ogata
 * Tōru Ōkawa
 * Akio Ōtsuka
 * Yuta Sato
 * Tarusuke Shingaki
 * Atsushi Tamaru
 * Masaki Terasoma

Female

 * Nozomi Furuki
 * Sawako Hata
 * Kyoko Hikami
 * Masayo Hosono
 * Hiromi Igarashi
 * Ai Kakuma
 * Yoshiko Kamei
 * Ayumi Kida
 * Sachiko Kojima
 * Yūki Kuwahara
 * Yuki Masuda
 * Nanako Mori
 * Suzuka Morita
 * Michiyo Murase
 * Ayuru Ōhashi
 * Akemi Okamura
 * Yūko Ōno
 * Ikue Ōtani
 * Riho Sugiyama
 * Yūki Takada
 * Atsuko Tanaka
 * Ikuko Tani
 * Asuka Tanii
 * Risa Tsubaki
 * Ayumi Tsuji
 * Seiko Yoshida

Male

 * Yousuke Akimoto (now attached with Office PAC)
 * Daisuke Gori (died in 2010 after moving to Aoni Production)
 * Mitsuaki Hoshino (attached with Arts Vision)
 * Yoshimasa Hosoya (on freelance now)
 * Takanobu Hozumi (died in 2018 while attached)
 * Atsushi Ii (died in 2020 after moving to Arts Vision)
 * Akira Ishida (attached with Peerless Gerbera)
 * Makoto Ishii (attached with Remax)
 * Yasuo Iwata (died in 2009 while attached)
 * Yasuyuki Kase (attached with Office Osawa)
 * Masayuki Kato (died in 1993 while attached)
 * Yuuji Kishi (attached with CUBCE Inc.)
 * Koichi Kitamura (died in 2007 while attached)
 * Takaya Kuroda (attached with AXL-One)
 * Yasumichi Kushida (died in 2023 while attached)
 * Mitsuaki Madono (attached with Aoni Production)
 * Rokuro Naya (died in 2014 while attached)
 * Tamio Ohki (died in 2017 while attached)
 * Daisuke Ono (on freelance now)
 * Shuuhei Sakaguchi (attached with Aksent)
 * Shunsuke Shima (died in 2003 after moving to Aoni Production)
 * Toshitaka Shimizu (died in 2003 while attached)
 * Masakazu Suzuki (attached with Aksent)
 * Akimitsu Takase (attached with Aksent)
 * Hideyuki Tanaka (attached with Aoni Production)
 * Tomohiro Tsuboi (attached with 81 Produce)
 * Masaaki Tsukada (died in 2014 while attached)
 * Yōji Ueda (attached with Amuleto)
 * Hideo Watanabe (attached with Libertad)
 * Naoki Yanagi (attached with FreeMarch.inc)

Female

 * Kiyomi Asai (attached with Dee Color)
 * Kikuko Inoue (attached with Velvet as a narrator and Office Anemone as a voice actress)
 * Ayako Ito
 * Hitomi Hase (on freelance now)
 * Naoko Kouda (on freelance now)
 * Marika Kouno (attached with Aoni Production)
 * Tomoyo Kurosawa (attached with Toho Geino)
 * Nozomi Nishida (on freelance now)
 * Miyuki Sawashiro (attached with Aoni Production)
 * Saori Seto (on freelance now)
 * Yōko Sōmi (now attached with Kakehi Production)
 * Ayano Yamamoto (attached with Amuleto)

Mausu Promotion-influenced works

 * Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand
 * Eureka Seven
 * Heartwork: Symphony of Destruction
 * Juuni Senshi Bakuretsu Eto Ranger
 * Kannazuki no Miko
 * Rakugo Tennyo Oyui
 * Star Trek: The Next Generation (Japanese dub)
 * xxxHolic

title: Mausu Promotion


text:
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine Sports Illustrated and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted cover photograph has been considered as the arbiter of supermodel succession. The issue carries advertising that, in 2005, amounted to US$35 million in value. First published in 1964, it is credited with making the bikini, invented in 1946, a legitimate piece of apparel.

Since 1964, the issue had been published every February, but starting in 2019, the issue was made available in May.

