TOM PLATE WRITES IN HIS INTERNATIONALLY SYNDICATED COLUMN: – A country of beauty is in danger of turning into a beast. The Kingdom of Thailand, the land of the smiling people, the gorgeous countryside and a storied history as the once-upon-a-time Siam, now has a severe case of the political…
Category: Tom Plate
CHINA: Why Beijing Needs to Take It Slowly
A BOOK EXCERPT. Adapted from “In the Middle of The Future: Tom Plate on Asia,” to be published here in the U.S. next month by Marshall Cavendish International. TOM PLATE WRITES: Asia did not achieve its current status on the world stage as an overnight success. Hardly. But despite millennia…
SOUTH AFRICA: The Death of a Great Man
TOM PLATE WRITES – Moral stature is obviously a rare quality. So when it is very apparent and right in front of you, hitting you between the eyes without any ambiguity, it is unforgettable even as a transitory presence, and especially unforgettable due to its almost invariable absence. On two occasions…
LOS ANGELES: Second Anniversary Celebration of LMU’s New ‘Asia Media’ – With A Special Guest Star
There is nothing like a good party to take note of a good beginning. And so it was Friday night 22 November that the staff and friends of The New Asia Media at Loyola Marymount University gathered in high spirits for the 2nd anniversary celebration of the launch of the…
THE TERRIBLE TYPHOON: The U.S. Steps into a Storm
Hong Kong – I happened to be in this glorious international city (special administrative region of China) when the terrible typhoon hit the Philippines right in the gut. It was then that one appreciates how the reports of the eclipse of the U.S. role in Asia have been greatly exaggerated.…
LOS ANGELES: Seen From Here, the Aussie PM Seems Clueless
The following PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES column was recently syndicated to newspaper editors in the U.S. and Asia. By Tom Plate – A spat between Indonesia and Australia is not receiving proper attention in our media. This is predictable given American parochialism but, even so, it is causing serious heartburn in some…
JAPAN: THE CAREERING OF A GREAT ARTIST
Japan continues to dazzle on the international art scene. The latest splash of intelligent innovation arrives courtesy of a stunning, splashy exhibition at the Japan Society on east 47th in Manhattan (japansociety.org). The Japanese star this time is Mariko Mori, who a decade ago was showcasing (almost Asian Warhol-like) the…
BEIJING: Daily Agrees — More Cautious Than Bold
CHINA DAILY, the official English language daily newspaper of the world’s most populated country, is careful about what is published, whether in the actual newspaper or online as the official e-paper. So it is probably significant that it recently ran an op-ed with the headline: “It Pays to Be Caution…
SINGAPORE: New Book on Asia and America
Well-known Asia books publisher Marshall Cavendish International Asia announces the official issue, effective November 3, of a new book by American journalist, columnist and LMU professor Tom Plate, The title is “In the Middle of the Future – Tom Plate on Asia,” and the 400-plus-page volume is soon to be…
SINGAPORE: Thoughts about Lee Kuan Yew at 90
TOM PLATE WRITES – Lee Kuan Yew, whom I first interviewed in 1996, was always a terrific interview and if you ask Western journalists how many public figures they can say this of, you may be surprised at how few they name. But I cannot think of one journalist who…
THAILAND: Two More Important Books Derailed by Unofficial but Vicious Censorship
They’re at it again in Bangkok, reports the highly respected political website PRACHATAI. As its journalist Suluck Lamubol, writing for the site, tells us: “Asia Books, Thailand’s largest English language bookstore, on Thursday withdrew from their bookshelves two academic titles on Thai history, citing “political sensitivity.” The books concern the…
CHINA: Tea, Biscuits, Perry Mason and Journalism
Can China and the U.S. ever get along? That was the obvious subtext of an informal discussion recently between key members of a visiting group of senion journalists from Mainland China and staffers from The New ASIA MEDIA, the popular online magazine at LMU. […]
SINGAPORE: ‘Tom Plate on Asia’
Marshall Cavendish, one of Asia’s preeminent English-language book publishers, has announced contract agreement to bring out a major new nonfiction book by American journalist Tom Plate this Fall. The book – which is tentatively titled TOM PLATE ON ASIA: Tracing Asia’s Phenomenal Rise Through an American Journalist’s Eyes – will…
U.S.: On This Issue, Even China Does It Better
It would not be hard to convince many us who live in the West Coast of the painfully obvious need for severe gun-restrictions laws and attendant gun-control law-enforcement. We’re easy. California is just that way. Why recently, we actually voted to increase our taxes to support our schools! Imagine. Call…
SINGAPORE: Book on UN Secretary General Reviewed
On 5 January The Straits Times of Singapore published as its lead opinion essay a review of ‘Conversations with Ban Ki-moon,” the new book on the United Nations Secretary General that is featured as part of the ‘Giants of Asia’ series. The reviewer Asas Latif, a visiting research fellow at…
SINGAPORE: A Third Way for Media-Govt. Relations?
The following op-ed column was first published in The Straits Times of Singapore. BY TOM PLATE — Is there more than one rational and reasonable way to construct a news-media system that maximises overall benefit for citizens (if not just for the journalists)? One provocative answer – courtesy of we-do-it-our-way…