Mong Palatino · March, 2013

Latest posts by Mong Palatino from March, 2013

Religious Extremism Blamed for Myanmar Riots

  31 March 2013

The Meikhtila riots in central Myanmar which also spread to other towns have killed more than 40 people and raised fears that religious and ethnic clashes would continue to worsen in the country. Many people have analyzed the roots of the violence, in particular, the rise of religious extremism which have caused division and hate in many parts of Myanmar.

History of Myanmar's Movie Industry

  30 March 2013

Ei Ei Su writes about the history of Myanmar's movie industry beginning with the country's first silent film in 1920, up to the 1940s when the industry was producing about 400 films, until the army takeover in 1962.

Thailand: Mobile App for Autistic

  30 March 2013

The Autism Foundation of Thailand has developed a mobile application known as ‘True Autistic’ aimed at enhancing the “physical and mental development of the autistic, and provide guidance to their parents.” Since its launching, it has scored almost 200,000 downloads. According to a report written by Thanya Kunakornpaiboonsiri, there are...

Status of Vietnam's Civil Society Organizations

  30 March 2013

The Asia Foundation estimates that there are about 2,000 Civil Society Organizations or CSOs in Vietnam. It recently published a survey on Vietnam's CSOs: The nature of civil society in Vietnam is muddled by complex regulations and quasi-governmental organizations claiming to be, and sometimes behaving like, independent CSOs

Drones and Drug Politics in China and Myanmar

  26 March 2013

Burmese drug lord Naw Kham was executed by China through lethal injection last March 1 after being found guilty of killing 13 sailors on the Mekong River in 2011. His death sparked discussion about his criminal activities, drug politics in Myanmar, and an admission on the part of China that it has acquired drones.

Vietnam Police Question Activist Over Article

  22 March 2013

According to a Radio Free Asia report written by Y. Lan and Rachel Vandenbrink, Vietnamese activist Le Cong Cau of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was accused by the police of spreading subversive propaganda in connection to an article he wrote espousing political pluralism.

Travel Blogging in Vietnam

  22 March 2013

Pham Hoang Mien is disappointed that only few Vietnamese bloggers are writing about the country's tourism potential. She notes that most of the travel bloggers writing about Vietnam are either expats or international tourists. She wants local netizens to blog more about tourism.

Indonesian ISPs Accused of Illegal Surveillance

  18 March 2013

The Indonesian government is investigating allegations that the country's major internet service providers – Telkom, Biznet, and Matrixnet Global – are conducting an illegal surveillance of internet users through the use of a spying software. The companies have denied the charge but if found guilty, they can face a 15-year...

East Timor a “Failed State-in-Waiting”?

  18 March 2013

The La'o Hamutuk NGO links to an editorial of the influential Petroleum Economist which discusses the problems faced by East Timor's economy: Timor-Leste was once seen as the poster child for developing nations. It had natural resources, a comprehensive legal framework covering their extraction and an oil fund. Now, almost...

Learning Computer Science in Vietnam

  18 March 2013

Neil Fraser visited a Vietnamese elementary school and was quite impressed with the computer science curriculum for young students: I had walked into that class prepared to help them in any way that I could. But instead of the school learning from my experience, I learned from them. They showed...

Cambodian Blogs to Read

  14 March 2013

Santel Phin creates a list of must-read blogs in Cambodia. Among the bloggers he mentioned who are writing in English, French, and Khmer are Global Voices authors Kounila, Sopheap, and Tharum.

Myanmar's Exiled Broadcaster to Return Home

  12 March 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma or DVB, which has been broadcasting news about the democracy movement in Myanmar from its head office in Oslo for more than 21 years, has announced its plan to return to Myanmar soon. The group said recent reforms in the country has allowed its “former underground...

Digitizing the National Library of Vietnam

  12 March 2013

Since 2006, the the National Library of Vietnam has partnered with the Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation to digitally preserve the special collection of the library which features some 4000 ancient texts in Hán and Nôm, the former ideographic writing systems of Vietnam.

Singapore: Forget Immigration, Focus on Fertility

  3 March 2013

Improving total fertility rate and labor force participation rate to increase the resident workforce over time rather than immigration-driven growth is the more appropriate way forward for Singapore Titled ‘A Dynamic Population for a Sustainable Singapore’, the opposition Workers’ Party drafts its own policy paper in response to Singapore government's...