History
The swimsuit issue was invented by Sports Illustrated editor Andre Laguerre to fill the winter months, a typically slow point in the sporting calendar. He asked fashion reporter Jule Campbell to go on a shoot to fill space, including the cover, with a beautiful model. The first issue, released in 1964, entailed a cover featuring Babette March and a five-page layout. Campbell soon became a powerful figure in modeling and molded the issue into a media phenomenon by featuring "bigger and healthier" California women and printing the names of the models with their photos, beginning a new supermodel era. In the 1950s, a few women appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but the 1964 issue is considered to be the beginning of the current format known as the Swimsuit Issue. The issue that got the most letters was the 1978 edition. In 1997, Tyra Banks was the first black woman on the cover. Since 1997, the swimsuit issue has been a stand-alone edition, separate from the regular weekly magazine. Its best selling issue was the 25th Anniversary Issue with Kathy Ireland on the cover in 1989.

Through the years, many models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Paulina Porizkova, Elle Macpherson, Rachel Hunter, Rebecca Romijn, Petra Nemcova, Valeria Mazza, Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Marisa Miller, Brooks Nader, and Irina Shayk have been featured on the cover. Other models within its pages, but not on its cover, include Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Ella Halikas, Niki Taylor, Angie Everhart, and Naomi Campbell. The eight models featured on the cover of the 2006 issue were featured in a coffee-table book called Sports Illustrated: Exposure. Photographed by Raphael Mazzucco and produced by Diane Smith, the unprecedented "reunion shoot" featured 139 pages of previously-unpublished images. In 2006, the issue expanded publishing to handheld devices. In 2007, the swimsuit issue first became available in China.

The 2008–2013 covergirls were announced on Late Show with David Letterman. The 2014 and 2017 covergirls were announced on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The 2015 cover model was announced on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The 2019 covers were exclusively announced on Good Morning America with Tyra Banks and Camille Kostek both appearing on the show on May 8, 2019. The 2019 issue leaned towards diversity and inclusivity with models representing different body types. It also tackled ageism, body image and the Me Too movement.

The 2020 issue was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was released on July 13, 2020. Valentina Sampaio became the swimsuit issue’s first openly transgender model in 2020. The first openly transgender covergirl for the magazine was Leyna Bloom in 2021.

In May 2022, Yumi Nu became the first plus-size model of Asian descent to be featured on the cover of the magazine. Also in May, Maye Musk became the oldest model to feature on the Swimsuit cover, appearing at 74 years old.

Non-models in the magazine
Female athletes have appeared in swimsuit shoots. Steffi Graf appeared in 1997. In the 2003 issue, tennis player Serena Williams and figure skater Ekaterina Gordeeva were featured inside the magazine. In 2016, UFC fighter Ronda Rousey became the first female athlete to appear on the cover. However, Anna Kournikova appeared in an inset on the 2004 cover, and had a photo spread within its pages.

In 2005, Olympic gold medalists Amanda Beard and Jennie Finch, along with Lauren Jackson and Venus Williams, were featured. Maria Sharapova appeared in an inset on the 2006 cover and had a spread inside. In spring 2006, Sports Illustrated chose music as the theme for the 2007 issue. Swimsuit editor Diane Smith wanted Grammy-winner Beyoncé Knowles to pose. In 2006, Beyoncé launched a swimsuit line under her House of Deréon clothing label. Beyoncé Knowles became the first singer, and first non-model non-athlete, to appear on the cover in 2007.

In 2008, NFL cheerleaders appeared for the first time. Teams include the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Washington Commanders and Houston Texans.

Race car driver Danica Patrick appeared in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, she was featured in a four-page spread set in Singer Island, Florida.

For the 2010 issue, four female Winter Olympians appeared in swimsuits: Clair Bidez, Lacy Schnoor, Hannah Teter, and Lindsey Vonn. They were joined by tennis player Ana Ivanovic. Australian hurdler Michelle Jenneke appeared in the 2013 issue after having gained notoriety for her warm-up dance routine, which went viral on YouTube.

In 2012, Alex Morgan first appeared in a body paint swimsuit. In 2014, she made her second appearance this time in an actual swimsuit. In 2019, she appeared for her third appearance alongside her USWNT teammates, Megan Rapinoe, Crystal Dunn and Abby Dahlkemper all joined her in two-piece swimsuits.

Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki appeared in the 2015 issue. She is an active player, formerly world number one, and was photographed at Captiva Island in the Gulf of Mexico by Walter Iooss, Jr. Top ranked Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard appeared for the first time in the 2017 issue. She is an active player who has achieved a top five rank in tennis in 2014.

In 2021, Naomi Osaka became the first black athlete to appear not only inside but also on the cover of the SI swimsuit Issue.

In 2023, Martha Stewart, at the age of 81, succeeded Maye Musk as the oldest model on the cover of the SI swimsuit Issue. Also in 2023, Kim Petras became the second openly transgender woman to appear on the cover.

Olivia Dunne, the NCAA gymnast, appeared in the ‘23 edition. Also, Olympic medallists Simone Biles and Aly Raisman in ‘17 and ‘18.

Reception
To some people, the magazine is an acceptable exhibition of female sexuality not out of place on a coffee table. The swimsuit edition is controversial both with moralists who subscribe for sports news content as well as with those who feel that the focus on fashion and swimsuit modeling is inappropriate for a sports magazine. Feminists have expressed that "the Swimsuit Issue promotes the harmful and dehumanizing concept that women are a product for male consumption".

At times, subscriptions have been cancelled by subscribers. The 1978 edition, remembered for its fishnet bathing suit made famous by Cheryl Tiegs, resulted in 340 cancellations. Sports Illustrated makes the controversy a form of entertainment with the issue two weeks after the swimsuit edition packed with complainants such as shocked parents and troubled librarians. As of 2005, the number of cancellations has reportedly declined. Nonetheless, to avoid controversy, Sports Illustrated has, since 2007, offered its subscribers the option of skipping the swimsuit edition for a one issue credit to extend their subscription.

Locations
The swimsuit issue was once predominantly shot in one country per year. As the issue has grown in size, the number of locations has also risen.

