· August, 2008

Stories about East Asia from August, 2008

Egypt: Respecting Traffic Lights

What does people's attitudes towards crossing the road have to do with where their country stands in the world? Egyptian blogger Egyptian in the USA brings us the answer in this translation from Arabic.

31 August 2008

China: gold medals=a great power in sports?

51 gold medals, a comment of "truly exceptional" from IOC, and spectacular images left to the world, China held a real party of sports in 16-day Olympics. But does this achievement necessarily mean China has been a super power in sports, and even common people could fully enjoy the glory and health brought by sports?

31 August 2008

Thailand: People’s coup or putsch?

Since Tuesday, anti-government protesters have invaded Thailand’s Government House demanding the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The rallyists, estimated to be as low as 3,000 to as high as 25,000, are members of the People's Alliance for Democracy

30 August 2008

Audio slide of Bangkok rallies

Newley Purnell has uploaded an audio slide about huge anti-government rallies in Bangkok. The protesters are demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister.

30 August 2008

South Korea: Old City Hall

Scribblings of the Metropolitician found it hard to believe that the South Korean government could demolish the old city hall building without much public consultation and debate.

29 August 2008

Japan: Paper Art

Ryoko from Pingmag interviews Kanako Yaguchi, who brings the art of classic cutting paper techniques to textile and clothing designs.

29 August 2008

China: Chinese Lies

C. W. Hayford from Chinese History group blog goes into various literature sources for discussing the “Chinese character” in relation to “face” and “lie”. It gives some background about the...

29 August 2008

China: The Cost of a Gold Medal

Zhaomu re-posted a forum article which calculated the cost of a gold medal exemplified by the Olympic shooting team. It is estimated that a gold medal costs between RMB30 –...

29 August 2008

Costa Rica: President Arias Asks Dalai Lama to Postpone Visit

Costa Rican president Oscar Arias asked Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama to postpone a private visit to the country, citing that Arias won't be in the country to receive him. However, many bloggers believe that the request coincided with a planned official visit from Chinese President Hu Jintao.

29 August 2008

Japan: Ministry study on biological roots of withdrawal and rage

Starting next year, a team of researchers recruited by the Japanese Ministry of Education will commit themselves to studying the connection between brain structure and sociability. Their aim will be the analysis of structures of the brain that control mechanisms such as sleep rhythm and stress tolerance, in order to prevent -- and eventually cure -- those disorders which affect social relations.

28 August 2008

South Korea: Sex Offender Bracelet

Korea Beat translated a local news about the implementation of sex offender bracelets policy: beginning on September 1st the bracelets will be able to report the movements of sex offenders...

28 August 2008

Japan: Virtual Temple

Martin J Frid from Kurashi highlight a local news concerning the creation of a virtual temple online.

28 August 2008

About our East Asia coverage

Oiwan Lam
Oiwan Lam is the North East Asia editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.

Mong Palatino
Mong Palatino is the South East Asia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.