Brunei was expelled from the opening ceremony because it failed to register on time its two participating athletes. Kati-Ella is angry:

“How could Brunei's Olympic Committee miss the deadline to register our athletes? What do these people do? There's a whole committee to look after two athletes! Everyone was there….even Iraq and Afghanistan…even the poorest countries in the world were there….I'm so depressed.”

The flagbearer of Singapore made a mistake of dragging the country’s flag on the floor. Chronicles of SGnia writes:

“I couldn't say I am a patriotic Singaporean. In fact, I never was. But when I saw how my country flag is treated, I am disgusted. It swept on the ground of the “bird nest” stadium in Beijing in front of billions watching in the world.”

Adding to the controversy was the fact that the flagbearer was not born and raised in Singapore. DK is disappointed:

“I feel a bit disgrace when our national flag is being carried by a foreign talent during the Olympic opening ceremony. Why are we buying talents to bring an Olympic medal back?”

The Philippines too has sent foreign talents in the Olympics. Confluent Thoughts mentions this issue:

“We sent a little more than a dozen athletes most of whom perhaps were trained some place else, to the biggest sporting event in the world. I don’t know with you, but I’d say, that reflects the pathetic state of Philippine sports!”

Are Southeast Asian countries desperate to win a gold medal? Since the start of the Olympic Games more than a hundred years ago, Southeast Asian countries have only won 51 medals overall. Governments have been increasing the financial incentives for athletes who will bring home a gold medal.

Most bloggers in the region were impressed by China’s preparation for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Indonesian blogger Jenny's Journies sums up the reaction of bloggers: “It is beyond words!”

A Malaysian blogger is proud of China and Asia:

“I would put my praise on China for such an awesome, fantastic, bombastic, acrobatic, ‘out of this world’ opening, that I would have to rethink of any other nation that could ever beat the Beijing games in years to come. I am very much sure that there is a great sense of envy that China could build up such a spectacular show. I had the feeling of pride swimming in my heart, despite the host nation having little to none of connection to me. I guess, this is what they call ‘One Asia for the whole of Asia‘.”

Quachee adds:

“The opening ceremony was simply spectacular. China really took this opportunity to inform the world about itself in some subtle ways…The coming in of the athletes in the non conforming way of the usual alphabetical order. I believe that this shows that China is prepared not to heed any rules, but instead is ready to make its own rules (in fact, it already has) for the world to follow.”

Tan Geng Hui’s Homepage writes:

“This awesome opening ceremony, was simply mind blowing, they captured my heart and thoughts, from a sporting and world citizen perspective. The crowds were simply superb, the performances dazzling and spectacular, showcasing how the inventions and creations of China, helped to shape the world. It certainly lived up to its reputation and promise, to be the Best Olympics Opening Ceremony in history.”

IZ Reloaded praises and criticizes China:

“It's great to see a fellow Asian country putting up such a wonderful spectacle but as the Chinese spent millions to make sure their Olympics is a success, I can't help but think about the millions of people in Darfur who are suffering because of the Chinese continued sponsoring of the genocide there. China may have staged the greatest Olympic Opening Ceremony ever but they have to look at themselves for assisting in the death of hundreds of thousands of people thousand miles away.”

No. 18htn believes the Olympic should be “a celebration of sports and not a bad brew of politics.” Mum's the Word (or Pa) adds that politics should be minimized:

“We shouldn't import too much of the calculations of politics into the striving of honest sportsmen. Let them show off their sporting skills!”

How was the Olympic TV coverage in the region? VA to VN observes in Vietnam:

“The Vietnamese broadcaster didn't really say much about any of the countries until it got to the former Soviet Bloc - he was talking about Sergey Bubka when Ukraine was announced. I guess all the communist countries know each other.”

Andystorm is annoyed by too many advertisements. Since a state-owned network is broadcasting the Olympic Games in Indonesia, Java Milk hopes there will be less TV ads. First Draft from the Philippines has a complaint too:

“I've waited for some time for the Philippine delegation during the parade of participating countries. Unfortunately, when the Philippines' time to show up came, it only merited about three seconds on TV.”

Regional leaders attended the opening ceremonies. Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, was seen taking some pictures at the stadium. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and Cambodian King Sihamoni Norodom were also at the opening ceremonies. A blogger asks if Singapore leader MM Lee, whose face was very red during the program, was a bit drunk?

The Daily Brunei Resources shares a brief history of the Olympics. Check out the regional medal tally.

As the news of the inscription of Cambodia's 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple announced by the World Heritage Committee early this month in Quebec, Canada, a large number of text messages were sent via cellphone to share the exciting news during the midnight (Phnom Penh time).

People of the two countries witness the power of pride and nationalism, again, particularly at the time that Cambodia heading to national election on July 27 and that Thailand is struggling with her own internal politic.

Not surprisingly, as the world is more connected, at least virtually, Thai and Cambodian citizens begin their discussions on the Internet for the first time. A post of link with title “Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia,” appeared on Global Voices Online on June 24, attracted 70 comments (at the time of writing this post).

Nationalism versus Rationalism
Somongkol Teng, a former Fulbright scholar, proudly announced the official news of the newly inscribed temple on his blog, which has attracted a number of comments from his readers, including people in neighboring country Thailand.

A comment left by a Thai citizen, who identifies as Tavorn Kamboonreang, on Somongkol's blog post, has led to a long, heated discussion.