 * 1964: Cozumel
 * 1965: Baja California
 * 1966: Bahamas
 * 1967: Arizona
 * 1968: French Polynesia
 * 1969: Puerto Rico
 * 1970: Hawaii
 * 1971: Dominican Republic
 * 1972: Marina del Rey
 * 1973: Bahamas
 * 1974: Puerto Rico
 * 1975: Cancún
 * 1976: Baja California
 * 1977: Maui
 * 1978: Brazil
 * 1979: Seychelles
 * 1980: British Virgin Islands
 * 1981: Florida
 * 1982: Kenya
 * 1983: Jamaica
 * 1984: Netherlands Antilles
 * 1985: Australia
 * 1986: French Polynesia
 * 1987: Dominican Republic
 * 1988: Thailand
 * 1989: Mexico, Seychelles, Kenya, Lake Powell, Kauai, St. Barts
 * 1990: The Grenadines, Windward Islands
 * 1991: Cruise theme – Turks & Caicos, Bali, St. Barts
 * 1992: Spain
 * 1993: Alaska, Florida Keys, Mackinac Island, Martha's Vineyard, Oahu
 * 1994: Pool theme – Southern California, Colorado, Florida, Bali, Pantelleria, Sardinia, St. Maarten, Mexico, Hong Kong
 * 1995: Bermuda, Costa Rica
 * 1996: South Africa
 * 1997: Bahamas, Monaco, Venezuela, Mexico, Malibu
 * 1998: Equator theme – Maldives, Kenya, Indonesia, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
 * 1999: Necker Island, Guana Island
 * 2000: Pacific theme – Malaysia, Oahu, Maui, Mexico
 * 2001: Tunisia, Greece, Italy, Bahamas, Las Vegas
 * 2002: Latin theme – Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Spanish Harlem
 * 2003: Barbados, Kenya, Turkey, Florida Keys, Colorado, Vietnam, Grenada
 * 2004: Montauk, New York, Saranac Lake, New York, Mississippi, Wyoming, Arizona, Bouton, Iowa, Perry, Iowa
 * 2005: Exuma, Bahamas, Pico Bonito National Park, Honduras, Korčula, Croatia, Laguna Beach, California, Bora Bora, Portillo, Chile, Hua Hin, Thailand, Papgayo Peninsula, Costa Rica, Placencia, Belize, Fajardo, Puerto Rico
 * 2006: Hollywood, Huahine, Las Vegas, Cartagena, Colombia, Cat Island and Harbour Island, Bahamas, Palm Springs
 * 2007: Music theme – Memphis, Tennessee, Negril, Jamaica, Bahia, Brazil, Maui and Lahaina, Hawaii, Grambling and Shreveport, Louisiana, Los Angeles, Tucson, Arizona, Cleveland, Ohio
 * 2008: St. Petersburg, Russia, Discovery Cove, Orlando and Singer Island, Florida, Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Kaanapali, Hawaii, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, Seven Mile Beach, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos, Caesarea, Israel and the Dead Sea, Israel
 * 2009: Riviera Maya, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, Teneriffa, Canary Islands, St. George's, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Naples, Italy, Cappadocia, Turkey, Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
 * 2010: Whistler, Canada, Atacama, Chile, Rajasthan, India, Veligandu, Maldives, Palm Springs, California, Lisbon, Portugal
 * 2011: Peter Island, British Virgin Islands, Nanuya Levu, Fiji, Boracay Island, The Philippines, Sentosa, Singapore, Maui, Hawaii, Laguna Beach, California, Banff National Park, Canada
 * 2012: Bondi Beach, New South Wales and North Narrabeen, Australia, Apalachicola, Florida, Gulf Coast of the United States, Bocas del Toro Province and San Blas Islands, Panama, Desroches Island, Seychelles, Victoria Falls, Zambia
 * 2013: Antarctica, Hayman Island, Australia, Guilin, China, Exuma, Bahamas, Easter Island, Chile, Etosha National Park and Swakopmund, Namibia, Seville, Spain
 * 2014: Aitutaki, Cook Islands, Cape Canaveral, Florida, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Maranhão, Brazil, Zermatt and Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Nosy Be, Madagascar, Congress Hall, Cape May, New Jersey, St. Lucia, Fiji, Guana Island, British Virgin Islands
 * 2015: American issue: West Coast California, Oregon, Washington; Blackberry Farm, Tennessee; Route 66 (Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona); Parks - Monument Valley - Utah, Bryce Canyon - Utah, Yellowstone - Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Kauai, Hawaii; Caneel Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands; Captiva, Florida
 * 2016: Bora Bora; Zanzibar, Tanzania; Providenciales, Turks and Caicos; Malta; Tahiti; Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic; Petit Saint Vincent, St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Exuma, Bahamas
 * 2017: Fiji; Sumba, Indonesia; Tulum; Turks and Caicos; Saariselkä, Finland
 * 2018: Tierra del Sol Resort & Golf, Aruba; Haute Harbour Island, Bahamas; Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club, Belize; Hermitage Plantation Inn, Nevis
 * 2019: Costa Rica, Great Exuma, Kangaroo Island, Kenya, Paradise Island, Puerto Vallarta, St. Lucia

In other media

 * Beginning in the late 1980s, Sports Illustrated allowed television specials to be aired which were later released as video versions of its Swimsuit Issue. The first releases were available on VHS or Laser Disc (LD), and later releases have been available on DVD.
 * In 1989, The Making of the Sports Illustrated 25th Anniversary Swimsuit Issue was a television documentary by HBO which later became available on VHS by Maysles Films.
 * In 1992, a behind-the-scenes made-for-HBO special documentary was released on VHS as the Sports Illustrated Behind the Scenes: Official Swimsuit Video.

 * In 1993, Sports Illustrated: The 1993 Swimsuit Video was released by HBO films.
 * The Sports Illustrated 1994 Swimsuit Issue Video was released on video by Dakota North Entertainment. Since then, the annual video version of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue has been called the Swimsuit Video.
 * In 1995, Sports Illustrated began distributing television specials based on the issue, titled Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Special. The hour-long specials have aired on Spike TV and TNT and Minisodes of several specials from 2002 to 2004 are available on Crackle.
 * In 2004, the Sports Illustrated 40th Anniversary Swimsuit Special: American Beauty featured videos of the swimsuit beauties at various US locations, some of which are not usually thought of as beaches: e.g., the host Melissa Keller and Marisa Miller at the grain elevator in Bouton, Iowa, and on a farm near Perry, Iowa. The more recent videos have included some "uncensored" scenes.
 * For January 2005, NBC produced the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search, a reality TV show documenting twelve previously unknown fashion models as they competed against one another over five weeks for the grand prize: a pictorial in the 2005 edition of the Swimsuit Issue and a modeling contract with NEXT Model Management worth one million US dollars. Alicia Hall won the competition.
 * Prior to the release of the 2011 issue, DirectTV aired a preview special on the 101 Network, revealing the models in that year's edition. The show was hosted by Dan Patrick and Mallory Snyder.
 * In 2017, the issue hosted its first ever open casting call where aspirants were asked to submit a 60-second video on Instagram. The three-part series Sports Illustrated Swim Search which documented the first ever open casting call with Camille Kostek as a winner (becoming a cover model in 2019) was made available on SI TV and Amazon Prime Video. The following year, the model search held an in-person open casting call in Miami, and has been held annually since.
 * In 2019, the magazine held a two-day exhibition in Miami which gave "fans the chance to experience the world of SI Swim like never before through an array of one-of-a-kind installations, photo experiences," panels and talks among others.

