· March, 2006

Stories about Ideas from March, 2006

Japan: Kawaii culture

  31 March 2006

The Japundit takes us into a discussion on the aesthetic sensibility of kawaii. (Kawaii translates approximately as “cute“.)

China: Essential blogs

  30 March 2006

Danwei‘s Jeremy and Joel list not necessarily the best Chinese blogs and BBS’, but the ones they feel offer the best insight for those who read Chinese. On top is MindMeters Blog: “This collaborative blog, connected to editors and writers from The Economic Observer newspaper (who now make up a...

China: Farmers need to consume

  29 March 2006

Marty over at The Big Yuan offers his interpretation of Morgan Stanley's just-released analysis of China's eleventh five year plan and its global implications: “The only realistic way to ease the trade balance is to increase the flow of exports into the burgeoning Chinese consumer market. Both Dell and Wal-mart...

China: Revolutionary irony

  29 March 2006

In “So-called…,” Massage Milk blogger Wang Xiaofeng assigns labels with a contemporary context and a heavy dose of irony to Cultural Revolution-era propaganda posters. [ZH]

DRC: A Chat with Blogger Tony Katombe

  29 March 2006

Anthony Mica Katombe (Tony for short) is a blogger from the DRC who’ll “turn 39 April 13”. He has a degree in English and African Cultural Studies Education from a Congolese University. He owns Le Blog du Congolais and co-edits Le Prince du Fleuve Congo, a group blog. On the...

North Korea: Prison-camp musical

  28 March 2006

The Marmot Hole‘s Robert Koehler fingers North Korean apologists in the South Korean government with a look at the smash new musical Yodok Story, which portray's life in North Korea's Yodok camp for political prisoners.

China: Checking communist vernacular

  28 March 2006

China Confidential‘s Confidential Reporter notices an increasing intolerance of left-wing language on the internet in China. “From Marx to Mao, communist keywords constitute potential red flags in the eyes of the hyper-sensitive e-police—thousands of trained analysts armed with the latest (American made) censor- and spy-ware,” the post says.

Singapore: Staying Skeptical of Scripture

  27 March 2006

Singapore's Salt * Wet * Fish reposts a 2004 entry from his old LiveJournal that continues to have resonance: a reflection on a passage by Buddhist nun Thich Nhat Hanh on remembering that spiritual texts are meant to provoke insight, and should not always be taken on face value.

Africa: We Can't Blame Everything on the West

  26 March 2006

Le Pangolin writes (FR): “So long as we fail to entertain critiques of our destructive ways, we will always be dominated by the West. Imagine for a moment all Africans living in Europe creating investment funds; they could then purchase on [various] stock markets the very companies that determine the...

Philippines: Linguistic Divide

  22 March 2006

Howie Severino talks about the linguistic divide in the Philippines between Tagalog a.k.a. Filipino (the language spoken in and around the capital Manila) and English (the widely-used colonial lingua franca). “…a foreign correspondent once noted that our presidents use Filipino only when they want to tell jokes or be folksy....

China: Illogical, comrade

  22 March 2006

Bingfeng Teahouse is surprised at the profusion of beliefs and practices–including feng shui–found among the well-heeled professional folk of Shanghai, which do not fit in with a rationalist world view.

Thailand: Rural-Urban Divide

  21 March 2006

Maytel 2020 describes the rural-urban divide in Thailand that characterizes Southeast Asian politics as a whole. “Southeast Asia has long been noted for its ‘patron-client’ political structures which many theorists believe stem from the primarily agrarian nature of most of the region. Farming rice is a precarious livelihood strategy and...

This week on the Lebanese Blogosphere: Mom, Dad and God.

While the squabbling in the National Dialogue continues, the English side of the Lebanese Blogosphere went on about the various intricacies involved. Ur Shalim observed the similarity between the Lebanese Civil war and the nascent Iraqi one, while Across The Bay and Beirut To the Beltway delved into the various...

Philippines: Red Spectre

  17 March 2006

caffeine sparks criticizes the Philippine government's “resurrection” of Communism as a threat to national stability. She recounts meeting a real Communist and not being very scared or impressed. “I don’t remember the details of what he said, but I remember thinking he didn’t say anything I didn’t already know and...

Singapore: Meritocracy

  16 March 2006

Singapore Entrepreneurs has some thoughts about meritocracy and entrepreneurship, and how many Singaporeans have traded their passions and risk-taking in exchange for social stability.