AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – The hanging of four men convicted of rape and murder will do little to stem misogyny in India. The solution lies with the media and how it represents women. From 1990 to 2008, the number of reported rapes in India more than doubled, according to official…
Month: September 2013
AUSTRALIA: Ad Regulators Think Serious is Too Sexy
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES — It wasn’t too much skin, but too little smile that led Australian advertising authorities to can a provocative billboard last week. The ad, promoting Ella Bache skincare products, featured three nude women with straight poker faces beneath the catchphrase, “Skin Solutions As Individual As You Are.” An…
PHILIPPINES: Is Aquino’s Replacement of the PDAF Progress or Delusion?
TREVOR ISBELL WRITES – After suffering years of government corruption, public anger in the Philippines has reached a boil and President Benigno Aquino III is finally being forced into action. Facing a massive and well-organized protest over a public works funding scandal, Aquino told the nation he’d do better. Janet…
VIETNAM: An Extreme Obsession with Tourism
YVONNE EPPS WRITES – What do police patrols, food, and WiFi have in common? No, it’s not cops eating donuts while browsing Tumblr on their smartphones, but rather Vietnam’s obsession with tourism. From promoting the country as the “kitchen of the world” to protecting tourists from robbers, Vietnam is concerned…
Bangladesh: Art in the Slums Honors Working Women
KIARA BRAMASCO WRITES – The hard-working women of Bangladesh were honored recently in an art exhibition just as beautiful as they are, with the added bonus of the art being reusable for housing insulation later! On September 13 a public art exhibition opened in the Korail slum, the largest in…
MALAYSIA: Grammy Nominated Band Denied Concert by Malaysian Government
MARLENA NIP WRITES – Malaysian officials won’t take any risks with Western bands bashing Allah and the Quran. The Communications and Multimedia Ministry has denied Lamb of God, a U.S.-based heavy metal band, a permit to perform in Kuala Lampur. Tour promoter Livescape Asia had scheduled a concert featuring the Grammy-nominated band…
THAILAND: Give this Director an Oscar
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Hey Hollywood, want to learn how to make an emotionally charged film? Check out this three-minute commercial from Thailand. The ad has awed netizens seemingly overnight, showing up in countless reposts on Facebook and Twitter, and praised as more moving and poignant than most Hollywood films…
HONG KONG: Disdain for Mainlanders, But Schools Need Children
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – Perhaps mainlanders aren’t locusts after all. Despite fervent disdain toward folks across the straight, Hong Kong schools have begun soliciting students from Mainland China. The negative feelings towards Mainlanders are accurately portrayed through popular Memes. A recent South China Morning Post article printed the view of an expat…
LOS ANGELES: Influential Newsletter Features ‘In the Middle of the Future’
The influential newsletter of the Pacific Century Institute, just published, features a story on the upcoming book “In the Middle of the Future: Tom Plate on Asia.” Written by the founder and editor in chief of The New Asia Media, the book is a sweeping review of the last two…
SINGAPORE: Malaysia Only Wants to be Friends in Secret
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – As Singapore’s president, Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam, made his first diplomatic visit to neighboring Malaysia, Singapore news outlets stressed the importance of a strengthened relationship, while Malaysia sang a better-off-without-you tune in its own media. The Straits Times and Singapore-based Channel News Asia stressed the value…
JAPAN: Media Icon Defies Status Quo Amid Olympics Euphoria
JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES – While much of the nation celebrates its 2020 Summer Olympics bid win, one celebrity has done something surprising: speak out against the government. Norika Fujiwara, a popular model and actress, recently revealed her distaste for a proposed bill on her website. Referred to as the state…
CHINA: ‘Conversations with Ban Ki-Moon’ Published in Chinese
Popular Holdings, the Southeast Asian based publishing group, has announced the publication of ‘Conversations with Ban Ki-moon’ in simplified Chinese for Mainland marketing. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spent many hours in confidential conversation with American journalist Tom Plate to produce a serious inside look at the United Nations from…
MYANMAR: Hackers Gonna Hack
ALEXANDRE GUIRAUD-COINTREAU WRITES – In the past few weeks, a group of cyber hackers has made a name for itself across the world. The Myanmar Muslim Cyber Force (MMCF), has been multiplying its attacks, as its Facebook page boastfully confesses. The group refers to its actions as “targeting all racist…
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Strike but was it a Big Deal?
VITTO BANEZ WRITES – A U.S. airfield was under attack! Late in the night of October 13, Taliban fighters launched several missiles in Bagram, an airfield north of the capital of Kabul. It’s still uncertain on how much of an impact the attack made. Reports on its effectiveness varied. A Taliban…
LEBANON: Suicide on Film, Have They Crossed the Line?
NICOLE SABA WRITES – Imagine watching the evening news. With no warning and no disclaimer, a video of a woman committing suicide is aired. In a span of less than three minutes, you see a woman threatening to kill herself, while her husband, who is filming it all, pants and…
CHINA: Blogging Crackdown
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Everything you type can and will be held against you. Microblogging has become insanely popular over the past few years in China, much like Twitter here in the US. Many critics on these micro blog sites have become online superstars whose millions of followers read, debate…