title: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue


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Belfast South (UK Parliament constituency)

Belfast South was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat would be replaced by Belfast South and Mid Down, to be first contested at the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

Boundaries
1885–1918: In the Borough of Belfast, that part of Cromac ward not in the constituency of Belfast East, that part of St. George's ward not in the constituency of Belfast West, and the townlands of Malone Lower and that part of Malone Upper within the parliamentary borough in the parish of Shankill.

1922–1974: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor, the District of Lisburn electoral divisions of Ardmore, Dunmurry, Finaghy, and Upper Malone, and the Rural District of Hillsborough electoral divisions of Breda and Edenderry.

1983–1997: The District of Belfast wards of Ballynafeigh, Cromac, Donegall, Finaghy, Malone, Ormeau, Rosetta, St George's, Stranmillis, University, Upper Malone, Willowfield, and Windsor.

1997–2010: The District of Belfast wards of Ballynafeigh, Blackstaff, Botanic, Finaghy, Malone, Musgrave, Ravenhill, Rosetta, Shaftesbury, Stranmillis, Upper Malone, Windsor, and Woodstock, and the District of Castlereagh wards of Beechill, Cairnshill, Galwally, Knockbracken, Minnowburn, and Newtownbreda.

2010–2024: The District of Belfast wards above and the District of Castlereagh wards as above plus Carryduff East, Carryduff West, Hillfoot, and Wynchurch.

The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut. The seat is centred on the Belfast City Council districts of Balmoral, Laganbank and Pottinger and also contains part of the district of Castlereagh.

Prior to the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission proposed expanding Belfast South further into Castlereagh, taking in areas currently contained in both Strangford and Belfast East. This was strongly opposed by the DUP but supported by the Ulster Unionists. It was also one of the issues that generated the most negative comments in the written submissions with a petition representing half of Cregagh's residents opposing its move.

Following the local enquiries, the Boundary Commission proposed retaining the Cregagh ward in East Belfast while transferring instead the Hillfoot ward. These proposals were submitted as final recommendations and were put into force through the passing of the Northern Ireland Parliamentary Constituencies Order in 2008.

History
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Belfast South tended to elect 'rebel unionists' such as William Johnston, who famously defied a ban on Orange marches, and Thomas Sloan, founder of the Independent Orange Order.

Belfast South contains some of Belfast's most expensive residential districts as well as Queen's University Belfast. The overall tenor of the constituency is middle-class – young, trendy and cosmopolitan towards the city centre, with Northern Ireland's biggest concentrations of both students and ethnic minorities, and further out from the city centre it is settled and prosperous. Despite this, significant pockets of inner-city working class areas such as the Markets and a number of isolated suburban estates exist in the constituency.

There has been particularly rapid demographic change in Belfast South since around the year 2000. The 2011 census revealed that Belfast South consists of a slightly larger Catholic population than Protestant and while the constituency traditionally has had a unionist majority, the nationalist vote has now surpassed this in more recent elections. There have also been strong votes for other parties such as the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, Green Party, the Conservatives and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. The constituency has witnessed a steady series of candidates backed by groups who aspire to support the British Labour Party despite its prior ban on membership and organisation in Northern Ireland, though their results have been minimal. Until the 1990s the main focus of attention had been on contests between unionist candidates.

