JAPAN: IS THE COMPANY ‘FAST RETAILING’ SELLING OUT ON HUMAN RIGHTS?
MARISA TORRE WRITES – Despite the flurry of major retailers halting business in Russia, the major Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, with its 49 stores in Russia, has no plans to follow the trend. Tadashi Yanai, the CEO of Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing, maintains an anti-war stance but described clothing…
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BOOK REVIEW: MY ANNIHILATION (2022) BY FUMINORI NAKAMURA – A SADISTIC NEW THRILLER THAT QUESTIONS YOUR REALITY
BOOK REVIEW EDITOR ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – What exactly is the ‘self,’ and how can it be defined? From modern psychology, we know that human minds can be usurped through drastic techniques such as brainwashing, manipulation, and even hypnosis. Elusive and slippery in nature, the malleable ‘self’ forms and reforms…
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ENDING THE WAR: BUT IS BEIJING UP TO THE HISTORIC CHALLENGE?
ASIA MEDIA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDER TOM PLATE WRITES — In global diplomatic circles, what is not uttered publicly can reveal more than that which is out in the open. Perhaps no one captured this with more spice and sauce than Charles Maurice De Talleyrand-Périgord, the acknowledged French maestro of European diplomacy…
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UKRAINE/RUSSIA: HEARTBREAKING PICTURES FROM THE ALL-SEEING ‘WARTOK’ CAMERA
A SPECIAL ESSAY BY KIANA KARIMI — “Red sky at night, sailors’ delight./Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.” The ancient rhyme holds as Russian forces signaled their descent with claps of roaring explosions and deadly sparks before first light on Thursday, February 24. Air sirens accompanied with malicious, global…
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BOOK REVIEW: LONGING AND OTHER STORIES (2022) BY JUN’ICHIRŌ TANIZAKI – A CLASH OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS.
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Through a vulnerable child’s eyes, parents represent stability, protection, and even eternity. What happens when eternity grows small and seemingly insignificant? Adolescents, ostensibly indestructible and infinitely hot-headed, get their first taste of personal freedom and start to detach from their nurturers. As one generation grows stronger and…
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INDONESIA: THE ROAD AHEAD LOOKS GOOD FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND CLEAN, GREEN ENERGY
KEZIA LAKSMONO WRITES – Tesla cars roaming the streets are a common sight for the average Angeleno. Public parking lots with charging stations for electric cars are now the norm here. But for a typical Indonesian like me? I am fascinated by this. While renewable energy has become the second-most…
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BOOK REVIEW: TWILIGHT IN DJAKARTA (1963) BY MOCHTAR LUBIS – AN INDONESIAN’S LETTER TO HIS FAILING COUNTRY
GABY RUSLI WRITES (in a series of reviews on Indonesian classics) — Corruption. Collusion. Nepotism. The hypocrisy of the wealthy. All odds are stacked against the poor. These are some of the authentic and intriguing themes in Mochtar Lubis’ third novel, Twilight in Djakarta (1963). Lubis’ story challenges an autocratic leader and…
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CHINA: THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR HEATS UP ON SOCIAL MEDIA
ARYANA KHALILZADEH WRITES-Social media has become a source of information, misinformation, and conspiracy theories on topics such as the pandemic, U.S. elections, and global insurrections. As Russia launched its full-scale military invasion in Ukraine, social media became flooded with various posts in the form of memes, photos, news, and heated…
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LOS ANGELES: LMU RECEIVES MAJOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
CRISTINA PEDLER WRITES – At the annual gala dinner of the Pacific Century Institute (PCI) at the Beverly Hills Hotel, on Thursday night February 24, Loyola Marymount University was honored with PCI’s 2022 Institutional Building Bridges Award. The prestigious honor – previous recipients include the Council on Foreign Relations, the…
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THE PUTIN SHADOW: DARKENING VISIONS OF OPTIMISM
PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES — Suppose I stopped working so hard to stay on the sunny optimistic side of the street but instead defected to the dark side and always anticipating the worst? Consider the figure of Vladimir Putin. Just try to stay optimistic after reading the depressing but richly…
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UKRAINE/RUSSIA: A TIKTOK UNDERSTANDING OF AN INTERNATIONAL CRISIS
KIANA KARIMI WRITES – Picture this: All of a sudden, Britney Spears spins around, dodging Russian bomb after Russian bomb. TikTok, a social media app, has entered your learning process. Videos depicting Ukraine’s state of siege cast an ominous shadow over all involved actors. Portentous cyberpunk music blasts as tanks…
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THAILAND: RECOVERY OF MAYA BAY SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE
SERENA GONZALEZ WRITES – After a 4-year closure to allow its marine ecosystem to replenish itself, Thailand’s Maya Bay, one of the country’s most famous beaches is back, but with some stringent rules in place. Surrounded by towering limestone cliffs on an uninhabited island in Thailand’s Phi Phi archipelago, the…
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MALAYSIA: WILL THE STATE OF SABAH LEAD THE WAY TO SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL?
HALEY BREWER WRITES — With the country of Malaysia having signed the Glasgow Climate Pact in November of 2021, we are reminded of Sabah, a state in Malaysia, which, back in 2015, pledged to produce sustainable palm oil by 2025. While this pledge is a decade-long plan, it is now…
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JAPAN: YET ANOTHER SUPERSTAR PLAYER SCORES BIG FOR HIS COUNTRY
TRISTIN CLINT WRITES – The prowess of Japanese baseball players is recognized internationally, and a couple of talents have personified athletic greatness just this century. Seiya Suzuki could very well join Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani as an unforgettable Japanese ballplayer. Shohei Ohtani famously took over Major League Baseball in…
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BOOK REVIEW: THE RAINBOW TROOPS (2005) BY ANDREA HIRATA — THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN A HOPELESS WORLD
GABY RUSLI WRITES – Nowadays, widespread education is viewed as a method to acquire more wealth rather than a new-age privilege. In Andrea Hirata’s classic work, The Rainbow Troops (2005), he recounts his childhood on the island of Belitung, Indonesia, through the story of ten incredibly unique and eager students whose families depend…
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BOOK REVIEW: LOVE IN THE BIG CITY (2021) BY SANG YOUNG PARK: LOVE AGAINST ALL ODDS
BRIANNA HIRAMI WRITES – Falling in love is already hard enough as it is without the constant fear of being outcasted for who you love. When your and your loved ones’ identity is not socially acceptable in society, it makes the thought of falling in love absolutely terrifying. One becomes incessantly…
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