Stories about East Asia from July, 2010
Vietnam: Understanding the Hanoi floods
Neil Nguyen, writing for Vietnam Talking Points, analyzes the flooding disasters in Vietnam, particularly in Hanoi.
Malaysia: Corruption in the bureaucracy
Gutter Malaysia is shocked to discover from a report that 418,200 or 41% of Malaysia's civil servants are suspected to be involved in corruption
Brunei: Reducing plastic use
Through a cartoon that he made, Cuboiart from Brunei tries to raise awareness about the need to reduce use of plastic.
Taiwan: Rice fields outside the Presidential Office
On July 18th, Taiwanese farmers transformed the Presidential Office into rice fields, not for creating a city garden, but for a protest to the Land Expropriation Act.
India: The Korean Cultural Wave In Nagaland
Many people in Nagaland, a tribal state in Northeast India, feel disconnected from India and a different culture has been making an impact in recent years - that of Korea.
Japan: Mob collusion soils the sumo ring
After the National Police decided to crack down on the connections between crime syndicates and sumo wrestlers, sumo fans question the image of sumo as a sacred sport.
Death of the China Blog
Kaiser Kuo, Will Moss and Jeremy Goldkorn comment on the Chinese blog scene at Sinica podcast.
Taiwan: Foxconn and the shame of Taiwan
After 12 employees’ jump of buildings and one more jump in Chimei Innolux Corporation-a subsidiary company of Foxconn-on July 20, Chairman Terry (Tai-Ming) Gou was criticized by Taiwanese scholars as “the shame of Taiwan”, so he threatens to halt all investment in Taiwan. Blogger and book writer Kue-hsien Liao argues that...
China: Professional mourners
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated an article from the Beijing News on professional mourners who perform in funerals in Chongqing and Chengdu.
Taiwan: TEDxTaipei is coming
The second TEDxTaipei installment: TEDxTaipei 2010 will be on July 24th and 25th with 27 speakers from local and from abroad, from musicians to scientists. The whole event will be live-streaming here.
Brunei: Double Rainbow
On 20th July 2010, at 5.00pm, many parts of Brunei witnessed a Double Rainbow
Singapore: Flooding and government
Siew Kum Hong tries to understand the recent flooding disaster in Singapore and reminds authorities that people are angry because of the “scope and location of the floods that have been occurring and the Government's cavalier response so far.”
Singapore: Immigration compared with other countries
Blowin’ in the Wind reviews a report comparing Singapore emigration and immigration with other countries. The report notes that Singapore has the highest immigration rate in Asia Pacific after Hong Kong.
Vietnam: U.S. and human rights
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who is in Hanoi this week for a regional meeting reminded Vietnam to address human rights issues. Reacting to this statement, Vietnam-based twitter user genericdude says, “I would like to see the US invite Vietnam to speak in the US and then have VN...
Malaysia: Revisiting Cyberjaya
Lim Kit Siang uploads an article by Eli James who writes about the situation today in Cyberjaya, Malaysia’s version of ‘Silicon Valley’ in the 1990s.
Malaysia: Scholarship and race
Azira Aziz questions the decision of the Malaysian government to prioritize the Malay community in distributing scholarship funds. The writer proposes that funds should be given to those who “deserve it by merit and based on their family’s financial background.”
South Korea: Halting Corporal Punishment In Schools Met With Opposition
South Korean society is buzzing with the old issue of corporal punishment in schools, as an elementary teacher beating his students got leaked into public. A controversy was ignited as the Seoul Education Office ordered a halt on any physical punishment from every school.
Thailand: Some critics are called terrorists
Via Bangkok Pundit, Ricefield Radio notes how quickly the Thailand government has decided to describe everyone that does not agree with the leaders as terrorists.
Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand
Ladprao 64 writes about the situation of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand and the role of the two governments in facilitating the welfare of the workers. The blogger also describes the difficulty in sending remittances from Thailand to Myanmar
Thailand: Understanding the time, Thai style
Tweet Yourself Thai provides instructions on how to understand and read the time in Thailand, in Thai style.
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