Stories about East Asia from November, 2005
Malaysia: “Squatgate” Reporting
Says Project Petaling Street Blog, in the Malaysian police-political scandal rapidly coming to be known as “squatgate,” opposition politicians’ blogs have been much more adept at using the Internet to get out their message about local officers forcing Chinese illegal immigrant women to do squats in the nude.
Philippines: Are You Lonesome Tonight?
“The Philippines is one of the world's major exporters of Elvis impersonators,” claims Jessica Zafra. Read about it here.
Singapore: History Lesson
The Higher Criticism reviews the history of pre-colonial Singapore, which is often believed to have been an insignificant nullity.
Singapore: Un-Confucian Government
The Useless Tree debunks the Singapore political elite's self-image as “Confucian gentlemen.”
Taiwan: Poor Report Card
the leaky pen answers the question: “Why is Taiwanese higher education so bad?“
China: Damage Control
Imagethief, a blog written by a China-based public relations professional, discusses how the government could have better managed the aftermath of the Harbin benzene spill.
China: Nude Chat
EastSouthWestNorth translates an interesting article on the legality of “nude chat” in China.
China: Podcasting Explosion
Fons Tuinstra describes the astonishing explosion of podcasting in China.
Indonesia: The Value of Education
Jakartass takes issue with Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla's defensive reaction to a poem read at a teacher's celebration bemoaning the low status of teachers. “I know your salary is low, but it will not run out in just a day,” Kalla had retorted. Advises Jakartass: Start implementing the constitutionally obligated...
Malaysia: Best Bumiputra CEO
Peter at Competitive Malaysia comes up with his own list of best “bumiputra” (Malaysians of Malay descent) CEOs, based on their companies’ increase in profits. One commenter wonders why he didn't use increase in shareholder value as the standard; while another asks: why only bumiputra?
Thailand: Left-Handed
Oakmonster at Thai-blogs.com discusses growing up left-handed in a right-handed society like Thailand.
China, Taiwan: China's Future
Madman of Chu muses on the future of China, from what he believes to be Taiwan's perspective.
Malaysia: A Life, Blogged
Malaysia's Kenny Sia turns 23, and chronicles, by linking to his past blog posts, what happened in the past year, including a relocation from Australia back home to Malaysia and the loss of his father to cancer.
Singapore: Blogger Sentence
Singapore bloggers comment on the probation sentence received by the third blogger prosecuted for sedition. The blogger had made racist comments online and his sentence apparently includes immersion in the local Malay community.
Singapore: Value of Citizenship
The amount of the fine levied on a Singapore pianist to avoid liability for defaulting on his national service obligations leads Singapore Alternatives to think about the “value of citizenship.”
China: Water Crisis in Harbin
Harbin, a city in northeast China, has been suspended from water supply for four days due to contamination over its water by spill from a local chemical factory after an explosion. During the period of shortage, which started from Nov 23 and ended yesterday, the water for both livelihood and...
From Indonesian Blogsphere
A Fatih Syuhud blogging from India, has a series commentary posts about Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Republic of Indonesia visit to India.
China: Censorship Interviews
EastSouthWestNorth describes and analyzes the experience of being interviewed by the Western media about censorship in China.
Hong Kong: Tycoon's Call
T-salon translates an op-ed written by Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai urging people to support universal suffrage in the Special Administrative Region.
Indonesia: Dress for Success
Indonesia Anonymus runs an experiment involving the security guards along Jalan Sudirman, the main street of Jakarta's business district. They send the same man to see whether he is treated differently when he wears a suit and carries a cellphone from when he wears a T-shirt and jeans. The results...
Malaysia: Police Scandal
Jeff Ooi at Screenshots has the latest on the scandal roiling the Malaysian police: the videotaping of a naked woman, a Chinese national, forced to do “ear squats.”
About our East Asia coverage
Oiwan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
Nevin Thompson is the Japan editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
