Free speech advocate gets ten months behind bars for posting online? This sounds close to ridiculous in a democracy like South Korea. However, Park Jung-geun, a South Korean photographer and a supporter of free speech, suffered this exact fate recently. He is accused of supporting North Korea, an act that…
Month: November 2012
CHINA: A New Fashion Model In Town
Heels, lace, and mini-skirts! These are some of our favorite things. By “our,” I mean the possessive term for females. China’s new clothing line, Yuekou, is marketing these pieces to young Chinese fashionistas in a brand new way that is shocking to their audience, as well as the rest of…
SOUTH KOREA: Famed Daily Reviews New Book on UN Secretary General
The headline in the book review in the Korea Times, a massive circulation Seoul-based newspaper, read: “Heart-felt talks reveal Ban’s leadership style, dreams.” The review, by Chung Ah-young, read: “The United Nations is often criticized for its bloated bureaucracy and inefficiency. The position of U.N. secretary-general is no doubt daunting,…
PAKISTAN: True Story in ‘Zero Dark Thirty’?
The new movie about the successful hunt to find and kill Osama bin Laden will surely cop a few Academy Awards. It is well done and worth seeing. But this is not intended to be a movie review. Rather, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ raises difficult issues about the morality of America’s…
VIETNAM: Kissing for Charity Was Almost the Kiss of Death
Raising money for charity is a Samaritan thing to do, but male pop singer Dam Vinh Hung may have gone too far in his pursuit for monetary justice. Recently, Hung kissed two monks on the lips and hands at a charity auction in Ho Chi Minh City. In order to…
PHILIPPINES: A Revered Lady Journalist Dies
After a six-month battle with cancer the renowned Filipino journalist Zenaida Silva has died. Silva was instrumental in covering the famous “people power” revolt, as well as many other important political events in the Philippines. Journalism is in the family for Silva – she and her late husband, newspaper writer…
SINGAPORE: High Expectations and False Advertising Leave Tourists Unimpressed
As Singapore becomes a hot vacation spot, tourists’ expectations increase as they hear of its booming economy and luxury resorts. But can Singapore keep up with these higher demands? Vacationers weighed in, seeming unimpressed. Recently, the Institute of Service Excellence at Singapore Management University released the results of its tourism…
INDIA: China’s Passport to Trouble
China is at it again! Existing territorial conflict between New Delhi and Beijing over Arunchal Pradesh is no concern of the past. The controversial issue has been revived as China recently took matters into its own hands, launching new e-passports in which it showed the regions of Arunachal Pradesh and…
MYANMAR: Our Tongue-Tied American President
Though the media in Asia and the rest of the world mainly applauded President Obama’s historic visit to Myanmar (Burma), some in the media nonetheless felt compelled to draw attention to his linguistic shortcomings. Oh well…and, really, they did have a point. What happened was that Obama had to deal…
AFGHANISTAN: What Future for Women’s Rights?
Wall Street Journal writer Maria Abi-Habib’s recent article in that newspaper on the rights of Afghan women in the present, and the direction their rights are heading towards as the US withdraws from Afghanistan, is compelling and urgent. Although 11 years have passed since the ousting of the Taliban regime by U.S. troops, citing…
CHINA: What the U.S. Election and iPhone 5 Have in Common
It is not a rhetorical question: a US immigrant officer asked a Chinese journalist this question verbatim when he applied for a visa to cover the election in U.S. The journalist was caught off guard; he had many answers to that question, but in his point of view none of…
JAPAN: Banzai! Here’s to Four More Years and Closer Ties!
The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election garnered countless reactions from across the globe, and Japan was no different. The island nation, according to Mainichi Daily, has welcomed Barack Obama’s victory over Mitt Romney. The reelection comes at a crucial time for US-Japan relations, considering China’s recent push to increase authority in…
PHILIPPINES: Hey Obama- Call Us Collect, If You Want!
Almost immediately after the reelection of President Barack Obama, the White House announced that he would visit Myanmar (Burma) as his first foreign policy initiative at the start of a three-stop tour of Southeast Asia that will also cover Thailand and Cambodia. The tour excludes the Philippines, a longtime strategic…
HONG KONG: Media Torn On US Election
Hong Kong media’s reaction to the reelection of President Barack Obama has proved to be diverse, to say the least. Just compare the Hong Kong edition of the New York Times Rendezvous Blog to the China Daily’s Hong Kong Opinion section! The two sources seem to differ significantly. While the…
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Watching the Election from Afar
Asia Media staff writer Latifah RahmDel files this from Al Ain, Abu Dhabi — On Tuesday November 6, believe it or not, America wasn’t the only country bracing itself for an historical moment- so was the rest of the world! I was invited to watch the U.S. presidential election results…
NORTH KOREA: Down On America, No Matter Who The President Is
Presidential elections in the United States get a lot of attention, both in the U.S. itself, and all over the world. This election has actually been somewhat eclipsed in South Korea, due to their own upcoming presidential elections. North Korea has paid most of their media attention to South Korea’s…