In the February 1974 general election the seat was won by Robert Bradford of the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party on a united anti-Sunningdale Agreement slate with the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party. He defeated Rafton Pounder, the sitting Unionist MP who defended his seat as a Pro-Assembly Unionist. Bradford held the seat for the next seven years, though in February 1978 he and the rump of Vanguard reunited with the Ulster Unionists. At the end of 1981 Bradford was assassinated by the IRA in a Belfast community centre while hosting a political surgery.

The subsequent by-election garnered much interest as it was expected that the Democratic Unionist Party would take the seat, building on their steady rise which had seen them gain both Belfast North and Belfast East at the previous general election. However, the DUP came third, behind the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, and the UUP's candidate Martin Smyth won the seat, holding it until 2005. The by-election was extremely significant at the time in that it was the first at which the DUP tide ebbed.

In January 2005 Smyth announced that he would be retiring at the 2005 general election, raising speculation both as to whom the Ulster Unionists would field in succession to him and what effect a different candidate would have upon their share of the vote. The UUP selected Assembly member Michael McGimpsey, albeit with a highly controversial and bitter selection. McGimpsey was repudiated by many prominent Unionists, including both Smyth and former UUP leader James Molyneaux. The DUP selected Jimmy Spratt and offered an electoral pact to the UUP that would give each party a free run at one out of South Belfast and Fermanagh and South Tyrone. This offer was rejected by the UUP.

In the event, the DUP and UUP both fielded candidates which split the vote. The nationalist vote mainly went for the SDLP over Sinn Féin, with the result that the SDLP took the seat despite a majority of votes cast for unionist candidates.

In 2010, Sinn Féin opted not to stand against the SDLP to avoid splitting the nationalist vote. The SDLP won the seat with a majority of 6,000. This was the seat in which the Alliance Party had their second-best showing, polling 15% of the votes. Alasdair McDonnell retained the seat in May 2015, with only 24.5% of the vote, as Sinn Féin opted to stand. This is the smallest proportion of the vote a winning candidate has ever achieved in a UK general election.

In 2017 the seat was won by Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP with Alasdair McDonnell losing his seat along with all other SDLP MPs in Northern Ireland. This was won back for the SDLP by Claire Hanna in 2019, with Sinn Féin again opting not to stand. This was the first time since 1987 that the winning candidate in the constituency had a majority of the vote.

Members of Parliament
The Member of Parliament since the 2019 general election is Claire Hanna of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, succeeding Emma Little-Pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party.

Elections in the 2010s
This seat saw the largest SDLP vote share and the largest increase in vote share for the party at the 2019 general election. This came as Sinn Féin did not contest the seat. It also saw the only fall in vote share for Alliance.

Elections in the 1990s
1997 Changes are compared to the 1992 notional results shown below.

Elections in the 1980s
Note: The by-election was caused by the decision of all Unionist MPs to resign their seats and seek re-election on a platform of opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.


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Eise Eisinga

Eise Jeltes Eisinga (21 February 1744 – 27 August 1828) was a Frisian amateur astronomer who built the Eise Eisinga Planetarium in his house in Franeker, Dutch Republic. The orrery still exists and is the oldest functioning planetarium in the world.

Biography
Eise Jeltes Eisinga was born on 21 February 1744 in Dronryp in the Dutch Republic. He was the son of Jelte Eises from Easterlittens, a wool carder, and Hitje Steffens from Winsum.

Although Eisinga was intellectually gifted, he was not allowed to go to school. When he was only 17 years old, he wrote a book about mathematics and another about the principles of astronomy. Additional books about special subjects within the field of astronomy followed. Eisinga became a wool carder in Franeker, Netherlands. Through self-education he mastered mathematics and astronomy, which he also studied at the University of Franeker. At the age of 24, he married Pietje Jacobs (? – 24 July 1788) and they had three children, one girl and two boys.
 * Trijntje (April 1773 – 26 April 1773)
 * Jelte (29 May 1774 – 31 March 1809)
 * Jacobus (17 March 1784 – 24 March 1858)

Due to a political crisis in 1787, Eisinga had to leave Friesland and went to Germany. Later he moved to Visvliet where he worked as a wool carder. He was banned from Friesland for five years and therefore stayed in Visvliet just across the border in Groningen. Meanwhile, his wife died, and on 27 May 1792, he married Trijntje Eelkes Sikkema (21 February 1764) in Visvliet. They had one son and two daughters. In 1795 he returned to Franeker.
 * Eelke (14 October 1793 – 28 May 1795)
 * Hittje (16 February 1796 – 8 May 1843)
 * Minke (4 June 1798 – 17 July 1870)

Eisinga remained a wool carder throughout his life, while running his planetarium with the help of public support, and occasionally guest lecturing at the University of Franeker, which Napoleon ordered closed in 1811.

