April 2022

BOOK REVIEW: THE GIRL FROM THE COAST (1987) BY PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER — A PEASANT GIRL TURNED AN ARISTOCRATIC WIFE

GABY RUSLI WRITES (in her ongoing series on classic Indonesian literature) — Through versatility and natural eloquence, Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s, The Girl From The Coast (1987), took a seemingly simple story based on the author’s grandmother’s life into a complex metaphor that simultaneously represents female oppression and the exploitative dynamics between the ruling class…

Full Article

SINGAPORE: CALIBRATING A ROLE BETWEEN CHINA AND THE U.S.

TOM PLATE WRITES – Ever since my initial meeting with Lee Kuan Yew a quarter century ago, Singapore remained in my mind as special. By the time of the brilliant founding prime minister’s passing at 91 in 2015, that assessment was not so novel and was going global; even in…

Full Article

UKRAINE CONTROVERSY: MAKING THE CASE FOR ICC PROSECUTION OF PUTIN

KIANA KARIMI AND LIAM ROGERS WRITE — What a scene: White, Blue, and Red stripes encapsulate a Moscow stadium with a crowd roaring in cheers and clad in Z’s giving a grand welcome to a celebration of “unity” while awaiting the illustrious dictator himself, President Vladimir Putin. The Russian government…

Full Article

CAN NEW YORK CITY’S NEW MAYOR CURB ASIAN HATE CRIMES?

ETHAN PATRICK WRITES – Can recently elected Mayor Eric Adams stop hate crimes against Asian American New Yorkers? Such crimes have spiked since the pandemic began, causing Assembly member Ron Kim to call on the governor to declare a state of emergency: “The community feels a lot of anger, as…

Full Article

BOOK REVIEW: THE COLOR OF THE SKY IS THE SHAPE OF THE HEART (2022) BY CHESIL – A BEAUTIFUL AND HEARTBREAKING COMING-OF-AGE STORY

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – “The sky is about to fall. Where do you go?” To be a child is to imagine a world made of glass. All your romanticized beliefs about your country and its people are contained within one fragile crystal sphere that can fracture at…

Full Article

MEDIA BEAM THE MESSAGE: MURAKAMI’S MOONS FOR THE MISINFORMED

GUEST ANALYST LYRIC HUGHES HALE WRITES — Most Russian experts and military strategists I follow doubted Putin would invade Ukraine. I agreed with their rational arguments, but here we are. I’m reminded of the Haruki Murakami novel 1Q84. The heroine alights from her taxi and gradually discovers that she is…

Full Article

BOOK REVIEW: FLOWING WITH THE PEARL RIVER, MEMOIR OF A RED CHINA GIRL (2022) – WHAT HISTORY LOOKS LIKE FOR THOSE WHO LIVED IT.

ALEC FARMER WRITES – The Cultural Revolution was a notorious period of China’s history that has been analyzed time and time again worldwide. The strict policies of Mao Zedong shattered the livelihoods of China’s citizens. Few people remain who can tell their stories of that dark and turbulent period. In the eyes of Chinese…

Full Article

INDONESIA: A HUNGER FOR THE TASTE OF HOME

KEZIA LAKSMONO WRITES – I never thought that leaving my home country would make me more aware of food’s importance in my life story or identity. I see now, though, that the food which brings us back to our childhood represents more than just a taste. It is an extension…

Full Article

RESTAURANT REVIEW: SUSHI OTA IN SAN DIEGO

GENEVIEVE KAMINSKI WRITES – Recently I took a birthday trip to San Diego. I tried new coffee shops, went to Balboa Park, and visited the zoo. I have never been a fan of San Diego due to the lack of entertainment and excessive quiet for this city kid. For my…

Full Article

BOOK REVIEW: SERGIUS SEEKS BACCHUS BY NORMAN ERIKSON PASARIBU (2019) – THE POWERFUL POEMS OF A QUEER INDONESIAN

GABY RUSLI WRITES (in a series of reviews on Indonesian classics) — Is it not ironic to witness a person of faith advocating for love and understanding yet punishing a man for loving another man? For Indonesian author Norman Erikson Pasaribu, growing up as a gay man of Batak descent (an ethnic group…

Full Article

IRAN: LET FEMALE SOCCER FANS HAVE FUN

ARYANA KHALILZADEH WRITES – The major headline out of Iran the past week was not about the ongoing nuclear talks, but the continued struggle of Iranian women fighting for gender equality. The final match of the World Cup qualification between Iran and Lebanon was held in the holy city of…

Full Article

THE YEAR OF THE TIGER: ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ROAR BACK AT GUCCI FOR ITS NEWEST AD CAMPAIGN

SERENA GONZALEZ WRITES – To celebrate the Year of the Tiger, Italian high-end luxury brand and fashion powerhouse Gucci has come under fire for using live tigers in its latest advertising campaign – a move that has shocked animal welfare organizations, conservationists, and consumers alike. The campaign, branded #GucciTiger, portrays…

Full Article

US-CHINA RELATIONS: NEED ‘PLANETARY REALISM’ TO AVOID GEOPOLITICAL AND ECOLOGICAL APOCALYPSE

CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – I submit for your consideration an American political figure named Jerry Brown. He turns 84 this week but is somehow still flamboyant and relevant, if sometimes slightly annoying. I have not only grown to admire him but come to feel this lifelong politician is…

Full Article

IN MEMORIAM: THE GEORGIA SPA SHOOTINGS, ONE YEAR AGO

CIERRA BYRD WRITES— Many Asian Americans gathered on March 15th to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the lives lost in the Georgia spa shootings, in which eight people were killed, six of them Asian women. The family of the victims spoke at the March 15th protest alongside many other people,…

Full Article

BOOK REVIEW: WOMAN RUNNING IN THE MOUNTAINS (2022) BY YŪKO TSUSHIMA – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A SINGLE PARENT?

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Society’s rejection of Takiko is not solely because of her sudden pregnancy at the tender age of twenty-one. It is Takiko’s unfettered commitment to herself and her happiness that causes her family and Japanese society to ostracize and condemn her. Takiko’s self-conviction is…

Full Article

BHUTAN: NOTHING LIKE THAT ALL ‘ROUND HAPPINESS FEELIN’!

RACHEL KAUFMAN WRITES – The end of March brought the 94th annual Academy Awards and with it came more historic nominations, wins, and…happenings, one being the small country of Bhutan’s first Oscar nomination in the category of Best International Feature Film, titled Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, which was…

Full Article