Latest posts by Jose Manuel Tesoro from December, 2005
Philippines: Once in a Lifetime
Jessica Zafra is discombobulated meeting musician and artist David Byrne in Manila. The ex-leader of the Talking Heads was in town researching a new musical he's writing on Imelda Marcos.
Singapore: Freedom is Not Free
Oppositionist politician Goh Meng Seng on his blog Singapore Alternatives writes about the price of freedom: “Freedom is not free. And most importantly, freedom has the element of free ridership in it. Everyone may want it, but all waiting for someone to get it for them.”
South Korea: Not a Barbie Girl
As the Seoul Arts Center hosts an exhibit about Barbie dolls, The Asia Pages reminisces about her first encounters and swift disappointment with “Oriental Barbie.”
Vietnam: Imitations
At diacritic.org, R. Streitmatter-Tran discusses the embarrassment to Vietnamese art when local award-winning works are revealed to have been plagiarized including one from a work that won an award in Vietnam six years earlier.
Cambodia: From the Other Side of the Table
kalagirl at Thoughts From the Girl Next Door relates interviewing a Cambodian candidate for her NGO. His resume looked great, but she feels years of a Communist regime have robbed even excellent candidates like him of the ability to think critically and creatively.
China: Beijing Needs a Giant Monster
Imagethief observes sadly that Tokyo will always have its Godzilla and New York its King Kong, but Beijing can never be a great, world-class city until it is attacked by a giant monster.
China: Ransom Emails
EastSouthWestNorth describes the investigation of two extortion notes emailed to leaders in the Ningbo City government. Curious about how Internet crime is handled in China? Click here.
Indonesia: Bad Driving
Indonesia Anonymus explains why Jakartans are such terrible drivers.
Japan: Odd Survey
What Japan Thinks is a blog that translates quite interesting Japanese public opinion polls to English, such as on the popularity of mobile phones as gaming platforms or the market for RSS readers in Japan. Yet his most popular post appears to be this one, now ricocheting off various Asia...
Singapore, South Korea: Iconoclasm
Jeff Ooi asks why Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew are so often cited as models: isn't South Korea, with its larger population and greater challenges, more admirable?
China: Virtual Celebrity
danwei wants to introduce you to eXinXin, a model for computer simulations and video games, who is supposedly China's first virtual celebrity. She's real, though, and has a blog (in ZH).
South Korea: Stem Cell Article Faked?
oranckay is on top of a developing story: South Korea's top stem cell scientist is withdrawing a paper he submitted to Science, leading to questions about his work.
Taiwan: Political Changes
Jerome F. Keating reflects on the changes that have affected Taiwan's politics: how in 15 years the ex-opposition Democratic Progressive Party successfully challenged the Kuomintang's one-party state.
Vietnam: Videocasts from Saigon
Noodlepie is now offering neon-tinged nighttime video “streetcasts” from Saigon here.
China: Dongzhou Crackdown
The Paper Tiger wonders whether the violent crackdown on peasant protesters in Dongzhou represents a turning point for the Chinese government.
China: Experiencing Douban
Sinosplice discovers Douban, a successful Chinese book-sharing site that now has an English (Flickr-like) beta. “The site allows you to share what books you are currently reading, what books you have read, and what books you’d like to read.”
China: Oil Company About-Face
Talk Talk China goes after China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC, pronounced “see-nook”), which changed its “no-compete” promise to investors who bought shares in its New York and Hong Kong publicly listed subsidiary CNOOC Limited. The pledge was meant to assure investors that the state-owned parent wouldn't steal away the...
Hong Kong: What to Do with the WTO?
On the occasion of the WTO meet in Hong Kong, Glutter shares her frustration with the rhetoric on both sides of the WTO debate that has obscured much understanding. “As usual I think everyone should take a deep breath before we all start screaming and shouting on both sides, because...
Japan: Animator's Son Talks
Mutant Frog Travelogue translates from the Japanese the first blog post by the son of famed animator Hayao Miyazaki, who is coming out with his own animated film that his father was against him directing.
China, Hong Kong: Bridge and Ladder Blogs
EastSouthWestNorth talks about how a “ladder blog” had just helped a post climb over the Great Firewall of China: by translating into English a post in Chinese at a blocked Hong Kong blog, which was then retranslated into Chinese on a mainland China blog.
Philippines: Done with the Bishops
Edwin Lacierda of San Juan Gossip Mills Outlet discusses his disgust with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, which had in the past distinguished itself by criticizing the state when no one else would. “Were it once was the harbinger of decisive action, it is now the voice of...
