INDONESIA: WHERE SEXUAL HARASSMENT NEITHER STOPS NOR STARTS
GABY RUSLI WRITES — Was it my clothes? Did I make the mistake of dressing slightly more provocatively today without realizing it? Why are people so hostile to women? Why do they stare at me as if I am walking around with a target on my back? These questions have…
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IRAN: WHO NEEDS “BIG BROTHER” WHEN YOU HAVE THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT RAISI?
KIANA KARIMI WRITES — As hope for reform and freedom slowly inched forward, a new cloud of darkness arose over the Iranian public, and for good reason. The media will be under substantial scrutiny and attack soon. Apps such as Signal and Instagram are crucial to everyday modern society by…
Full Article IRAN: WHO NEEDS “BIG BROTHER” WHEN YOU HAVE THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT RAISI?
BOOK REVIEW: THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI (2021) BY SHION MIURA
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (latest in her review series of new Japanese books) – Are you feeling disillusioned with the relentless hustle and colorless monotony of metropolis living? Do you feel like another cog in the capitalist machine? Do you crave a simpler life? Consider adopting and adhering to the daily…
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BANGLADESH: LET’S SLOW DOWN ON FAST FASHION
NELLY CARRILLO WRITES — Earlier this year, the Borgen Project, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating poverty and hunger, published an article on the harmful effects of fast fashion. What is fast fashion and why is it a harmful way of thinking about garment manufacturing? Fast Fashion is defined as “an…
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MIDDLE EAST: CAN CULTURAL DIVERSITY BE PROTECTED IN THE CRADLE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION?
FRANCESCO FIMIANI WRITES — Recently, the Africa and Middle East Regional Forum on Conflict Prevention and the Protection of Human Rights of Minorities concluded its 2021 meeting. Hosted on a virtual platform by The Gambia, the goal of the two-day meeting was to provide “regional insights” to feed into the…
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AMERICA’S KNEE-JERK REACTION TO CHINA: JUST SHOOT THE BAD GUY
TOM PLATE WRITES — Given the relentless Western media verdict about “China’s increasing assertiveness,” it might seem surprising that across Asia doubts about America’s own continental conduct proceed apace. Yet this goes little reported back in the U.S. Nonetheless, within some government and policy circles in Indonesia, Japan and Singapore –…
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FORMER AMI STUDENT STAFFER JOINS OFFICE OF REP. KATIE PORTER (D-CA)
The career of former Asia Media International staff editor and highly regarded LMU ’20 student Michelle Nguyen continues to proceed apace. The U.S. Congressional Office of Rep. Katie Porter – the nationally known law professor and attorney, serving as the U.S. Representative for California’s 45th congressional district since 2019 –…
Full Article FORMER AMI STUDENT STAFFER JOINS OFFICE OF REP. KATIE PORTER (D-CA)
ASIA: SAY NO TO NATO
KISHORE MAHBUBANI WRITES (Reproduced from a copy of The Straits Times and courtesy of the author) — Dear Friends, Many Western minds believe that Western societies are inherently peaceful while East Asian societies (including China) are more belligerent. There’s some realistic basis for this assumption: prospects of war between any…
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BOOK REVIEW: THE SUNFLOWER CAST A SPELL TO SAVE US FROM THE VOID (2021) BY JACKIE WANG
ANGELINE KEK WRITES — To read The Sunflower Cast A Spell To Save Us From The Void by Jackie Wang is to return to familiarity delivered through mystifying means. Within the surreal landscapes that are conjured up by the speaker, we are shown a world largely fabricated by an unhinged…
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HONG KONG: UPROOTING THE APPLE TREE
EXECUTIVE EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES — Legend has it that an apple a day keeps the lie away. That was the slogan of Apple Daily, the most vocal pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong. But what happens when the apple tree falls? On Thursday, Apple Daily printed its last…
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LOS ANGELES: ASIA MEDIA EDITOR HEADING FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL WINS AWARD
Asia Media International’s first annual Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra Graduate School Fellowship has been awarded to Zhi Jiao Danielle Goh, described by AMI Founder and President Clinical Prof. Tom Plate as “our most outstanding Asia Media student staffer over the past two years.” Zhi Jiao Danielle Goh, born in Singapore,…
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SINO-U.S. RELATIONS: WHY AMERICA CAN’T AFFORD TO OVERHYPE THE CHINA THREAT
TOM PLATE WRITES — A new report from a respected US think tank at least tries for a fair and sensible analysis of the China challenge. For this alone, given the almost rancid mood in the US about China these days, President Xi Jinping and his government are not going to…
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THE PHILIPPINES: HUNGRY FOR POLICIES THAT ADDRESS FOOD INSECURITY
NELLY CARRILLO WRITES — Food insecurity – as defined by the FAO, the inability to access nutritional and safe food that is essential to maintaining a healthy body and lifestyle-is nothing new to the Philippines. In a 2016 report, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that at least…
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BOOK REVIEW: SOUL LANTERNS (2021) BY SHAW KUZKI
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (latest in her review series of new Japanese books) – How does a global war affect regular people caught in its wake of devastation? How long do those effects linger on and how should a society react to them? Shaw Kuzki’s heart-wrenching tale, Soul Lanterns (2021), aims…
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SINGAPORE: PRIME MINISTERS LEE AND MORRISON HAVE A SERIOUS CHAT
AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, in Singapore on June 10- marking the sixth Australia-Singapore Leaders’ Meeting, an annual conference between the two countries – and the first in-person meeting between Lee and Morrison since pandemic travel restrictions began.…
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US-CHINA RELATIONS: AN AMERICA ALL TOO EXPERIENCED IN WAR MUST TAKE STOCK
TOM PLATE WRITES — We patriotic Americans usually call it Memorial Day weekend, but sometimes the barbecues and beer throw memory off base, as if the holiday on the last Monday of every May signifies no more than the winding down of a 72-hour party. On the Saturday of Memorial…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: AN AMERICA ALL TOO EXPERIENCED IN WAR MUST TAKE STOCK