Stories about East Asia from August, 2008
Hong Kong: FM Theatre Power vs. Netizens
ESWN translated a citizen report from inmediahk.net on a civic action mobilized by netizens against a theatre group.
China: Weather Intervention
During the Olympics, the Beijing government created artificial rain to secure good weather for the opening and closing ceremonies. Lui Li said that if the government had plan to intervene the weather, it should have forecasted it to the people.
China: Olympic Regrets
Chen XueLei reflected upon his Olympic experience since 7 years ago when Beijing applied for the hosting city. Now that the Beijing Olympics has obtained great success on stage, the blogger wonders if it is really a success for the majority of Chinese people.
Saudi Arabia: Where are the women sport heroes?
Saudi girls deserve sport heroes too, says Jillian, at a post on women in the Olympics at Kabobfest. “Little girls in Saudi Arabia (which I will use as an example from now on, given that Qatar's population equals that of Boston) deserve to have strong heroes too,” she notes.
MENA: Veiled Athletes in Beijing
Despite the Saudi Arabia's decision to ban Saudi women from taking part in the Olympics this year, Blogger Dilshad D. Ali writes about the emergence of hijab (veil) at the Beijing Olympics. Blogger Jana, also lists the 12 veiled Muslim athletes who competed this year in Beijing.
Syria and the Olympics
Syria Comment discusses Syria's performance at the Summer Olympics, which just ended in Beijing, China.
Jordan: Interesting Olympics Statistics
Jordanian blog And far away shares interesting statistics on the Summer Olympics, which just ended in Beijing, China.
Cambodia: Sex workers, 100% condom use and human rights
Cambodian sex workers have taken to the internet to make their plight and fight for human rights better known. In Cambodia, a 100% condom use law which states that sexual exchanges with clients have to take place with condoms on sounds like a good idea, but it has been turned against those it is supposed to protect, by being used as a means to imprison sex workers, using the fact that they carry condoms with them as evidence for them doing sex work.
China: Where's the Fuwa?
Tomorrow yellow flowers from Pandemonium posted some photos of Funwa after the Olympics.
China: Olympics as a Learning Experience
Nimrod from the Fool's mountain points out that everyone should try to learn from the Beijing Olympics lesson.
China: Brain Damaged Netizen Syndrome
WangXiaofeng listed out 13 symptoms for indicating whether a netizen is suffered from brain damage. The symptoms include a compulsion to read and comment posts even they don't really understand the texts; there is only right and wrong in their world view, and of course they are always on the...
Singapore: Harassment against Burmese immigrants
A Burmese activist applying for visa renewal was asked by Singapore immigration authorities about his political activities: “They asked me: ‘Who is the leader of the OBP? How many members do you have? Who are they? What are their names? Where do you usually gather for meetings?’ And they also...
Southeast Asia’s Olympic performance
Southeast Asian countries garnered 12 medals in the recently concluded 2008 Beijing Olympics. Indonesia leads the pack with 5 medals: 1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals.
China: Amazing Olympics recap photos
“Wow,” says Twitter user @frankyu, retweeting @PatrickSearle: “Amazing set of Olympic pics: http://stuff.thdesign.be/forum/varia/OS.html.” Note, though, that nudity can be seen there.
China: Games over
Well we couldn't watch it on YouTube, but there was Twitter so we know the Beijing Olympics closing ceremony involved [note: links to profanity] some sort of [profanity] hot-pot tower of babel that spiderman climbed up…and we heard something about ants and a transformer bus. Anyway, we're very thankful we...
Taiwan: Viva la Generalissimo!
Ashinakhan criticizes the come-back of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall with extended history review of Taiwan's difficult road to democracy.
Arabeyes: The Olympics, Pride, Equality and Hope
Millions around the world were glued to their television screens watching their favourite athletes at this year's Beijing Olympics, which just closed. What did Arab bloggers have to say about the world's premier sporting event and their country teams? Following are a few reactions.
Breastfeeding in Thailand
absolutelybangkok.com is worried that Thailand has the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rate in Asia and one of the lowest in the world.
Malaysian politics and Olympics
A Malaysian badminton silver medalist found himself at the center of power struggle among Malaysia's political parties when he arrived home. Blogger 4896 advises politicians to spare athletes from political intramurals.
Laos in the Olympics
The 2008 Beijing Olympics informed many people around the world that Laos is pronounced as Lao (silent ‘s’), as noted by I Eat Padek.
Taiwan: Taichung shooting incident
Michael Turton reports on an incident where a foreigner was shot in Taichung.
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