Latest posts by Jeff Ooi
Malaysia: Medical blogs
Medical doctors in Malaysia aren't exactly archaic as many do use email and quite a number of them have started blogging. Malaysian Medical Resources has a sampling of Malaysian Medical Doctor Blogs in the Doctor Weblog Aggregator. Medical students are following suit.
Japan: Disaster drills
September 1 is annual Disaster Drills Day in Japan nationwide. This year, over 1 million people took part, spurred in part by the increase in major earthquakes over the summer.
Japan: Selling Lexus
After making a roaring success in US automobile market, Lexus will finally be sold in Japan. But there are key issues in making market entry to its parental country.
Japan: Politics as pagenat
Is politics a pagenat? Horie Takafumi, CEO of internet startup livedoor, plays Schwarzenegger-the-governor and runs as an independent candidate in the Hiroshima #6 district.
China: Hu's first visit to U.S.
President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China will make his first visit the United States of America since his ascension to the top leadership post in China. Visiting President Bush, Microsoft and Boeing are listed in his itinerary,
China: No. 1 in car audio
China has become the world's car audio manufacturing centre, reports Research and Market 2005.
China: Guanxi in job placement
Guanxi (personal contacts) still features prominently in job placement in Shanghai. Applicants in China find the same frustration with job posting services such as Monster and Hotjobs in the US: they just aren’t effective.
China: Dragon rising
Has the World Trade Organization (WTO) failed to restrain the Rising Dragon now that China is also having problems with exporting to the world? The Vagabond Society blog says with assistance rather than insistence, China can grow and advance to be a partner power rather than a balancing power.
China:
Just as U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, was making a 5-day visit to China, a group of AIDS patients from Shangcai county had traveled to Beijing to make an official complaint over their plight. AIDS activist Hu Jia was beaten twice by national security police near Beijing,...
Taiwan: Investors beware
Scholars and experts warned Taiwanese investors and businesses about the credibility of China's official statistics regarding economic growth. One of them said China's economic growth rate did not tally with unemployment that ran as high as 130 million people nationwide.
Indonesia: Swapping lives
Dewi, a 23-year old from Jogjakarta from Central Java, will swap life with Violet, a 19-year old from Sydney for 10 weeks. Violet explored issues ranging from sexuality to the rise of terrorism, besides testing the perception that Muslims are dangerous and unpredictable people. Simultaneously, Dewi documents in Sydney the...
Malaysia: Gagging airwaves & cyberspace
Malaysia is gaining harsh perception over its governance of the airwaves and cyberspace. Indonesia-based blogger Indcoup links to a story on Malaysia's newly launched crackdown on porn stored on mobile phones – police are authorised to carry out random spot checks to catch culprits. Quoting Anonymous Blogging, he says Malaysia...
Indonesia: “Dollarization”
American economist, Steven Hanke of Johns Hopkins University, has a harsh prescription to cure Indonesia's economic woes: “The only way Indonesia can stabilize the currency is to take all discretion away from the Bank Indonesia… it has no credibility whatsoever.” He wants the “dollarization of Indonesia” to take over.
South Korea: Internationalised TV
The Korean emergence now takes the form of internationalized television. After making waves in Southeast Asia, Korean TV serial Daejangeum looks set to conquer stations in the United States, broadcasting under the English title, “Jewel in the Palace”. The Korean government has created an official English website devoted to these...
Singapore: Blogger wins poetry awards
Lawyer/blogger Gilbert KohChin Wang won the Golden Point Award 2005 for English Poetry. The Awards is the only national creative writing competition which welcomes entries in the four official languages in Singapore, namely English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
Singapore: New anti-terrorist tactics
Singapore tightens anti-terrorist procedure. Trucks carrying petrol and other flammable materials will be limited to three entry points into the central business district effective October1. Besides, satellite guided tracking devices have been fitted to the trucks and alarm will be triggered if the driver strays from the approved routes.
Indonesia: Dutch scholarship
A. Fatih Syuhud highlights StuNed (Studeren in Nederland), a scholarship programme that aims to contribute to the development of Indonesia through the strengthening of human resources in Indonesian organisations. Some 200 full scholarships are offered for professionals to follow master programmes, short courses or tailor made training, all conducted in...
Philippines: Economy refocus
If it succeeds, Philippines will be one of the beneficiaries including the other 99 heavily indebted countries. Jose de Venecia’s program called “debt-for-equity-in-investments” has won Kofi Annan’s endorsement “as a creative way of approaching the issue”, as well as from the Italian and German governments. The JDV’s proposal also sparked...
Macao: Better air routes
Budget airlines are adding new routes linking Macao and South-East Asia. Singapore-based Tiger Airways will launch flights between Macao and Manila in late October 2005, in addition to its Singapore-Macao route. Air Asia currently operates Macao-Kuala lumpur and Macao-Bangkok flights.
Vietnam: English blooming
Vietnam is discarding its Francophone past. English is the language of business and travel in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City now. Every child is now taught English from the time they start school, while schools teaching English to adults are everywhere. Via Richard McKinnon.
Myanmar: HIV/AIDS agencies leaving
Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia is concerned over media report which said many HIV/AIDS agencies are leaving Myanmar as it has proved so difficult to work within the military rules and regulations. Currently, there are an estimated 170,000 to 620,000 people living with HIV in Myanmar. Infection rate among its...
