BANGLADESH: All Wild and Wireless from Dhaka
On Sunday, February 19th, the UNB Connect, the first fully computerized wire-service news source for Bangladesh, reported that third generation (3G) compatible mobile phones will be initially introduced in Bangladesh in April. The post and telecommunications minister, Razjuddin Ahmed Raju, told reporters that subscribers of Teletalk will be the first…
Full Article BANGLADESH: All Wild and Wireless from DhakaJAPAN: Facebook Comment Sparks Controversy
Controversy over a proposed high-speed railway, known as the Linear Chuo Shikansen, has erupted after the head of Nara prefecture’s general affairs department posted a scandalous comment on Facebook earlier this month. According to the Mainichi Daily News, Japan’s highly-respected second leading daily, the official, whose identity hasn’t been disclosed,…
Full Article JAPAN: Facebook Comment Sparks ControversyMALAYSIA: Journalists Accused of Prostitution… Or is it “Compensated Dating?”
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) of Malaysia’s national election publicity bureau chief Hew Kuan Yau apologized this week for posting remarks on Facebook in which he likened journalists to prostitutes. Hew allegedly claimed that his post, which was originally in Mandarin, never compared journalists to “prostitutes” but instead used the…
Full Article MALAYSIA: Journalists Accused of Prostitution… Or is it “Compensated Dating?”HONG KONG: Mainland Professor Says Hong Kongers Have Gone to the Dogs
Public Radio International’s The World reported on February 21st, that two viral videos depicting a verbal altercation between a Hong Kong native and a mother from Mainland China have fueled further animosity between the island and the Mainland. The controversy began on a subway train when a Hong Kong man…
Full Article HONG KONG: Mainland Professor Says Hong Kongers Have Gone to the DogsBOOK REVIEW: TOO KIND … BY FAR!
This review of ‘Conversations with Thaksin’, in the Giants of Asia book series by Tom Plate, the founder of ASIA MEDIA, appeared in The National, a newspaper of the Gulf States based in Abu Dhabi. The reviewer is New Statesman writer Sholto Byrnes. The review ran as follows: Conversations with…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: TOO KIND … BY FAR!SINGAPORE: Citizen Journalists Get Their Facts Right
Thanks to the advent of social media sites, so-called “citizen journalism” is on the rise. Myra Martin of The Straits Times, Singapore’s largest and most influential daily, reports that a recent survey found a majority of these casual writers are between the ages of 15 to 24. Conducted by students…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Citizen Journalists Get Their Facts RightNORTH KOREA: A Happier ‘Pen’ for Defected North Korean Writers
Twenty writers claim they are ready to use their “pens, which are mightier than swords, to lead the spread of democracy in North Korea,” reports the Chosun Ilbo, a widely circulated South Korean daily newspaper. These writers, once considered among the elite in North Korea before they defected and continued…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: A Happier ‘Pen’ for Defected North Korean WritersPACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Keep the Bickering in Private When Nurturing a Serious Relationship
Don’t get me wrong. Abject kowtowing is no way to forge an honest and productive relationship with anyone, including the People’s Republic of China. We have differences with Beijing ― and Beijing with us. Covering them up or ignoring them will allow them to fester. Relatively minor issues can become…
Full Article PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Keep the Bickering in Private When Nurturing a Serious RelationshipCHINA BLOG BLOTTER: Beijing Puts On A Serious Face Against Foreign TV Series
On February 13, 2012, Mainland China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) announced an official restriction on imported TV series. So exactly how is this partial-ban going to work? Pretty exactly, it would seem! The SARFT have issued no less than seven detailed ordinances for television broadcasters. One,…
Full Article CHINA BLOG BLOTTER: Beijing Puts On A Serious Face Against Foreign TV Series
UNDERGROUND CHINESE ART
UNDERGROUND CHINESE ART
UNDERGROUND CHINESE ART
SOUTH KOREA: Jiha Moon’s “Springfield”
THE DEATH OF A GREAT JOURNALIST
Anthony Shadid, plagued much of his life by asthma, fell to a fatal asthma attack Feb 16 while on dangerous assignment in Syria. This acclaimed New York Times correspondent, who had previously worked at The Associated Press and The Boston Globe, had garnered many journalistic awards, including a Pulitzer Prize…
Full Article THE DEATH OF A GREAT JOURNALISTINDIA: Ministers Involved in Porn Scandal to Resign
Three ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are being forced to resign by BJP president Nitin Gadkari due to the recent porn scandal that blew up in the Indian media on February 7th.
Full Article INDIA: Ministers Involved in Porn Scandal to ResignBANGLADESH: Frightened Journalists Threaten Retaliation
On Sunday, February 12th, the Daily Star, which is the first Bangladeshi Internet daily, reported that a journalist couple was murdered in their residency building in Dhaka. The couple’s five year old son found Sagar Sarowar and his wife, Meherun Runi, stabbed to death in their bedroom early Saturday morning.
Full Article BANGLADESH: Frightened Journalists Threaten Retaliation