MICHELLE VARINATA WRITES – Poverty and wealth; primitive and modern; religious and secular. Indonesia is Asia’s most enigmatic (and somewhat bi-polar) nation filled with socio-economic contradictions. Despite the disparity in wealth, the country has one thing that bonds everyone from all walks of life: technology. Recently, Indonesia has built a…
NICK ARMER WRITES – While members of the media and politicians of both Iran and Israel continue to preach suspicion and rivalry between the two nations, their citizens have begun a new conversation online. An unexpected campaign for love and respect between Iranians and Israelis all began with a single…
TRISTAN WILLENBURG WRITES – Beware what you click on Facebook. An Indian is under arrest in Saudi Arabia for what he says was simply taking a look at an image authorities have since deemed blasphemous. The rub: To see the photo, the man says he was tricked into giving it…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES— When the western world first saw the platypus, they were confused, but curious. Now, whenever we encounter strange animals in the media, we have the same reaction – but that curiosity is only satiated when those animals are actually real. A man in the northern province of…
ASIA MEDIA STAFF WRITES –The small island city-state of Singapore celebrates its 50th birthday as a nation this August 9th. As we covered in a previous article, there are many commemorative events being arranged for the momentous occasion. It seems Singaporeans are getting into the celebratory mood in their own…
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES- At a conference in Washington D.C. last week, Australian Attorney General George Brandis announced an $18 million program that will fight pro-terrorist websites by closely observing social media sites that promote terrorist ideals. Following the theme of the summit, “countering violent extremism,” this program, dubbed Combating Terrorist…
ASIA MEDIA STAFF WRITES – A recent survey conducted in Singapore has found that the majority of youths who are active on social media strive to ensure that their online presence portrays them in a good light, but often do not lie about themselves in order to do so. The…
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Most people are lucky enough to enjoy twitter fame while they are still among the living. Unfortunately, recently deceased Japanese journalist Kenji Goto will not have this luxury. A 4-year-old tweet from Sept. 7, 2010 has spread across major social networking sites like wildfire, letting the…
MARY GRACE COSTA WRITES – Filipino citizens turned to social media to voice their frustration with President Benigno Aquino III, who was a no-show at Villamor Airbase when the bodies of fallen members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Special Action Force (SAF) arrived on Thursday, January 29. Aquino…
NICK ARMER WRITES – Though the election of President Hassan Rouhani came with the hope of a more moderate Iranian government, the result has been quite the opposite. The Iranian authorities have brought forth tighter controls on the media and strict punishments for those bold enough to voice controversial beliefs.…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES— Today’s generation would find it hard to imagine life without social media. And at least some people in the government seem to have caught on. According to TuoiTreNews, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated that authorities must provide “official and accurate information in a timely manner on…
ADRIAN NARAYAN WRITES– Leaning towards All India Radio, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stresses to India’s youth on the issue of drug use. PM Modi wants to start a movement that is intended for a #DrugFreeIndia through the means of social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even the…
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — From the moment you open Tumblr, 4chan, or Reddit, you’re laughing up a storm. We’re lucky that this is all in English for the American audience, but Vietnam isn’t far behind with their own growing chuckle site. The popular start-up site HaiVL was allegedly acquired by…
AMBER VERNETTI WRITES- Watch out, boys! Emirati first female pilot, Major Miriam al-Mansouri, led an air raid against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) last week, a slap in the face for jihadists who believe women should be submissive to men. The 35-year-old fighter pilot proved her skills were on…
ASIA MEDIA STAFF WRITES – While Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is still contemplating the decision to join the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the country has ramped up its own online efforts in the fight against religious extremism. Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Teo…
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Japan was shaken on September 27 when Mt. Ontake erupted, resulting in the death of 47 hikers. Located 125 miles west of Tokyo, the ominous volcano’s explosion also injured 70 other hikers who sustained bruises, cuts, and broken bones after being pelted by flying rocks and other debris.…