Eisinga died on 27 August 1828, at age 84, in Franeker.

Orrery
On 8 May 1774 a conjunction of the moon and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter was forecast to appear. Reverend Eelco Alta, from Boazum, Netherlands, published a book in which he interpreted this as a return to the state of the planets at the day of creation and a likely occasion for Armageddon. Alta predicted that the planets and the moon would collide, with the result that the earth would be pushed out of its orbit and burned by the sun. Due to this prediction there was a lot of panic in Friesland.

The canonical view holds that Eisinga decided to build an orrery in his living room to prove that there was no reason for panic. He expected to finish it within six months and eventually finished it in 1781, seven years after he started. During the same year, Uranus was discovered, but there was no room for this planet on the ceiling of his living room, where the orrery was located. However, recent research indicates that this chain of causality is dubious, not least because Eijsinga appears to have commenced construction before the publication of Alta's book. The construction of the orrery saved Eijsinga a lot of time, however, because he no longer needed to calculate the planets' respective positions by hand.

On 30 June 1818, King William I of the Netherlands and Prince Frederik visited the orrery. King William I bought the orrery for the Dutch state. In 1859, the orrery was donated by the Dutch state to the city of Franeker.

Recognition
Eisinga was rewarded by becoming an honorary citizen of Franeker. The street of his planetarium was renamed "Eise Eisingastraat". On 5 May 1994 an 80-cent stamp was issued by the post office to celebrate his 250th birthday. In 2006 the planetarium was given permission to use the title "royal". Eisinga was also included in the Canon of the Netherlands and the Canon of Friesland, which are taught in schools in the Netherlands and the province of Friesland, respectively.

title: Eise Eisinga


text:
Beef tenderloin

A beef tenderloin (US English), known as an eye fillet in Australasia, filet in France, filet mignon in Brazil, and fillet in the United Kingdom and South Africa, is cut from the loin of beef.

Description
As with all quadrupeds, the tenderloin refers to the psoas major muscle ventral to the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae, near the kidneys.

The tenderloin is an oblong shape spanning two primal cuts: the short loin (called the sirloin in Commonwealth countries) and the sirloin (called the rump in Commonwealth countries). The tenderloin sits beneath the ribs, next to the backbone. It has two ends: the butt and the "tail". The smaller, pointed end—the "tail"—starts a little past the ribs, growing in thickness until it ends in the "sirloin" primal cut, which is closer to the butt of the cow. This muscle does very little work, so it is the tenderest part of the beef.

Processing and preparation
Whole tenderloins are sold as either "unpeeled" (meaning the fat and silver skin remain), "peeled" (meaning that the fat is removed, but silver skin remains), or as PSMOs ("pismos"), which is short for "peeled, side muscle on" (side muscle refers to the "chain"). While the most expensive option pound-for-pound, PSMOs offer considerable savings over other tenderloin options as they require little handling by the chef, since the fat and trimmings have already been removed. Since it is the tenderest part of the animal, beef dishes requiring exceptionally tender meat, such as steak tartare, are ideally made from the tenderloin.

Cuts
The three main "cuts" of the tenderloin are the butt, the center cut, and the tail. The butt end is usually suitable for carpaccio, as the eye can be quite large; cutting a whole tenderloin into steaks of equal weight will yield proportionally very thin steaks from the butt end. The center cut is suitable for portion-controlled steaks, as the diameter of the eye remains relatively consistent. The center cut can yield the traditional filet mignon or tenderloin steak, as well as the Chateaubriand and Beef Wellington. The tail, which is generally unsuitable for steaks due to size inconsistency, can be used in recipes where small pieces of a tender cut are called for, such as stews.

title: Beef tenderloin


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Frederick Hanley Seares

Frederick Hanley Seares (May 17, 1873 – July 20, 1964) was an American astronomer. He worked at Mount Wilson Observatory and won the Bruce Medal in 1940.

