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Digital Doggies: Pet Influencers On the Rise In Singapore

(AFP)
(AFP)
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Digital Doggies: Pet Influencers On the Rise In Singapore

(AFP)
(AFP)

Two fluffy white terriers wearing neckerchiefs pant quietly as their owner waves a treat and snaps a photo for the dogs' tens of thousands of Instagram followers.

They are among a growing number of pet influencers on social media in Singapore, a trend fueled by a rise in online shopping and pet ownership during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sasha and Piper make regular appearances on their "Lomodoggies" Instagram account, often wearing matching accessories and posing for the camera with their tongues hanging out.

The pair have earned thousands of dollars endorsing products ranging from vacuum cleaners to shoes -- and are even represented by an agency.

Tapping into the pet influencer boom, the company has worked with animals ranging from a cat called Brossy Meowington -- with more than 50,000 followers -- to a Japanese Spitz called Luna.

Sasha and Piper's owner, Carrie Er, stumbled into the business several years ago when she started posting photos of Sasha in various costumes, playing with toys and on outings.

"We just wanted to do a daily blog of her, capturing some precious moments like her beautiful face and her activities," said Er, a marketing manager in her 40s.

But the photos proved popular online, and companies started asking if Sasha would endorse their products.

Piper, a former show dog, arrived later, completing the duo.

- 'Can't hate them' -
"It's fun -- fun for the dogs, fun for me," said Er, as she shoots pictures with her phone of the dog celebrities.

The two pooches now have nearly 24,000 Instagram followers and typically earn about 500 Singapore dollars ($370, 315 euros) for each marketing deal.

Er said she is selective about which products they promote, rejecting offers from some dog food brands she feels don't meet her standards -- her own pets enjoy a diet of hand-made meals.

There has been a growing demand for pet influencer endorsements as companies bolstered their online presence during the pandemic, according to Jane Peh, co-founder of The Woof Agency that represents Er's terriers.

"I think pet influencers generally have an advantage because we just love pets," said Peh, whose company has about 6,000 pet social media profiles in its network.

"They are cute -- you can't hate them."

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Varieties

Chinese University Tells Students to 'Fall in Love' During Spring Break

FILE PHOTO: A couple react during their wedding photoshoot near the Forbidden City, as the city is hit by sandstorm, in Beijing, China March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A couple react during their wedding photoshoot near the Forbidden City, as the city is hit by sandstorm, in Beijing, China March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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Chinese University Tells Students to 'Fall in Love' During Spring Break

FILE PHOTO: A couple react during their wedding photoshoot near the Forbidden City, as the city is hit by sandstorm, in Beijing, China March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A couple react during their wedding photoshoot near the Forbidden City, as the city is hit by sandstorm, in Beijing, China March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

A Chinese university is urging students to "enjoy the flowers, fall in love" during their mid-term break, an unusual directive in a nation obsessed with getting good grades, as authorities seek new ways to spur marriages and domestic consumption.

"See the flowers and enjoy romance" is the theme for the spring holidays from April 1 to 6, the Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Aviation said on its official Wechat account.

Tuesday's notice exhorting teachers and students to put down the books came about two weeks after China said it would introduce spring and autumn holidays for schools, ⁠in addition to the ⁠traditional times of summer and winter.

Authorities have said they will also encourage staggered paid leave to enable workers to travel in off-peak seasons.

Provinces such as Sichuan and eastern Jiangsu, along with cities like Suzhou and Nanjing, have unveiled plans for spring breaks, most set for April or ⁠early May.

China seeks to boost domestic consumption by encouraging travel and leisure activities among its population of 1.4 billion. Authorities also hope more free time will set the stage for births to reverse a worrisome trajectory of decline.

In 2025, the population fell for a fourth consecutive year, as the birth rate dropped to a record low, with experts warning of further decline.

Beijing also issued a guideline on Tuesday to promote child-friendly development, the powerful state planner, the National Development and Reform ⁠Commission (NDRC), said ⁠in a notice.

According to Reuters, it called for coordinated efforts to bring about "child-friendly cities", by improving public services in areas from education and health to travel, sports and recreation.

Society needs to have enough time and money to raise children, said James Liang, the co-founder of Chinese travel company Trip, who called for more such initiatives.

"Greater efforts are needed to educate young people on the social and personal benefits of raising larger families," added Liang, who is also a prominent demographic expert.

The government could establish a broader support framework by reallocating resources and boosting financial assistance, he said.

