Stories from 14 February 2006
Indonesia: Simulating TV Reality
Inspired by an Economist article about how the U.S. military hires Hollywood production companies to make their combat training simulations more realistic, Indonesia Anonymus guesses what would happen if the Indonesian military hired local TV soap producers to run their simulations. One possibility: “There will be a lot of screaming,...
Malaysia: Business to Politics
Peter at Competitive Malaysia looks at the fates of three local businessmen-turned-politicians. His conclusion: “it is better for businessman to remain focus on it core competencies….business rather than enter into politic.”
Philippines: Blogmobbed
Filipino bloggers go after an accused “splogger,” i.e. someone who sets up a network of blogs that contain plagiarized content in order to draw traffic for Adsense dollars. Apparently, one of his tactics was to critique high-traffic bloggers so that supporters and friends would link to his site while defending...
Myanmar: Interview with Shan King's Son
Burma Digest has an interview with Harn Yawnghwe, the youngest son of the last ruler of the Shan State kingdom of Yawnghwe, who now lives in exile and participates in the democracy movement.
Vietnam: Saigon Architecture
Our contributor Vietnamese God gives us a sampling of architecture in Ho Chi Minh City, a.k.a. Saigon.
Story of a Ukrainian Grandmother: Baba Omaha
Stefan from Dykun tells a story of his grandmother, who was kidnapped and brought to Nazi Germany – like many other Ukrainians – to work at a munitions factory at the age of 17. When the war ended, she didn't return to the Soviet Union but escaped to the United...
Ukrainian Political TV Ads Roundup
Scott W. Clark at Foreign Notes does a roundup of the Ukrainian parties’ TV ads: Regions of Ukraine; Our Ukraine; Viche; Pora. Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc, however, is neglecting the TV campaign, for some reason.
Despite The Missiles
Michael Turton on The View From Taiwan blogs on the political backpeddling of Ma Ying-jeou, the mayor of Taipei and the Chairman of Taiwan's main opposition party, Kuomintang. Ma had stated earlier on his visit to the UK that China must remove the 700 missiles pointing at Taiwan before the...
South Korea Embraces Super-Bowl MVP
The Lost Nomad highlights a Los Angeles Times article on Hines Ward becoming an instant national hero in South Korea. Hines, born to a Korean mother and an African American GI father, grew up in the US and suffered discrimination from the Korean community. He was recently elected the most...
Stealing Candies on Valentine's
The blogger at The Asia Pages gets a chuckle out of a report that in the South Korean army, new conscripts have to share chocolates from their girlfriends with their seniors on Valentine's day.
Korean Going for The Top
The South Korean government just announced that its foreign minister, Ban Ki-moon, would run for the UN Secretary General post. Fying Yangban discusses the importance of Ban securing backings from other Asian Countries, while Oranckay reminisces on the announcement's effect in boosting national pride.
The “Official” View on China's Reform
ESWN translates from the quasi-official Caijing magazine an article that is reputed to represent the views of senior Chinese officials. The article states that many injustices “occurred because the administrative powers intervened in the distribution of production during the marketization“. The author cites the central government's plan to reform “the...
A Near Sighted Attack on The Chinese Way?
On Wedn Feb 15th, the US Congress will review the roles that US hi-tech firms are playing in China's Internet censorship. In “Truth, Justice or A Near Sighted Attack on The Chinese Way”, Angry Chinese Blogger gives a comprehensive overview of the issues at stake and the motives at play.
El Salvador: Rufina Amaya
Meg photographs her tour of El Mozote, where a tragic massacre took place in 1981 and remembers Rufina Amaya, a villager who escaped the massacre while soldiers killed her husband, son, and three daughters.