Seares was born in Michigan in 1873 and grew up in Iowa and southern California. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of California and later studied in Paris and Berlin. Later Seares taught and researched comets and variable stars for eight years at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri (where Harlow Shapley studied under him). In 1909, Seares joined the Mount Wilson Observatory, where he remained for 36 years, 15 of them as assistant director.

Seares was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1917 and the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1919. He served as president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 1929.

Seares used astrophotography as part of Jacobus Kapteyn's effort to uncover the structure of the sidereal universe through research of "selected areas." Seares standardized the stellar magnitude system and extended it beyond the 18th magnitude, using absorbing wire gauze screens and reduced apertures to compare stars of varying brightnesses. Seares also made contributions to the measurement and interpretation of stellar color indices and wrote on the brightness of the Milky Way compared to spiral nebulae, which were hypothesized (but not yet fully established) to be other galaxies.

Seares also studied interstellar absorption and reddening of starlight.

Seares died in 1964. The crater Seares on the Moon is named after him.

title: Frederick Hanley Seares


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Birdwell (clothing)

Birdwell, makers of Birdwell Beach Britches, is an American surf clothing company headquartered in Santa Ana, California. Founded by Carrie Birdwell Mann in 1961, the company manufactures and sells customized heavy-duty swimsuits, which are sold internationally. With four basic models, various fabrics, including Surfnyl, Tactel, heavy nylon, sailcloth, and canvas, more than 40 colors, and various other options, the combinations that can be created are nearly endless. The company's motto is "We don't build 1000 things. We build one thing 1000 ways."

The swimsuits themselves, which resemble board shorts, are paneled swimsuits, with waistbands resembling those of boxing trunks, always double-stitched, always with two layers of fabric. These shorts are known and favored among surfers, lifeguards, and paddleboarders, because of their quick-drying design and extreme durability; with an estimated 10 years for average use, and 2–5 for more strenuous use.

On all of the trunks there is a 2 sqin logo, of a stylized anthropomorphic surfboard, wearing, of course, Birdwell Beach Britches, nicknamed "Birdie".

title: Birdwell (clothing)


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Akiko Yajima

Akiko Yajima (矢島 晶子) is a Japanese voice actress from Kashiwazaki, Niigata. Her best-known role is as the title character Shinnosuke Nohara in the long-running anime series Crayon Shin-chan. She also voices Mipple in the original Futari wa Pretty Cure, Sally Yoshinaga in The Brave Express Might Gaine, Paffy Pafuricia in Haō Taikei Ryū Knight, Relena Peacecraft in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Ayumi Himekawa in Glass Mask, Riku and Diva in Blood+, Longlong in Shizuku-chan and Kohaku in Inuyasha. In video games, she voices Annie Barrs in Tales of series, and has dubbed for Anakin Skywalker and Harry Potter in some of the live-action films and video games. She is also known for being the voice of Spyro the Dragon in the Spyro video games, which she retired from in 2000. On June 29, 2018, Akiko Yajima retired from her career as Shinnosuke Nohara's voice actress and newly announced that Yumiko Kobayashi took over the role as Shinnosuke Nohara.

title: Akiko Yajima


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Alfred Harrison Joy

Alfred Harrison Joy (September 23, 1882 in Greenville, Illinois – April 18, 1973 in Pasadena, California) was an astronomer best known for his work on stellar distances, the radial motion of stars, and variable stars.

A crater on the Moon has been named in his honor.

Early years
He was born in Greenville, Illinois, the son of F.P. Joy, a prominent clothing merchant in Greenville and one-time mayor of the town. He received a BA from Greenville College in 1903 and an MA from Oberlin College the next year.

Career
After graduating, Joy went on to work at the American University of Beirut in the Syrian Protestant College as a professor of astronomy and the director of the observatory. He was forced to return to the U.S. in 1915 because of World War I.

In the United States, he worked at the Mount Wilson Observatory from 1915 to 1952. There, he and his colleagues ascertained the spectral type, absolute magnitude, and stellar distance of over 5,000 stars. Joy also initially defined the T-Tauri type star. He studied the Doppler displacement of the spectral lines of stars to determine their radial velocities deducing a star's absolute dimensions, masses, and the orbital elements of some specific stars. He won the Bruce Medal in 1950.

He was president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 1931 and 1939.

title: Alfred Harrison Joy