Stories about East Asia from November, 2011
Japan: Coworking Magazine Launched
Cowarp [ja]: There's been a surge of interest around coworking spaces and its culture, and now there's a brand new online magazine for it.
Video: Plural+ 2011 Awards Young Filmmakers
Youth from around the globe were awarded in New York for their thought-provoking short films showing their proposals for making society more peaceful and multicultural by addressing the topics of diversity, migration and social inclusion.
“Let Us Dream”: Demonstrating Against Unified Job Hunting in Japan
On Labor Day, students gathered in Tokyo and Kyoto to rally against the practices of job hunting for fresh graduates.
Japan: WordCamp Tokyo is Tomorrow
WordCamp Tokyo 2011 will be held November 27th. The organizers are running a relay blog [ja] that describes why you should go and what's happening behind the scenes.
North Korea's Cellular Network Surpasses 800,000 3G Subscriptions
The North Korea Tech wrote about a surge of new sign-ups for Koryolink, North Korea’s nationwide 3G cellular network. It is believed 809,000 North Koreans have subscribed to Koryolink whose 75 percent of stake is owned by the Egyptian company, Orascom Telecom.
South Korea: Judge's Facebook Post Criticizing Free Trade Deal Went under Fire
A judge's Facebook post criticizing the current President and the free trade agreement with the United States went under fire. The Supreme Court has decided to refer him to the ethics committee for violating political neutrality. Some citizen journalists have secured the judge's deleted post [ko] in their blogs.
More Pressure on the Chinese Government, Not Less
Chinese Human Rights Defenders argued against the “quiet diplomacy” approach put forward by Chen Min in New York Times on November 16, 2011 by looking into the case of blind activist Chen Guangcheng in Shangdong.
Thailand: Survival and Creativity During Floods
The situation in Thailand is improving as floodwaters are receding but the death toll is now more than 600. The flood disaster is the worst in the past five decades but it also showed the creative and inventive ways of the people as they coped with the floods.
China: Inflation Comic
A comic picture by Sick Chili using the concept of Tank man to mock the inflation in China.
Cambodia: Reading Campaign
Students of Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia have launched a campaign to promote reading in Cambodian schools. The country's literacy rate is one of the lowest in the region
Patrolling Cambodia's Forest
Some 300 activists visited the Prey Lang Forest to to prevent further illegal logging of the area. A slideshow of the journey which took several days on foot is now available online
Map of Cambodian Flooding
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has uploaded a map showing the extent of flooding in Cambodia this year. 18 of the country's 24 provinces are affected by the worst flooding in a decade.
Thailand: Twenty-Year Imprisonment for Insulting Queen
A 61-year-old man in Thailand was given a sentence of 20 years imprisonment after a criminal court has found him guilty of violating the country's Lese Majeste and Computer Crimes law. The man was accused of sending SMS which insulted the Queen
South East Asian Social Network
South East Asian Social Network or SEASONed Bloggers is a newly created Facebook group whose goal is to connect bloggers in Southeast Asia and encourage them to “share their blogs, and share their thoughts about blogging in their countries.”
South Korea: Video of Protests against Free Trade Deal with US
South Korea's ruling party rammed a contested free trade deal with the United States through parliament, evoking once again mass protests against the agreement. Citizen journalist Aya posted videos of protesters being hit by water cannon.
South Korea: Comedian Sued for Making Fun of Politicians
Politics is seen as a fair target for most comedy shows, but in South Korea a politician is suing a comedian. The lawsuit - claiming that the performer defamed all politicians - has drawn immediate criticism from various parts of Korean society, inundating social media with jokes and comments.
Singapore: Proposed Youth Parliament
Bloggers Majulah and angmohlian share their thoughts on the proposal to create a youth parliament in Singapore
Comparing China and Other Countries
He Bing posted a set of photos comparing China with other countries. Archer Wang from Ministry of Tofu explained the context of the comparison.
Japan: A Blogger's Top 5 WWII Literary Works
The Reading Life blog share their experience in exploring Japanese WWII literature, for people who want to go beyond Haruki Murakami and read more Japanese literary work.
China: Nude Protest
Chinese netizens post their nude pictures on the internet after Beijing police started investigating dissident-artist Ai Weiwei for spreading pornography online. (Via Shanghaiist)
Singapore GovCamp 2011
Themed “Connecting People, Data and Ideas”, the second GovCamp of the year in Singapore was held on November 18. Using the hashtag #govcampsg, here are reactions of the conference participants.
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