In December 2010, in his exile home in Emirate Hills, a suburb of Dubai, former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sat down with American journalist Tom Plate for an exclusive series of five two-hour interviews that became the basis of the controversial book “Conversations with Thaksin” (Marshall Cavendish Singapore, 2011).…
Month: January 2014
THAILAND: Blue Bloods Versus New Bloods
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – The “Bangkok shutdown” is drawing a darker, deeper line between the country’s rural, poor, pro-government Red Shirts, and the reform-oriented Yellow Shirts. While strong influences of sadkina (ศักดินา) – Thai feudalism – make corruption an old friend in Thailand’s national politics, reform is still a new beast…
PHILIPPINES: Poverty Contributes to Child Pornography
TREVOR ISBELL WRITES – The sexual abuse of young Filipino children has long been an income source for some of the country’s poorest inhabitants. The country’s National Crime Agency (NCA) stated that “Extreme poverty, the increasing availability of high-speed Internet and the existence of a vast and comparatively wealthy overseas…
WOMEN OF ASIA: Can “Dragon Ladies” be Taken Seriously?
ELODIE INTROIA WRITES – Today, 23 of the 100 most powerful women in the world are Asian. Among that group are political leaders, heads of large corporations and philanthropists. Yet, despite their different backgrounds, they all work towards redefining the role of the modern Asian woman. Although Asian women have won political…
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: UAE Presents “The W*** of W*** S*****”
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES – The Wolf of Wall Street, the contentious, prize-winning film directed by Martin Scorsese, was released in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with significant scene deletions and other adjustments. Due to the film’s abundant use of derogative language (over 500 curse words) and lurid scenes of drug abuse…
BANGLADESH: Journalists Under Arrest
KIARA BRAMASCO WRITES – Three Bangladeshi journalists were arrested January 16 for publishing what Information Minister Hansanul Huq Inu called a “baseless” story. The story in question was a report in the online and print editions of the pro-opposition Daily Inqilab that Indian security forces had helped Bangladeshi officials contain…
HONG KONG: Chinese Communist Party Supporter as Chief Newspaper Editor?
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – Kevin Lau Chun, editor in chief of the Ming Pao newspaper, transferred suddenly to the parent company’s new unit for electronic books and teaching materials. This action has been perceived as a threat to editorial independence. Word on the street is that Lau’s replacement will be Chong Tien-siong, Malaysian journalist and…
PAKISTAN: Death of Tribune Staffers Underscores Dangers of Reporting
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – The deaths of three reporters at the hands of Taliban gunmen Jan. 17 is the latest in a series of terrorist attacks designed to silence anti-Taliban reporting in the afflicted country. On Friday, a group of gunmen on motorcycles shot into the van of three Express Tribune…
JAPAN: Finally Facing A Touchy Subject
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Social conduct dictates that people should avoid discussions of religion and politics, but should the media abide by these social laws too? This year will mark the 19th anniversary of the the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) doomsday cult’s toxic nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.…
SPECIAL EVENT: Tom Plate to Speak on Asia at Japanese American Museum, Feb. 4
World Affairs Council Event Features America’s Only Asia-only Columnist’s New Book “In the Middle of the Future” Tom Plate – award-winning journalist, critically acclaimed book author and America’s only Asia-only columnist – will give a talk Tuesday, Feb. 4 on “In the Middle of the Future: Tom Plate on Asia” and…
MALAYSIA: ‘Allah’ is a no-go for Non-Muslims
MARLENA NIP WRITES – Imagine not being able to use a certain word because your ideals don’t match those of the ruling party. Then imagine being under investigation by your government for using said word. That’s the case for a Catholic priest in Malaysia after saying the word “Allah” at…
VIETNAM: Paracel Islands for the Silenced People
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — It’s a new year and with Tet rounding the final corner, Vietnam can finally turn over a new leaf. Or it can indulge in more media constriction, give or take. This week marked the 40th anniversary of China’s invasion of Vietnam and its taking of the…
CAMBODIA: Lights, Camera, Oscar Nomination!
ARACELI PALAFOX WRITES – Amid political conflict and social uprising, Cambodia finds a sense of solidarity in the nation’s first Oscar nomination. Cambodian director Rithy Panh’s “The Missing Picture” is among the five final nominations in the “Best Foreign Language” film category. Panh’s “The Missing Picture” is a largely autobiographical work, telling the story…
LOS ANGELES: Trying to Keep Japan in Perspective
TOM PLATE WRITES IN HIS SYNDICATED NEWSPAPER COLUMN: Try it, you might like it: a sense of proportion. Avoid the extreme cry of apocalypse now — or, at least, of apocalypse soon. Stretch your intellectual and historical horizons to appreciate Japan as an expanse of more than just a few…
TAIWAN: Taiwanese-Brazilian Teen Captures Media’s Attention… Again
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – What happens when an 18-year-old Taiwanese-Brazilian boy, who was the focus of a custody battle between his parents’ families, returns to Taiwan after nearly a decade? Essentially what you’d expect. The local media latched on to his return, covering it with the same intensity as his childhood custody…
NORTH KOREA: Squabble over Name-Calling an Obstacle to Progress
RYAN LIPPERT WRITES – Tension between North and South Korea is old news, but a recent offer by the North offers a ray of hope that it’s possible for relations to cool down. Earlier this week, North Korea proposed that the two countries tone down their usually confrontational language. If…