Stories from 26 May 2009
Myanmar: Junta leader is “mentally insane”
For conducting an “unjustified trial” against Myanmar opposition leader Daw Aung San Su Kyi, a blogger uploads an article which caricatures the junta leader Than Shwe as “mentally insane.” Suu...
Japan: Ministry of Health posts YouTube video
Kotori Piyopiyo praises the progressiveness of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for posting a video on YouTube and observes with irony that they have turned off the embedding...
Venezuela: Keeping the Internet as a Priority
When the Venezuelan government emitted Decree No. 6649, it raised red flags within the online community concerned about the possible effects to development. The decree seeks to eliminate “luxuries” or “superflouous expenses” among the public expenditure, among which includes the Internet. As a result, the online campaign Internet Prioritaria was created with the opinion that Internet is a basic need and is pushing that research and other educational programs not be affected by budget cuts.
Malaysia: Yuna Changes the Face of Indie Music
In recent years more and more independent musicians are gaining popularity thanks to social networking websites such as YouTube and MySpace. Meet Yuna from Malaysia. She is the talk of the local blogosphere for not only producing great music but also her wholesome image. She causes a stir, in a positive way, in the indie music scene for wearing the tudung, a scarf worn around the head by women in Malaysia.
Malaysia: Is The New PM a Market Reformer?
Are we expecting a gradual political revolution with new leadership in Malaysia? The Prime Minister does not only embrace social media technology to improve citizen engagement, he ventures a step further where none of his predecessors had attempted before to introduce selective liberalization on financial and service sectors recently.