On July 10, 2008, Tavorn commented:

Dear Khamen(Cambodian) Neighbors,
You think you win the Preah Vihear World Heritage now but soon you will see that you lost because UNESCO will send 7 nations including Thailand to “invade” your country. UNESCO ripped our two countries apart by siding with you and your foxy politicians. You know where you belong. Look at Phnom Penh which was built to model after Bangkok by King Narodom who lived and worked in Bangkok under Thai Royal Patronage for years. Rejoice now but be prepared to get back to be under Thailand’s protection again because you need to be where you belong. I am your Thai neighbor and it’s my duty to help you get back to your good sense. Remember who help you when your country was under the Khmer Rouge-Pol Pot and your refugees had nowhere else to run to but Thailand. Please take care and be grateful.

Does an individual opinion reflect the Thai society in general? Thai native Isriya Paireepairit, a technology columnist for a number of Thai newspapers and magazines, wrote a post on the issue in Thai language (he also provides translation here) that:

I quoted the follow up article by Dr. Charnvit Kasetsiri. He stated that Preah Vihear is definitely belonged to Cambodia from both historical-archaeological and legal. The Thai claim (geological) has never been supported by World Court.

Another blog post of his deals with one of his friends, who lives in the United Kingdom. Isriya asked an interesting question in response to a campaign running by his friend who wants to claim back Preah Vihear temple for Thai citizens.

I quoted my conversation with my Thai friend (I'm living in UK at the moment) to demonstrate the general public's view on this incident. This friend now wants to “bring back Preah Vihear” to Thai people. I question them as ‘is Preah Vihear really belonged to us? (So we can
get it back). I also quote Thongchai Winichakul, a famous Southeast Asian History Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wrote an article about nationalist. The title can be translated as “Preah Vihear will be yet another racism timebomb”

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Several thousand people gathered at Wat Phnom to celebrate the day. Savada Khmer [in PDF], a song composed by Samdech Sangha Raja Jhotañano Chuon Nath (1883 -1969).

Savada Khmer translated into English
All Khmers, please remember the root and history of our great country
Our boundary was wide and well known
Others always thought highly of our race
And always placed our race as the elders.

We have great heritage and culture
Which has spread far and wide in the Far East.
Religion, arts and education,
Music, philosophy and strategies are all that we have spread.

All Khmers, please remember our roots and history
Which speaks of the grandeur of our great race
Make up your mind and body and try hard to rebuild
In order to lift the value of our nation
To once again rise to the greatness that we once had.

Is the power of nationalism as strong as the power of love? So far, at least two public events organized in the Cambodian capital to celebrate the important event as well as to reclaim the so called ‘unity' for the country. Donations have been made, largely by Phnom Penh-based business people, to help military at the Cambodian-Thai border. Cambodian journalism lecturer Moeun Chhean Nariddh takes a look at the history of nationalism used in the mainstream media to fight against French colonialism, then the Chinese and Vietnamese dominance. The opinionated media trainer wrote an op-ed to a daily newspaper that:

…Nevertheless, the media’s role in promoting nationalism is not new. The pioneer of Cambodian media started the first Khmer-language newspaper in 1936 with the explicit mission to promote nationalism and engage in Cambodia’s struggle for independence from French colonial rule. A nationalistic Cambodian press appeared first to challenge French rule, then the Chinese and Vietnamese dominance in Cambodia’s economy and politics, and also American “imperialism,” until the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975.

Richard, an observer and blogger at Connecting the Dots, wrote a blog post that the current Thai government, under-fired for it first supported Cambodian government in getting the temple listed, which it later withdrew due to an injunction issued by Thailand's Administrative Court to suspend any move endorsing Cambodia's bid to list the ancient temple as UNESCO's World Heritage site:

Although the court ruled against Thailand, many Thais never accepted the ruling in their hearts. As a result the signing of the documents between Thailand and Cambodia was all it took to set this off. Thailand’s ruling party the People Power Party (PPP) is under attack for a variety of reasons, this signing became just another avenue of attack. The signing was ruled to be in violation of the Thai constitution in that parliament was excluded. The reputation of the PPP of not caring about laws, rules and the Thai people and now also being seen as very possibly giving up Thai soil to Cambodia has set this nationalism movement in motion. This has lead to escalation of conflict ant the site of the temple with both Thai and Cambodian military on the scene. There is no doubt to outsiders that the temple issue is being used as leverage to force this apparently useless Thai government out.

In an article appeared in Bangkok-based Prachatai, an independent online newspaper, Harrison George discusses the history (including what led to an anti-Thai-riot in 2003) of the two countries, both are members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

And now our ignorance of Thailand’s history is threatening relations with Cambodia. We’ve seen this before. In 2003, in the run up to Cambodian elections, actress Suvanant Kongying was falsely reported in the Cambodian press (possibly by a rival company to the Mistine cosmetics she was fronting for) as saying that Angkor Wat should be given back to Thailand. ‘Given back’, because it had been stolen from Thailand by the Cambodians.
The Khmers, whose schoolbooks seem to be as nationalistically one-sided as everyone else’s, got understandably irate about this. But so did the Thais. When the news was breaking I was told by 2 Thais who had the benefit of a university education, that Suvanant’s alleged statement was so obviously untrue it must have been fabricated. I asked what they meant. Cambodia couldn’t have ‘stolen’ Angkor Wat from Thailand, they explained, because Thailand had never occupied it.

Live update from Preah Vihear province:
I've just received an update from Geffrey Cain, our Contributing Author, who is currently is Preah Vihear province to cover the news. Here is his message sent to me on July 20, 2008:

Writing from the Thai-Cambodia border where I'm covering the dispute. Needless to say, things out here are incredibly tense. Yesterday we had a major stand-off between Thai and Cambodian soldiers at a pagoda, where they raised their guns at each other and threatened to fire. Today the Thai military has deployed cannons facing our position.