Stories from Quick Reads and Vietnam
Mapping Vietnam's Socio-Economic Indicators
The World Bank has launched mapVIETNAM, an interactive map that shows various socio-economic indicators in Vietnam such as poverty rates, employment, and electricity connectivity. The photo above shows the number of households living on $2 dollars a day. Using the map, we can see that poverty rates are high in...
Open Letter Asks UN Human Rights Council to Probe Abuses in Vietnam
An open letter signed by 27 groups and 163 individuals is asking the United Nations Human Rights Council to probe the human rights abuses committed by the Vietnamese government. The signatories are also demanding the removal of Vietnam's membership in the UN human rights body. We urge member states to...
Video Animation Explains How Principle of “Free Prior and Informed Consent” Can Empower Indigenous Peoples
The Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact has uploaded a video animation explaining the principle of “Free prior and informed consent” or how communities should have the right to decide for the development of their lands.
Experience the “Hanoi Soundwalk” Interactive Audio Tour
The Soundwalk is an “interactive, geo-locative audio tour” where a user with a headphone and smartphone app equipped with GPS can hear sounds as he or she walks around the city. …when you move around the sounds will appear to be coming from a particular location, and you can discover...
Vietnam Says China Oil Rig in Disputed Waters Violated International Laws
Nguyen Thi Lan Anh of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam explains why China made an error in moving an oil rig in the contested waters between China and Vietnam. China’s act of locating its oil rig in contested waters in the Paracels is more than a dispute over sovereignty. It...
Sexual Abuse of Children in Tourism in Southeast Asia
The Project Childhood Prevention Pillar, an initiative of the Australian government, has released a study about the prevalence of sexual abuse of children in the Southeast Asian region. It cited social factors such as “poverty and marginalisation, as well as lack of family support, education, opportunity, and protective factors” for...
Ending Illegal Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia
Daniel Besant of Southeast Asia Globe has interviewed photojournalist and activist Karl Ammann about the efforts to end the illegal wildlife trading in Southeast Asia: At the moment, I’m convinced that 90% of what’s being done in Southeast Asia is window dressing and lip service. Making pronouncements, signing MOUs [Memoranda...
‘Worsening’ Human Rights Situation in Vietnam
The Vietnam Human Rights Network released its 2013 report about the ‘worsening’ human rights situation in Vietnam: …the human rights situation in Vietnam took a turn for the worse in 2013. The number of people detained for political views contrary to those of the ruling party increased, unabated police violence...
Vietnam: Aerial Footage of Saigon
The beauty of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam was captured by a drone camera. Below is the video uploaded on YouTube:
State of Political Blogging in Vietnam
Doan Trang observed that a growing number of Vietnamese bloggers have been tackling human rights and other political issues by writing commentaries and analyses, even finding supplementary facts. Despite the emotional style which may sometimes reveal their non-professionalism, they filled the vacuum left by the mainstream media which in most...
Two Historic Saigon Buildings to be Demolished in Vietnam
Tim Doling, writing for the Saigoneer, gives a brief history of the Ho Chí Minh City People’s Committee building and an art deco office block which are both scheduled for demolition in Vietnam. A Date with the Wrecking Ball: 2 Historic Saigon Buildings Slated for Demolition http://t.co/M6e9ACY5DB #Vietnam pic.twitter.com/PPjEBJzl7e —...
PHOTOS: Saigon in the Past 50 Years
The Saigoneer features several photos published by the French Consulate in Saigon, Vietnam that highlight the changes that took place in the city between 1955 and 2005. Slideshow: How Saigon, #Vietnam Changed from 1955 – 2005 http://t.co/mdfjPyQGgz pic.twitter.com/Z6teefeXLo — Saigoneer (@Saigoneer) February 12, 2014
Why Vietnam-made Game Flappy Bird is Popular
Vietnam-made game Flappy Bird is today's number one app in the iOS App Store in over 100 countries. It already has more than 50 million downloads and it even beat Facebook's Paper app. Anh-Minh Do of Tech in Asia explains the popularity of the game: It’s so hard that it’s...
French Influence on Vietnamese Cooking
Writing for The Culture Trip, Melissa Pearce reviews the French impact on Vietnamese cooking: The French brought many ingredients and flavours to Vietnam, most popular and noticeable upon entering the country is probably the baguette, which the Vietnamese adapted and today create their own style of baguette using rice flour.
Teaching Art During Vietnam War
The British Library blog features several art works made during the Vietnam War era. It also quotes Nguyễn Toan Thi, a guerilla artist during the war: Art classes were held outside in the forest until our schools were bombed: classes were then held underground. Art teachers and students shared the...
How the Vietnamese are Using Facebook Pages
Despite being regularly blocked by the government, Facebook continues to grow in terms of users in Vietnam. Patrick Sharbaugh of Vietmeme explains how Vietnamese are maximizing Facebook pages: …they don’t use it only for posting personal information, but often for creating temporary civil society communities and advocating for pet causes....
Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia
The Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development has published a policy briefer that tackled the extent of human trafficking in Southeast Asia. Many Southeast Asian countries are at the bottom of a lot of the world's supply chains, including for food, garments, and technology. Yet few countries in...
Beer Looting Ignited Internet Meme in Vietnam
The public looting of an overturned beer truck in Vietnam early this month generated an Internet meme. Many criticized the looters for stealing beer instead of helping the truck driver.
Remembering and Reviving Vietnam's Ca Tru Singing
Đoan Trang interviews Pho Kim Duc, a famous ca tru (sung poetry) vocalist in Vietnam in the 1940s. Kim Duc said ca tru is a very noble form of art. “It’s is not just singing but also poetry. Whoever with a taste for poetry will love ca tru to find...
Vietnamese Blogger Speaks Out Against Government Repression
Nguyen Bac Truyen gave a testimony in a human rights event in Geneva about the repression suffered by bloggers and activists in Vietnam: Since Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang came back from a visit to President Obama in the United States at the end of July, government repression has entered...
100 Million Signature Campaign for Resolution of Japan's ‘Sex Slaves’ Issues
The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan has launched a new campaign to gather 100 million signatures. Their online petition, in eight different languages, calls on Japanese government to offer an official apology and legal reparations to the victims and asks the international community to join their cause....