Global Voices · Citizen media stories from December 2011

December, 2011

Monthly archive · 184 posts

Stories from December, 2011

16 December 2011

Vietnam: What’s New at Barcamp Saigon?

More than 550 people registered and participated in the fifth Barcamp Saigon last week in RMIT International University, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The attendance surpassed the record number of participants in the last Barcamp Saigon which was held just five months ago.

· read »

Armenia: The British Ambassador's Facebook Diplomacy

Written by Onnik Krikorian · Western Europe, Central Asia & Caucasus

An interactive Question and Answer session on Facebook by the British Ambassador to Armenia highlighted both the potential for social media as a tool for engagement as well as some its deficiencies.

· read »

Iran: Unpaid Worker Throws Shoe at President Ahmadinejad

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

Several Iranian bloggers reacted with irony to the news that Mahmoud Ahamadinejad, Iran's president, became a target of an angry shoe thrower, during a speech in the northern city, Sari on December 12, 2011.

· read »

Morocco: Singer's Performance in Tel Aviv Ignites Debate on Israel's Cultural Boycott

Written by Hisham Almiraat · Middle East & North Africa

Moroccan netizens are divided as to whether to support a call for a boycott of a Moroccan singer who performed in Tel Aviv despite calls for her to cancel the performance in Israel.

· 1

· read »

Kyrgyzstan: “There Will Be No Winter”

Written by Chris Rickleton · Central Asia & Caucasus

Governments fall, parliamentary speakers come and go, and as one season fades another always begins. That, at least, was what Kyrgyz Internet users thought prior to former presidential candidate Arstanbek Abdylayev’s startling announcement that “there will be no winter”.

· 2

· read »

China: Actor Christian Bale Roughed Up Trying to Visit Chen Guangcheng

Written by John Kennedy · East Asia

Hollywood actor Christian Bale made a detour from promotion in Beijing of his upcoming film to try and visit illegally detained Chinese human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, hoping to shake the hand of a man he calls an inspiration.

· 4

· read »

Updates from December, 2011

25 December 2011

Lithuania

Inspired by the example of Kaunas, Lithuania, Macedonian Twitter users made a Christmas tree from plastic bottles at the Skopje City Park on Dec. 25, to raise awareness of everyone's responsibility for the environment. The action's organizers used their blogs [mk, mk, mk, mk] as a starting point for the quick social media campaign #елкамк (elka = a fir tree). The tree has remained in place during the night, and if the poor people who gather plastic from the streets and garbage dumpsters for recycling don't harvest it, the authors plan [mk] to properly dispose of it after the New Year's.

• Filip Stojanovski

Singapore

Singapore MP Seng Han Thong issued a statement of apology after it was reported that he cited the poor English proficiency of Indian and Malay staffs for the unpreparedness of the Singapore's Mass Rapid Transport during emergency situations. Many people criticized the comment for its racist undertone.

• Mong Palatino

24 December 2011

Jamaica

Yvette J. Rowe contemplates a Jamaican election campaign advertisement that portrays opposition leader Portia Simpson-Miller as “too loud”: “These ads about attitude and posture are scoring dubious points rather than talking about the policies or the future of the country.”

• Nicholas Laughlin

Barbados

A government press conference addressing a leptospirosis outbreak prompts Barbados Free Press to ask some questions: “Why must every new leptospirosis outbreak be a surprise? Why are Barbados governments incapable of implementing and carrying through with long-term plans about issues that are foundational to the health and safety of citizens?”

• Nicholas Laughlin