Imagine a steady stream of immigrants, traveling across a vast ocean to a foreign country, searching for new jobs and better lives. But the immigrants are Americans, and the country they are moving to… is China! SHANGHAI CALLING is a romantic comedy about modern-day American immigrants in an unfamiliar land.…
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KUWAIT: Imprisoned for Tweeting
Freedom of speech continues to be challenged in the Middle East, as two Kuwaiti males, Ayyad al-Harbi and Rashed al-Enezi, were recently arrested for insulting the Amir of the country, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, on Twitter. Harbi, who has created a name for himself in Kuwait, was given his sentence…
BANGLADESH: Death Penalty Kills a Deal
A new proposal from Bangladesh to make counterfeiting money punishable by the death penalty has alarmed the German Bundensbank (German Central Bank) who originally offered to assist Bangladesh in detecting counterfeit money. The Economist reports that Bangladesh, plagued with more than 5,000 pending cases regarding currency counterfeiting, is scheduled to…
HONG KONG: Inbound Troubles Asking For Trouble?
Despite the growing amount of disputes between Hong Kong locals and Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong’s television channel TVB Jade recently aired its first episode of Inbound Troubles, which sparked an array of complaints claiming the show is deepening already severe cultural conflicts. January 14th marks the show’s first episode, presenting…
MALAYSIA: Building a Bridge Between Christianity and Islam
A bridge is being built between the Christian and Islamic worlds to bring more unity between the two. And what better place to start this process than Malaysia, one of the most Islamic, and also peaceful, nations in the world? Pope Benedict XVI has recently appointed American Archbishop Joseph Marino,…
SINGAPORE: Ten Simple Rules for Being a Happy Person — Courtesy of Tommy Koh in The Straits Times
Foremer UN Ambassador Koh is ambassador at large in the Ministry of Forign Affairs in Singapore and a widely admired savant about life. He writes in the Straits Times, the leading newspaper of that country: “The results of the recent Gallup poll, as well as other surveys, seem to indicate…
LOS ANGELES: Ambitious New Vision for How We Should Be Governed In This Age of Dysfunctional Government
The following column recently appeared in The Khaleej Times, a leading Gulf States newspaper with its central office in Dubai — By Tom Plate: “Crusty but brilliant Lee Kuan Yew, for decades modern Singapore’s founding leader Singapore, is on record as admitting he is anything but a religious believer in…
SINGAPORE: Why Was the Rape Victim Moved from India?
The mystery deepens as media speculation won’t go away. On Saturday, December 29, chief executive Dr. Kevin Loh of Singapore’s Mt. Elizabeth Hospital stated that the hospital and team of eight specialists mourned the loss of the 23 year old New Dehli gang rape vicim and was honored to have…
GUNS: ONE VIEW FROM CHINA
JAPAN: Issues the Big Election Never Really Discussed
The monumental election in Japan’s House of Representatives is quickly approaching, bringing with it a slew of reports and articles on everything Japanese – from policy to political strategy. Set for December 16th, the election has the potential to change the political landscape of the nation. With issues such as…
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…
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…
BOOK REVIEW: Globalization Expert Gardels on Vital Contribution of UNSG Ban Ki-Moon
This review of ‘CONVERSATIONS WITH BAN KI-MOON by Tom Plate has just been published in The Huffington Post — Tom Plate stands out among Western journalists. Not only has this former editorial director of the Los Angeles Times, syndicated columnist and Loyola Marymount University professor relentlessly chronicled the most important…
BANGLADESH: Television Program Uses Foreign Aid Money
Bangladesh is in hot water once again. But perhaps it shouldn’t be. You try to decide! The issue this time it the alleged misuse of millions of British pounds (1 pound = 1.5904 U.S. dollars) that Bangladesh received for financial aid. The Telegraph, a prestigious newspaper based in the United…
BANGLADESH: Fire Sparks Questions About Safety in Bangladesh
Breaking news of a garment factory fire that broke out on November 24 in Bangladesh has rightly dominated the Bangladeshi media. The next day, the Daily Star assessed the death toll at 109 people. The fire started on Saturday night in an eight-story garment factory located in Ashulia, an industrial…