Stories about East Asia from December, 2009
Japan: 2009 Tokyo Art Scene
William Andrews at the Tokyo Art Beat blog reviews the Tokyo art scene for the past year: “It was a nervous year, with the world-wide economic crisis always lurking.”
Japan: Things just got worse
“Japanese OO got worse in 2009″. Umeten gives a list [ja] of all the things that got worse in Japan this year, from economy to music magazines to baseball … A link to other blogs or websites for each item.
China: Akmal's death sentence, a resolute No to memory of humiliation?
Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen convicted of smuggling heroine into China, was executed on Tuesday although his families along with the British government had pleaded for reprieve, claiming that he is mentally ill. The supreme court of China however dismissed the request of a mental assessment because the documents provided...
Indonesia: Email mom ‘not guilty’ says the High Court
Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who was charged with defamation by a hospital for an email complaint against a bad health service, was found not guilty by the Indonesian High Court. Bloggers and twitterers are happy with the ruling.
China: Three prominent bloggers GFWed in the same week
Following the blocking of veteran Internet essayist He Caitou's (@hecaitou) two longstanding blogs hecaitou.net and caobian.info on December 25, renowned columnist Lian Yue (@lianyue) had yet another one of his blogs, lianyue.net, blocked on the 29th; late on the evening of December 30, Peking University new media associate professor Hu...
Poland, China: Lack of Response to Akmal Shaikh's Case
Polandian writes about Poland's lack of response to the execution of Akmal Shaikh in China: “[…] Akmal spent quite some time in Poland, was married to a Pole and is survived by two Polish children. The question was therefore raised as to why Poland did not join in the call...
China: Cui Weiping tweets elite views on Liu Xiaobo
Many Chinese public intellectuals take flack for keeping quiet on major social issues. Beijing Film Academy professor Cui Weiping has sought to change that by tweeting her peers' views on the recent sentencing of China's most prominent democrat.
Japan: Spread the message, translate it
A video interview [en] of Kyo Kageura, head of the project Minna no Honyaku (みんなの翻訳, Translation for all) [ja], a new translation platform that helps NGOs and NPOs to spread their messages thanks to volunteer translators. Global Voices Japan asked him about the challenge of Minna no Honyaku [en], the...
Did China wreck the Copenhagen deal?
Uln tried to sort out what had happened in Copenhagen and questioned why the developed countries did not sign among themselves a deal for reducing emission. Inside-Out China translated a local report telling an insider story on Wen Jiabao's schedule in Copenhagen.
Winners of the 2009 Philippines Expats Blog Awards
Meet the winners of the 2009 Philippines Expats Blog Awards
The Top 10 Media Incidents In China During 2009
ESWN translated a Southern Weekend article about the top 10 media events in China during the year 2009.
Philippines: Blogs of Overseas Filipinos
Kablogs is an online portal that aggregates more than 300 blog links of Filipino expats and overseas Filipino workers.
Thailand's English as Second Language industry
A Filipino teacher-blogger in Thailand shares a brief background on the English as Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) industry in the country.
Impressions of Southeast Asian Games in Laos
Cambodia-based blogger Andy Brouwer shares his impressions on the recently concluded Southeast Asian Games held in Laos.
Cambodia: Police begins to fine motorists in the evening
Vutha observes that traffic cops in Cambodia have started to apprehend and fine motorists who violate traffic laws in the evening.
Myanmar bans western instruments in local orchestras
According to The Irrawaddy, Myanmar's Ministry of Culture has ordered the country's traditional orchestras not to use western musical instruments.
Japan: And the kanji of 2009 is …
Blogger fenetre39 comments [ja] on the kanji, or chinese character, chosen by the Kanji Kentei Foundation as representative of 2009. The kanji is 新 (ara or shin), meaning “new”. In the blogger`s opinion, the reason of the choice [ja] is mainly due to the “new” government that took power in August.
Japan: Best & Worst of the Japanese Decade
Some pictures by photographer Manny Santiago collected under the title Best & Worst of the Japanese decade.
China: Tweeting in support of Iran
Twenty-four hours later and #CN4Iran remains in heavy constant use by Chinese Twitter users speaking out in support of protests now underway across Iran. The #CN4Iran hashtag has since been joined by a @CN4Iran Twitter account and a central blog. Related is this post with a similar story from 2007.
China and Iran: #CN4Iran
Yesterday, thousands of Iranians took to the street to protest against dictatorship. The protest reminded Chinese people of the Tiananmen democracy movement back in 1989 and Chinese twitterers are using hashtag #cn4iran to show solidarity with Iranian fellows.
Philippines: A bishop's accomplishment report
A bishop blogger from the Philippines reviews and summarizes the pastoral statements issued by the Philippine Catholic Church in the past three years.
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.
