Stories about East Asia from December, 2009
Malaysia: Spiritual leader urges colleagues to practice polygamy
Anonymous_X reacts strongly to a news report about the appeal of a Malaysian spiritual leader urging his colleagues to practice polygamy
Vietnam: Training restaurant for street kids
Michael Brosowski blogs about the establishment in Vietnam of a training restaurant for disadvantaged youth managed by Streets International
Is Vietnam blocking Facebook?
Viet Tan publishes an article which provides a background to the problems encountered by Facebook users in Vietnam.
Vietnam: Facebook competitor
YuMe, a Vietnam-based social networking site with more than 2 million members, is Facebook's main competitor in Vietnam.
China and Hong Kong: Bodyguards and Assassins
Bodyguards and Assassins is an action movie released during Christmas in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. As a patriotic film, it was originally set to release in October for celebrating the 60th year anniversary of PRC but deferred until the end of 2009. In contrast with the Founding of a...
China: ‘How did Copenhagen end up our fault?’
Did China do badly at Copenhagen? Writes one Chinese blogger: "I think Chinese officials acted splendidly at the Copenhagen summit; this was the first time for me to see China be bold like Americans in standing up tough for its own interests."
China: Liu Xiaobo sentenced to 11 years
C.A. Yeung pointed out that the harsh sentence of Liu Xiaobo to 11 years on subversion charges implied a open rejection of public demands for democratic reforms by the Chinese Communist Party. The blogger also translated Chinese dissident Wang Dan's brief comment on Liu's sentence.
Malaysia: Press Freedom Advocate Sues Blogger
A veteran journalist-blogger is being sued for libel by a politician who is known for espousing press freedom in Malaysia. Check out the reactions of Malaysian bloggers.
Cambodia: Gay novels on blogs
GK Network Blog shares links of Cambodian blogs which upload gay novels on their blogs
Cambodia: First Gay Blog
GK Network Blog is described as Cambodia's first gay blog. The site aims to raise awareness of straight people about gays and their rights.
Malaysia: Blogopshere Social Responsiblity
The Malaysian blog, Blogopshere Social Responsiblity, publishes stories of people around Malaysia who are in need of financial support. The blog wants to promote “a new culture in the Malaysian blogosphere which centres upon the idea of social responsibility.”
Why China would have never accepted emission control?
Fons Tuinstra from China Herald explains why the Chinese government killed the climate agreement in Copenhagen.
Japan: Entrepreneurship
Fumi Yamazaki from What's happening in Japan right now? blogs about a gathering in Tokyo, Startup Weekend, among developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists to share their experiences in businesses and projects.
South Korea: Fan's culture
James Turnbull from the Grand Narratives wrote an interesting article about the changing fan's cultural in South Korea. Middle-aged people are more active in fan's clubs.
China: Chinternet
As a result of a new round of internet regulation policies, such as the ban on individual's registration of CN domain name, Chinese netizens invent a new English word, Chinternet, to describe the China intranet.
Cambodia: Female Voices in the Blogosphere
GV author Sopheap Chak interviews two Cambodian female bloggers about the participation and role of women bloggers in Cambodia. The two bloggers also share their views on the state of political blogging in the country
Friendster now owned by a Malaysian firm
Popular social networking site Friendster was recently acquired by a Malaysian firm. Friendster is the leading social network site in Southeast Asia.
Singapore: Asia's 25 Most Influential People
Anonymous_X questions the inclusion of dethroned beauty queen Ris Low from Singapore in CNN's list of Asia's 25 Most Influential People
China: White-listing the Internet
DANWEI has translated the Beijing News’ report on the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)'s plan to white list websites on the Internet. More background can be found in GV advocacy: Online protest against CNNIC and White-listing the Internet.
China: People's microblogging online?
While the Chinese government has blocked a large number of social media websites such as twitter and fanfou, the official online media, people.com.cn, fills in the gap and launches its people's microblogging page.
China: Grassroots wisdom website
Husunzi from China Study Group introduced a Chinese website on grassroots wisdom.
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