Stories from Quick Reads and East Asia
Chinese Outbound Foreign Direct Investment in Europe
This five-minute video created by ESADE business school shows where Chinese capital is invested in Europe and examines the various motivations Chinese companies have for investing overseas (via the China Observer).
Six Hong Kong Police Officers Kick and Punch a Handcuffed Protester in a Dark Corner
Last night at 9:30pm, around 300 hundred protesters attempted to set up new barricade in Long Wo Road, near the government headquarter at Admiralty. Riot police took action to disperse protesters and arrested 45 of them. The process was brutal. The TV news showed that one of the protesters, identified...
Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution in Mathematical Formula
The above high school test paper has gone viral in Hong Kong social media in the past few days. The test question is: What are the factors that lead to the September 28 Umbrella Revolution? The student answered with a mathematical formula: 64+71+101+689+3=928. The teacher marked the paper 0 and...
Weapon of Mass Destruction in Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution
Mainland Chinese state-run media has been running editorials and opinion pieces to criticize the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, with emphasis on the destruction the street occupations have brought to ordinary people. The Umbrella Revolution has also been labeled as “Color Revolution” backed up by foreign forces, in particular, the...
The Struggling Free Press in Myanmar
This image, posted in the online magazine Shan Herald, describes the state of the press in Myanmar. Despite the abolition of the censorship board a few years ago, journalists still face a lot of challenges. This year, reporters have been detained for reporting and asking about some government-initiated projects.
Pope Francis will Visit the “Ground Zero’ of Typhoon Haiyan Disaster in the Philippines
The official logo and website related to the Philippine visit of Pope Francis in January 2015 have been unveiled already. Pope Francis will visit Manila and Tacloban. Tacloban is the “ground zero” of the Typhoon Haiyan disaster which claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people in the Eastern Visayas...
Non-Japanese Who Stayed in Sendai After 3.11 Earthquake Walk for Recovery
Despite being uncertain of what the future might bring, dozens of non-Japanese people decided to remain in their adopted home of Sendai, a coastal city located in the north of Japan hit by massive tsunami triggered by the earthquake of March 11, 2011. Sharing the footsteps to recovery, those standing together...
Wanna Learn the Khmer Language? Check Out this Audio Dictionary
Kheng.Info is a useful portal to learn Khmer, the official language of Cambodia. Aside from word translation, the website also offers an audio recording of Khmer words which is helpful to understand the meaning of the Khmer script. Check out how the word ‘love’ translates to Khmer:
Film Shows How a Malaysian Tribe is Stopping Loggers from Destroying their Land
Sunset Over Selungo is a 30-minute film documenting how the indigenous Penan tribe is defending the remaining rainforest of Borneo island in Malaysia. Borneo is the largest island in Asia. The film was made by independent British filmmaker Ross Harrison
Industrial Pollution Kills Hundreds of Wild Birds in Inner Mongolia
More than 500 dead wild water birds appeared in the lake areas of Inner Mongolia since this summer as a result of water pollution. The poisonous water, as reported by local herdsmen, came from factories from a nearby eco-industrial area. Annie Lee from China Hush wrote a photo feature on...
Digital Library of Traditional Philippine Healing Practices
Initiated by several government agencies, the Philippine Traditional Knowledge Digital Library on Health (TKDL-Health) seeks to document and digitize indigenous health practices in the country. The communities, characteristically living in the mountains or their fringes, have depended mostly on plants and other natural products from the forest to prevent or...
China: ‘The More You Exploit Us, the Happier We Get’
Kevin Slaten from China Labour Watch wrote on China File on the situation of labour exploitation in China — the fact that industrial safety and workers’ lives were taken for granted for economic growth, which is reflected in a notorious local Kunshan government's appeal to foreign investors: “The Kunshan people...
Using Mobile Phones to Connect Pregnant Women and Midwives in Timor Leste
Liga Inan is using mobile phones to connect pregnant women and health workers in Timor Leste. The innovative program provides mothers with vital information and health advice to ensure the safe delivery of babies. Since its launch, almost 2,000 mothers have been already enrolled in the program.
Interview With the Author of ‘Chinese Turkestan’, a Photographic Documentary of Xinjiang
Far West China interviewed Ryan Pyle, a Shanghai-based photographer who recently published a photographic documentary of Xinjiang titled “Chinese Turkestan”: The news is so segregated and so focused on conflict areas that places like Xinjiang get left off the map. When the spotlight does turn there, it’s all about the...
An Urgent Call for the Protection and Preservation of Tibetan Language
Khenpo Tsultrim Lodoe is an influential Buddhist teacher at Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Tibet. His article which addresses the relation between language and identity and urges for the preservation of Tibetan language was posted on an official educational website for Tibetan middle schools on July 4, 2014. High Peaks...
Bamboo, Launch, Compound and Other English Words Borrowed from Malaysia
Writing for Coconuts KL, Lai Chee Seng listed 10 common English words which have Malaysian roots. For example, bamboo derived from the Malay word mambu or samambu, compound came from the Malay word kampung which means village or a group of buildings, and launch was borrowed from the Malay word...
Search and Destroy Mission for the 80 Million “Bombies” in Laos
Al Jazeera's 101 East episode tackles the efforts of women workers in Laos to find and destroy unexploded cluster bombs dropped by the United States during the Vietnam War era. The U.S. dropped 260 million bombs in Laos but about 80 million bomblets did not detonate which posed a continuing...
5 Tips to Prevent Threats of Cyber Snooping in China
Want to prevent threats of cyber snooping in China? See the details of the following five tips given by Sean Maples on ChinaHush: 1. Upgrade your operating system 2. Remove extra data 3. Bring a simple cellphone 4. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) 5. Reformat your digital device
China's New Regulations on Instant Messaging Tools Explained
Hu Yong, associate professor at Peking University’s School of Journalism and Communication, explained the issue at stake regarding China's latest regulations on instant messaging tools on Chinafile. The regulations forbidden public account holders, except from registered media organizations accounts, to republish articles on current events. The result is a highly...
New Spider Species in Borneo Named After Missing Activist
A new spider species in Borneo discovered by Swiss scientists was named after Bruno Manser, an environmentalist who went missing in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia in 2000. Bruno Manser has been campaigning for the protection of the nomadic Penan people and against the destruction of Sarawak rainforest when...