Stigmata

• This is particularly vital for visually impaired people as environmental sounds provide essential information for decision-making, especially in situations involving safety considerations.
• "At present, visually impaired people in Singapore do not have access to assistive AI technology of this level of sophistication.
• Therefore, we believe that AiSee has the potential to empower visually impaired people to independently accomplish tasks that currently require assistance.
• NUS student Mark Myres, who helped to test AiSee as a visually impaired user, commented, "A lot of time, assistive devices seem very targeted at totally blind people or visually impaired people.

• The South Korean dog meat trade will officially end in 2027 after a bill was passed making the slaughter of dogs and the sale of dog meat for human consumption illegal in the country (though the consumption of dog meat will still be legal).
• The news has been embraced in South Korea as a long-awaited victory by many animal protection organisations.
• Dog meat is the fourth-most consumed meat in South Korea after pork, beef and chicken.

Stigmatisation of a practice

• But an important moment of national and international friction around the practice occurred in the run-up to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
• Influential South Korean public and political figures took a public stance in favour of dog meat as a national cultural symbol.
• It was reported that the hiding of dog meat restaurant signs and dog carcasses had once again been introduced by the government.

A practice in sharp decline

• In recent decades, a civil movement led by animal protection charities has campaigned for the end of the trade.
• It could be argued that the COVID pandemic has also played a part in the sharp fall in dog meat consumption in recent years.
• Since then, municipal authorities have opened a dialogue with dog retailers to negotiate the demolition of dog slaughtering facilities.

The perspective of the dog farmers

• Since 2014, some of these municipalities have agreed to compensate dog meat retailers for closing dog meat stalls in traditional markets.
• However, now that a full ban is coming into effect, dog meat farmers are requesting compensation schemes as this new law will directly affect their livelihoods.
• The Korean Dog Meat Association has been arguing that the bill represents an abuse of power that overlooks the perspective of many South Koreans, and that it infringes on the right to choose what one wants to eat.

Julien Dugnoille received funding from the Korea Foundation and the Academy of Korean Studies to conduct part of the research on which this paper is based. John Knight does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• However, viewers might find themselves with one looming unanswered question as they watch: how could this persist, at such a scale, for so long?
• The efforts of Bates and others have been invaluable – but they are a tiny subset of the overall victims.
• By and large, most sub-postmaster victims did not speak out about the injustice they faced.

• This article is part of Conversation Insights
  The Insights team generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary research.
• The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.

Sub-postmasters told they were the ‘only ones’

• I was led to believe at this meeting that I was the only sub-postmaster who was having problems with shortfalls.
• It made me feel stupid that I was the only person who had these issues.
• I confirmed that I had not done anything wrong and asked again about issues with the Horizon system.
• I was led to believe at this meeting that I was the only sub-postmaster who was having problems with shortfalls.
• Being told they were the only one not only discouraged victims from speaking out, it also planted a seed of self-doubt in many of their minds.

‘Spat on, shouted at and shunned’

• While the drama focuses on the heartwarming story of Hamilton, who received an inordinate amount of support from her local community, most sub-postmasters were not so lucky.
• Our analyses of the public inquiry statements reveal the local stigmatisation and shame that many felt.
• There are vivid accounts of sub-postmasters being spat on, shouted at and shunned.
• Those who experienced a wrongful accusation had similar negative mental health outcomes as those who were wrongfully convicted.
• Our research leads us to believe these feelings of shame and experiences of stigmatisation discouraged people from speaking out about the injustice.

Victims were unable to defend themselves

• Imagine that, tomorrow morning, you walk into work and are called into your line-manager’s office.
• They accuse you of something and tell you to gather your personal items as you are being sacked.
• This is the nightmare reality that sub-postmasters who were accused of theft and false accounting often faced.
• As one victim, Keith Macaldowie, recalled during the inquiry:
  They closed the office when they suspended me, so I couldn’t gain access.
• Overall, we found the lack of access to information that could prove the sub-postmasters’ innocence discouraged them from trying to speak out.

‘The Queen’s business’

• As one of the victims, Nicola Arch, told us:
  Working for the Post Office, it was the Queen’s business.
• The Queen acknowledges the Post Office — her face is on the stamps.
• In that era, everyone believed that it was a very prestigious company to work for, very respected … Everyone thought the Post Office could never be wrong.
• The Queen acknowledges the Post Office — her face is on the stamps.
• Despite individual appeals by sub-postmasters, Post Office managers did not challenge the leadership or organisation, and apparently believed their systems, including Horizon, were infallible.

The myth of ‘infallible systems’

• It also fuelled their self-doubt about whether this “perfect” system really could have any bugs in it.
• When injustices comes to light, often years after harm has occurred, we often hear people ask: ‘If this was going on, why didn’t they tell someone?
• Post Office employees have given evidence confirming that sub-postmasters were subject to “good character checks”.
• This alone should have raised concerns about these accusations, both inside and outside the Post Office.

For you: more from our Insights series:
COVID heroes left behind: the ‘invisible’ women struggling to make ends meet

The hidden danger of asbestos in UK schools: ‘I don’t think they realise how much risk it poses to students’

How to solve our mental health crisis

‘I’m always delivering food while hungry’: how undocumented migrants find work as substitute couriers in the UK

To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Grace Augustine receives funding from the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust for her research on the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal project. Jan Lodge receives funding from the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust for his research on the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal project. Mislav Radic receives funding from the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust for his research on the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal project.

• From 1974, the Hong Kong government allowed residents to employ foreign domestic workers, leading to an influx of MDW from the Philippines.
• The study placed media discourse within a broader sociological framework in order to highlight its important role, and to stress the inherent intersectionality of MDW issues.
• The study identified three significant points in the way the MDW and their employers were discursively portrayed in the news reports.
• While the media has to care about its readership, it should bear some responsibility for better societal understanding of MDW mistreatment and facilitate improved policies, practices and awareness.