Varieties

Trespasser Caught in Viral Hippo Moo Deng's Thai Zoo Pen

Trespasser Caught in Viral Hippo Moo Deng's Thai Zoo Pen
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Trespasser Caught in Viral Hippo Moo Deng's Thai Zoo Pen

Trespasser Caught in Viral Hippo Moo Deng's Thai Zoo Pen

A Thai man broke into the zoo enclosure of Moo Deng, an endangered baby pygmy hippo and internet sensation, police said Wednesday, as the zoo filed a trespassing complaint.

Moo Deng -- whose name translates as "bouncy pork" -- has gained global attention thanks to social media videos showing her adorable antics, drawing tens of thousands of visitors and boosting zoo ticket sales.

Khao Kheow Open Zoo, about a two-hour drive from the capital Bangkok, said a Thai national had unlawfully entered the animal's pen on Tuesday.

Footage of the close encounter released by local media showed a man wearing a tank top, shorts and sandals inside the enclosure and recording Moo Deng with a tablet.

Zoo staff took about 10 minutes to remove the man from the pen, which also houses Moo Deng's mother, local media reported.

"The individual entered a restricted animal area," the zoo said in a statement.

It would "pursue legal action without exception" and added that Moo Deng was unharmed but "slightly startled" by the incident.

Police told AFP the intruder, a man who visited the zoo with his grandnephew, had wanted a closer look at the animal.

"We have initiated a trespassing case," said local investigating officer Athiwat Siralertthakorn.

No arrest has been made so far, he added.

Under Thai law, trespassers face up to one year in jail, a fine of up to 20,000 baht ($618) or both.

The pygmy hippo calf, which marked its first birthday in July, has inspired merchandise and memes since first going viral online in 2024.

Moo Deng has even featured in a beauty campaign by cosmetics giant Sephora, highlighting her glowing, peach-toned face.

Varieties

‘Hexagonal Diamond’… Harder Than the Real Thing

Researchers may have created a substance slightly harder than natural diamonds. (Shutterstock)
Researchers may have created a substance slightly harder than natural diamonds. (Shutterstock)
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‘Hexagonal Diamond’… Harder Than the Real Thing

Researchers may have created a substance slightly harder than natural diamonds. (Shutterstock)
Researchers may have created a substance slightly harder than natural diamonds. (Shutterstock)

Chinese scientists claim to have created the long theorized hexagonal diamond, stronger than the real thing, and only found until now at sites of meteorite impacts.

The commonly found cubic diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth and is used widely as jewellery, precision cutting tools, and high-performance semiconductors.

Hexagonal diamonds are rare and potentially tougher, but their actual existence has long been debated.

“As no solid experimental evidence has been provided to prove its existence, the physical properties of hexagonal diamond remain largely unexplored,” wrote researchers in the study published in the journal Nature and reported by The Independent.

The study describes the creation of this elusive form of carbon in the lab.

Researchers from China’s Henan Key Laboratory of Diamond Materials and Devices described how they made a bulk piece of pure hexagonal diamond using extreme pressure and heat.

In the study, scientists placed a highly ordered form of graphite between anvils made of tungsten carbide and applied 20 gigapascals of pressure, which is around 200,000 times the pressure of our atmosphere.

The process was carried out at temperatures between 1,300C and 1,900C, researchers said.

When pressure was applied from the top of the stacked carbon layers, it led to the formation of a millimeter-sized piece of pure hexagonal diamond, according to the study.

“Here we report the synthesis of millimeter-sized, phase-pure hexagonal diamond from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG),” researchers wrote.

Scientists then used X-ray diffraction, a technique that bounces X-rays off atoms to map their positions, to prove that the sample was structurally pure hexagonal diamond.

They also used advanced microscopy to clearly see the unique hexagonal stacking patterns of the carbon atoms.

Researchers tested the mechanical properties of their newly formed material by pressing a diamond tip into the sample to assess how much it resisted scratching or denting.

The hexagonal diamond sample had a hardness of around 114 gigapascals, compared to many natural diamonds, which have a hardness of around 110 gigapascals.

This suggests researchers may have created a substance slightly harder than natural diamonds.

“These findings resolve the long-standing controversy on the existence of hexagonal diamond as a discrete carbon phase and provide new insight into the graphite-to-diamond phase transition, paving the way for future research and practical use of HD in advanced technological applications,” they wrote in the study.