Stories about East Asia from July, 2010
North Korean Football Team Reprimanded in Public
North Korea’s national football team were reprimanded in public for losing all of their matches in the FIFA World Cup, South Korea’s Chosun reported. According to the source, team members were summoned to a large auditorium at the Working People’s Culture Palace and were forced to blame their coach in...
Taiwan: Manhattan”s” in Taipei
Pomelo(鉑鎂鑼) criticizes the vacuum promises(zht) made by Taipei mayor Hau Lung-pin who promises to build one Manhattan in Shezi region, yet another Manhattan in the basin of Danshui river before the coming election.
Malaysia: Drop in Foreign Direct Investments
The recently released United Nations World Investment Report 2010 brought to light the shape of the Malaysian economy to its citizens: Foreign direct investment has dropped by 81 percent. Here are some online reactions.
China: Karate Kid movie censored
In the latest Karate Kid movie, does Will Smith's kid kick Chinese butt or is he actually the one getting bullied? That depends where you watch it, writes the Shandongxifu blogger.
China: Sino-North Korean relations
With an incident-free Invincible Spirit wrapping up today, don't miss this post from Sinologistical Violoncellist‘s Adam Cathcart looking at some of the dynamics in the relationship between China and North Korea.
South Korea: A Politician’s ‘Emperor’s Dish’ Enraged Struggling Koreans
A South Korean politician's effort to experience the minimum wage earner's life went backfire due to poor understanding on the severity of the working poor's life conditions.
China: Explosion in Nanjing
A ruptured gas main is the reported cause of an explosion [zh] this morning at a plastics factory currently being torn down in NE Nanjing. Injuries are reportedly in the hundreds, while the number of deaths has yet to be confirmed. Free More News has been aggregating links to photos...
China: Computer magazine curses at Tencent
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a debate between a magazine, China Computer World, and a giant Internet company, Tencent.
China: Being Gay
The angry Chinese blogger explains how the Chinese government controls the gay community from getting too visible in the society.
South Korea: The Suicide Twit
More Koreans are noticing their suicide plans via Twitter, South Korea's internet media NoCut News reported[kr]. Most recently a club DJ tweeted ‘I will commit suicide, thank you guys till now’ and the police was dipatched to his house. It was later found out that he had not committed suicide....
Taiwan: Film Festival of “Food and People”
Karen Yu announces on okogreen blog that the “2010 Food and People Film Festival”(zht)-co-hosted by fair-trade coffee shops and environmental NGOs-will be showing 4 documentaries on each friday through out September. The 4 documentaries are We Feed The World, Sustainable Table, Bullshit, and Black Gold.
Japan: How to Enjoy Fireworks Displays
After a video on Cherry Blossom Viewing [en], the team of Legon produced an instructional animated video on How to Enjoy Fireworks Displays (Hanabi) [en] in Japan. Both in English and Japanese, it illustrates the basics of the firework festivals that often light up the summer night sky in Japan.
Indonesia’s fashion bloggers
The top bloggers in Indonesia are fashion and lifestyle bloggers who are mostly young ladies. Who are they and why are they popular?
South Korea: Expectations for New Micro-Finance Loans Rise Among Skeptics
New "Sunshine" micro-finance loans for low income households have just been launched in South Korea. Koreans struggling amidst a financial crisis greeted the news with enthusiasm, although some are also carefully skeptical.
Cambodia: The Official Launch of the First Online Human Rights Portal
Sithi.org, a Cambodian human rights portal that aims to crowdsource and curate reports of human rights violations, officially launched on July 22, 2010 with participation from various institutions including embassies, international and local NGOs, media and university representatives.
Japan: Agriculture and Entrepreneurship
Barnali and Anirvan (who traveled from the U.S. to Japan by ship!) blog about interesting Agriculture 2.0 projects that they encountered at green drinks Tokyo. “About sixty young people crowded into an event space to hear speakers talk about “Agriculture 2.0,” projects connecting urban dwellers with healthy local food, while...
Japan: Eating unagi eel to battle the heat
It's Doyo No Ushi in Japan today – the day to eat grilled eel to bolster your energy for battling the summer heat. TsukuBlog gives a comprehensive explanation of the tradition and A Radiused Corner has some beautiful pictures of the dish.
South Korea: Addiction Mutates and Permeates Korean Society
A revolting incident caused by the internet addiction has recently shocked South Korea, and the government and non-profit organizations are rushing for solutions. Korean bloggers share their analysis on the uphill battle against addiction. Last week, a couple who starved their baby to death were sentenced to a year and...
Philippines: Oplan Bantay Laya and Counterinsurgency
Kapirasong Kritika writes a book review of Oplan Bantay Laya: The US-Arroyo Campaign of Terror and Counterinsurgency in the Philippines. Oplan Bantay Laya is a counterinsurgency program alleged by critics and human rights groups as the blueprint behind more than 1,000 extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations committed between...
Philippines: Dayo and the Filipino Migration
The Marocharim Experiment designates the Filipino word “dayo” as descriptive of the Filipino experience of migration: “Diaspora assumes exile, deportation, the removal of identification. ‘Dayo,’ like ‘pakikipagsapalaran,’ represents the hope for return; of when, they can only tell.”