Stories about East Asia from October, 2007
Japan: Racial profiling in the U.S. and Japan
Hasan at hasanhujairi[dot]com writes about his experience being a Middle Eastern foreign student in a post 9/11 world, subject to racial profiling first during his time in the U.S., and then again in Japan.
Korea: Can a Law Change Society and People's Perspectives?
Korean bloggers discuss a new bill that would prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in Korea. There are many opposing views, but some netizens welcome this new law and ask for a more understanding attitude toward homosexuals.
China: Tiger! Tiger?
Zhou Zhenglong, a villager in Shaanxi shot pictures of a wild South China tiger, but its veracity was soon put under questions by netizens. As the government and experts joined in, the incident reached its climax, especially when both sides of this debate （fake or not）bet their heads. It evolved from a scientific issue to a “bloody farce of gambling of heads”, so called.
China: Official excess met with humor, scorn, death threats
Bloggers for some reason kept mostly or dead quiet about the 17th Party Congress while it was being held during the third week of this month, and now that it's over, blog posts on the subject are being deleted even before they get published [zh]. A chance for bloggers to...
Hong Kong: China's Olympic Opportunity
Legislative Councilor Martin Lee was accused of inviting interference from U.S to China. ESWN brings together Martin Lee's article from the Wall Street Journal, member of Executive Council Tsang Yok-sing's criticism on Martin Lee and local newspapers report on the issue.
Japan: Family Crests
There are around 20,000 Kamon, family symbol, in Japan. Ryoko from Pingmag introduces some of the kamon design with animal motif.
South Korea: Crime Against Women
Robert Koehler shows how gender, race and crime are mingled together in journalistic report.
Indonesia: Proud To Be An Indonesian Blogger
Indonesian blogger Imam Brotoseno has created a fan video for the Indonesian bloggers summit to be held in Jakarta on 27th October. (via Unspun)
Philippines: Arroyo Pardons Plunder Convict Estrada
Tonyo Cruz looks at the angry reactions of the bloggers in Philippines after the president Arroyo pardoned former president Estrada Joseph Estrada just a couple of weeks after he wad jailed on corruption charges.
Japan: Taiwanese chorus music to the ears
A video of an auditorium in Taiwan featuring 258 Taiwanese people watching and singing along to the lyrics of Japanese anime songs became a hit in Japan earlier this week after it was uploaded to a popular video sharing website, attracting over 120,000 views and nearly as many comments. A Japanese blogger considers how this kind of connection can bring Japan and Taiwan closer together.
China: Reporting Moon Orbiter
Rose Lu from my1510 compares the various arrangement for reporting on China space travel (zh). Yesterday, most of the reporters managed to witness the Chang'e-1, the first China's moon orbiter, blasting out to the space, even though they have to enter the Xichang Satellite Launch Center as tourists.
China: Affirmative Action for Rural Students
Xueyong suggests that universities in China should adopt the policy of affirmative action for rural students (zh). At present, among the top rank universities, only 20% of the students comes from rural area, although rural population is consisted of more than half of the whole population. As education is a...
China: Collective Labour Arbitration
Fons from China Herald brings up into the attention of the drafting of labour arbitration law. One missing element is the collective labour arbitration process.
Japan: Rape at Iwakuni
Turner at Keeping Pace in Japan comments on the alleged rape of a 19-year-old Japanese girl by four US Marines on the first night of the Sake Matsuri [Festival] in Higashi Hiroshima.
China: Same Life Same Price
In China, if a rural peasant got killed in a traffic accident, the compensation is likely to be much lower than those with a urban household registration. Recently, Liu Xiaoyuan won a case in Beijing for a “same life same price” compensation of a car accident which killed a rural...
Korea: Kissing in Public Places
Kissing in public places can turn into a major issue and generate arguments. An adult is being tried in court for beating teenagers who were kissing at a metro station. He had also beaten a teenager who smoked in public. After the news, a blogger writes how he/she feels about others’ opinions about this accident.
China: More on DNS Hijacking
Rebecca from Rconversation tries to clarify what exactly had happened concerning the temporarily redirecting of western search engines to Baidu and government anti-porn site.
China: Heavy schooling fees and migrant workers
Yuan Guiren, Chinese Vice Education Minister, emphasized the equal education rights for the migrant workers’ children at the CPC press conference last Saturday. However, the tough reality makes some migrant parents worried if they can find an adequate school for their children next term.
Hong Kong: University Master Plan
The Chinese University Student Union has launhed a signature campaign against the university's undemocratic practice in Master Plan process (zh). The students demanded the university to include representatives of stake holders in the master plan steering committee and disclose all information in relation to the campus planning. HK-x-force, a student...
Taiwan and Burma: Burmese Chinese in Taiwan
Coolloud has an interview with a Burmese Chinese, Yeung Yong Zhou. In the past, his family considered Taiwan as their mother country; however, when he started his study in Taiwan, he felt bitter about the debate on the definition of “Taiwanese”. Now that he has got the right of abode...
China: Sex-Related Advertisements
Earlier in September, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced the ban on sex-related advertisements, however, sex-related advertisements are still running amok in China. ESWN translated an article from Southern Weekend to explain why.
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