U.S. Dramatically Opens Diplomatic Door to Myanmar: Perhaps a democratic system of government will not prove the final answer for Myanmar. Just take a look at the Philippines if you’re crazy about another possible “for-sale” democracy in Asia. But considering what the good people of what used to be called…
Month: January 2012
SINGAPORE: Walkways Into Memory
SINGAPORE: Walkways Into Memory
SINGAPORE: Walkways Into Memory
CHINA: The Ridiculous Republican Hunt for “Red” Huntsman
As Republican presidential candidates continue to use China as a topic for gaining voter approval in the current Republican Primaries, it shouldn’t go unnoticed that the “bad mouthing” is being heard beyond our own shores. The English-language Chinese newspaper “China Daily” recently published an article highlighting the election’s topic fixation.…
INDIA: Young People Tweet — #APositivePerspectiveOfIndia
As the stylized coding of a tweet might put it: #APositivePerspectiveOfIndia That was the whole point of the recent online conference that the Times of India is calling “the world’s largest tweetathon.” And the successful event looks like further proof, if any were needed, of the revolutionary innovative power of…
THAILAND: Do Tablet PCs Really Make the (First) Grade?
Many are speaking out against the Thai government’s “One Tablet PC per child” policy, which gives first grade students their own laptop at school. In an attempt to prove the soundness of their policy, the government chose five schools to partake in a pilot-study in which they were given 600…
JAPAN: The Publisher Who Kept on Going
The March 11 natural disasters that ravaged the Tohoku region of Japan early last year forced most local industries to cease operations. Despite the difficulties, Masashi Hijikata, the owner of the Araemishi publishing company, continued producing his quarterly magazine, the Sendaigaku, or Study of Sendai. According to The Mainichi Daily…
HONG KONG: Who Will Win the Olympic ‘Media’ Medal?
As the countdown begins to the 2012 Summer Olympics, the government and its media seem to be playing their own media games. A Hong Kong’s cable TV outfit says it is desperate for government approval of its free-to-air license for the Games. Without this approval, many of the city’s sports…
SINGAPORE: The Media Catfight That Just Won’t Stop
Late last year, a legal battle between the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Yahoo! Southeast Asia was sparked by alleged copyright infringements by the internet giant. According to Today, a free, English-language publication, Yahoo! has been accused of reproducing works originally published by SPH. These purportedly original works had strikingly…
TURKEY: Dubai Newspaper Raises Questions about Journalistic Freedom
Turkish journalists are incredulous, claiming that they are being treated like terrorists for simply doing their jobs. According to the Khaleej Times Online, a leading English Daily of UAE and the Gulf States, the number of journalists held in Turkish prisons pre-trial has risen from 70 to 97 in less…
SOUTH KOREA: Buddhism Goes Bilingual
The book titled, “Open the Mind, See the Light,” by widely acknowledged Seon Zen master Ven. Jinje has been translated into English, according to The Korea Times, a huge-circulation newspaper based in Seoul. Ven. Jinje is a leading monk of the Joyge Order of Korean Buddhism and one of the…
Remembering Father Daly
How should the worth of a life be weighed? For when a phenomenon like Father John P. Daly, S.J., dies, that’s a question you start asking yourself. What is a life worth? In his own over-intellectualized Harvard way, T.S. Eliot used to tantalize around that question with this unforgettable line…
CELEBRATING A PRIEST WHO HELPED PUT ASIA ON THE AMERICAN MAP
How should the worth of a life be weighed? For when a phenomenon like Father John P Daly, S.J., dies, that’s a question you start asking yourself. What is a life worth? In his own over-intellectualized Harvard way, T.S. Eliot used to tantalize around that with this from The Love…
KUDOS CORNER: “The Nation’s” Meet the Editors Video Features
We commend the editors of The Nation in Bangkok for their MEET THE EDITORS video feature. It appears from time to time via the home page of the leading English-language newspaper in Thailand. Seeing is believing, and the sight of the paper’s top editors honestly struggling to make sense of…