ASIA MEDIA WRITES – The Asia Society held the 2016 Asia Arts Awards in Hong Kong on March 20 to honor three “game changers” in the contemporary Asian art community. As a leading educational organization and important authority in Asia, The Asia Society has been showcasing the Asia Arts Awards for more…
RYAN URBAN WRITES – Asian Americans have made their presence known in the fight against racial injustice. On Saturday, February 21, more than 10,000 protesters rallied in Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn to denounce the conviction of 28-year – old Peter Liang. The New York City police officer was convicted of second degree…
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES- Immune to accusations of bribery, human rights abuses, and having really hot weather, Qatar intends to host the 2022 World Cup as planned, come what may. Such immunity can make anyone cocky, and at a New York Times art conference in Doha, the Emir’s sister Sheikha Al…
AMANDA KRETSCH WRITES – Recent efforts to reactivate the Takahama nuclear power plant have been shaky at best, since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster shutdown. The fourth reactor was reinstated in early February, but radioactive leaks and generator mishaps have been haunting the continuation of this project, making the government…
MIRANDA PAK WRITES – Imagine a Hong Kong taxi driver’s income shrinking significantly because he cannot speak Mandarin. This scenario is one of five short films in the Hong Kong indie movie Ten Years. The local, low budget film visualizes Hong Kong in 2025, “[depicting a radicalized] future in which…
TOM PLATE WRITES – I have been traveling to Asia and writing about it in various newspapers and journals for two decades, and I have visited China enough times to know it closely. My observation about China is substantially different from most of the written accounts I read or video-view…
BRADLEY JAMES CAVANAGH WRITES – As the Chinese Communist Party seeks to keep itself relevant in the 21st century, it has a committed cheerleader in President Xi Jinping. Over the Lunar New Year, Xi made a rare round of appearances on major state-run networks to preach his message of revitalization…
TOM PLATE WRITES – When “Conversations with Mahathir,” the second of four volumes in the Giants of Asia series, was published a few years ago, some of my friends and colleagues were utterly aghast. How could you ― gullible American author ― dignify this vulgar man with such semi-reverential treatment?…
KELCEY LORENZO WRITES – They say that diamonds are forever, but in K-Pop fandom, nothing lasts longer than a good, ol’ (often blown ridiculously out of proportion) dating scandal. From a Western perspective, celebrities dating isn’t a big deal; in fact, it is often expected, even celebrated. But when news…
TOM PLATE WRITES — You don’t have to be a saint to be a great and effective leader, but you do have to be audacious. So when an audacious leader comes along that a good many admirers suspect to be a saint, you probably have got something special in front…
ASIA MEDIA WRITES – Stanford University has just invited Loyola Marymount University’s Director of Asian and Pacific Studies, Dr. Robin Wang, to a fellowship with Stanford’s Center for Behavioral Studies. Professor Wang has been selected among many candidates, and the fellowship recognizes her significant contributions to the disciplines of Philosophy…
JAMES ROYCE WRITES — A bad day of surfing might be better than a good day of working, but Australian surf wear brand Rip Curl is experiencing neither of these pleasures after admitting to using factories in North Korea, where work conditions are reminiscent of slave labor, to create the…
KATIE TRINH WRITES – As said best by Gretchen Weiners from the iconic movie, “Mean Girls”– China, “you can’t sit with us.” Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States met for the first time in Southern California February 15-16. Vietnam and other countries affected…
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES- A corruption scandal is still brewing in international soccer, but it’s business as usual for Qatar, and the country’s top priority is making sure their chance to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup goes off without a hitch. Even if it means bumping into a few hitches…
ERISA TAKEDA WRITES – Despite claims from the Right that the film lacked credibility, would hurt U.S.-Japanese relations, and put the country in a bad light, Angelina Jolie’s biopic “Unbroken” opened in Japan without incident February 6. Released under the title “A Man of Fortitude” — a direct translation of…
RYAN URBAN WRITES – Singapore has gained a great deal of success in the last 50 years as the world’s only fully functioning city-state. The only worry now is Lee Kuan Yew’s People’s Action Party has been a little too successful and is being damaged by its own success. Writers…
