China's new European trade hub: An Irish town of 18,000 - Christian Science Monitor
The Athlone Institute of Technology hosts more than 200 Chinese students – one of the links that helped bring the trade hub to the town, says Prof. Ciaran Ó Catháin, the president of the school and one of the players in the project negotiations. Professor Ó Catháin would not disclose ...
Vietnam’s Problems, Promises - Asia Sentinel/RTÉ World Report
“We tend to lose around 20% of our staff every year after Tet” (the Vietnamese New Year), said Kim Jung Hee, manager of a factory in Binh Duong province, an hour's drive from Saigon's centre. Her Korean company NB Blue employs a thousand workers, in a clean and well-lit factory ...
Thailand sentences American to prison for insulting king - Los Angeles Times
"In Thailand they put people in jail without proof," Lerpong said Thursday, his arms and legs shackled, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. "I was born in Thailand, but this does not mean I am Thai. I am proud to be an American citizen."
DMZ: Road trip to the world's most heavily armed border - CNNGo
SEOUL - As the tour bus moves from central Seoul to the city outskirts, the seamless transition from one of the world's biggest and most vibrant cities to the world's most heavily armed border is as surreal as it is functional, with roadside bus-stops giving way to military watchtowers even ...
Potent mix for Timor-Leste - Asia Times
DILI - Land, corruption and poverty are all on the table as Timor-Leste gets into political mode ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2012, with one controversial figure already throwing his hat into the ring.
If Samuel Beckett met Pol Pot - Asia Sentinel/Irish Examiner
TIK PANHAO, CAMBODIA - In some of Cambodia’s thousands of killing fields, the bones of the dead can sometimes be seen, rising to the surface after storms or rain, like grisly emblems of an unburied past. Perhaps 16,000 died at the s-21 Detention Camp in Phnom Penh, or at Choeung ...
Voting ends in southern Sudan referendum - Sunday Tribune
Kyeli, Blue Nile State, Sudan - “Soon after we married, my husband was killed during the war”, says Hawa Abdul-Gadr. Her eyes show a suppressed grief, but her demeanour is purposeful. That said, there is a perceptible sadness - long-kept under wraps but perhaps closer to the surface than she ...
An unbreakable bond? – Asia Times
JERUSALEM – In 'The Great Divorce' C.S. Lewis attempted to allegorise about a reality which he admitted he could not know, but tentatively hoped to suggest. The US-Israeli relationship, to most, seems like an unbreakable bond, and any potential divorce might be regarded as unimaginable. But when Israeli Prime Minister ...
Narcotic use, drought rob babies of food – The Washington Times
DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia | When drought and food shortages hit, it is the very young who suffer first, and most. Weighing only 10 pounds, Ayaan is among nearly 100,000 Ethiopian children whose lives are at risk. Just four days before her first birthday, she is lighter than an average 3-month-old ...
Corruption trumps tribalism – New York Times (IHT)
Kenyans were cynical about their political establishment long before the latest election violence. One wisecrack doing the rounds since last year says "there is more chance of a Luo becoming president of the United States than president of this country" - referring to Barack Obama, whose father hails from the ...
US cables show taboos in Thailand-Burma relations – The Irrawaddy
July 19th, 2011
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21720
BANGKOK—More recently-released US diplomatic cables have shed light on Thailand’s relationship with Burma as perceived by American officials at their embassy in Bangkok.
The documents suggest that despite rhetorical differences, there was continuity of policy both before the 2006-2008 crisis in Thailand—when then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup—and afterwards when Democrat leader Abhisit Vejajjiva took over power.
The cables provide accounts of various US officials, including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, discussing various aspects of Thailand’s foreign policy with Thai lawmakers such as Thaksin Shinawatra and outgoing Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya. (more…)
Media and Malaysia’s protest – PBS Mediashift
July 18th, 2011
One of the 1667 people arrested by police at the protest (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
More than a week after Malaysian police fired teargas and water cannons at thousands of demonstrators seeking reform of the country’s electoral system, a Facebook petition calling on Prime Minister Najib Razak to quit has drawn over 200,000 backers, highlighting the role of social and new media in Malaysia’s restrictive free speech environment.
One contributor to the page wrote: “The world is full of multimedia and electronics; the things we so call camera and videocam … And photos and videos were already being uploaded on the Internet but ‘it’ still denies the truth and makes stories and lies until today.”
Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have played a major role in mobilising some of the demonstrators in the run-up to the rally, which went ahead despite a police ban and lockdown imposed on sprawling Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the July 9 protest. (more…)
Malaysian Worker Amnesty Postponement Leaves Burmese in Limbo – The Irrawaddy
July 15th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21702
Burmese worker at workshop managed by Kyaw Thel (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
KUALA LUMPUR — After seven years as an undocumented migrant worker in Malaysia, waiter Ko Saw knows well the tough grind facing his compatriots in one of Southeast Asia’s more advanced economies.
“In my seven years here I have only been caught once by the police,” he recalls over a dish of deep-fried Burmese snacks at an open-air row of Asian street restaurants in the Puchong 12 district of Kuala Lumpur. The signs around are in Burmese, Chinese, Thai and Bahasa Indonesia, as well as English and Bahasa Malaysia, and the staff at the restaurants are all immigrant workers.
“I was taken to Semenya detention center,” he says, half-smiling through a slow, rueful shake of the head. “However, I was lucky. It was not so crowded then, so we did not have such a bad time of it.”
“I still have to watch for police, and try to avoid them,” he says. “I cannot afford not to work, as my parents are over 70 and need whatever money I can send back to them in Rangoon each month.” (more…)
From Jailhouse to Minefield – The Irrawaddy
July 13th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21684
Burma’s army continues to use prisoners as porters in ethnic insurgency areas, in another violation of international humanitarian law.
BANGKOK — “The soldiers told us if we were alive tomorrow we would be lucky,” said Tun Tun Aung, a prisoner originally from a town near Mandalay who was press-ganged into front-line duty by the Burmese Army along with 29 other convicts from Meiktila prison in December 2010. He said there were about 1,000 prisoners in Karen State when his group arrived there, whereupon they were divided up into smaller units to carry bombs for the army. “We were never given food or water,” he said, recounting the arduous daily trek up mountains and through jungle, in the ever-dangerous region where Karen rebels have fought the Burmese Army since 1948.
More protests to come in Malaysia? – The Irrawaddy
July 11th, 2011
A harsh police response to Saturday’s electoral reform rally in Kuala Lumpur might signal another shift in Malasyian politics.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21663
KUALA LUMPUR – Saturday’s electoral reform rally has raised political stakes in advance of elections in Malaysia, with the Government threatening to continue its crackdown on the opposition-linked protest movement.
Protestors return to face police late on Saturday afternoon (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
In a defiant speech made on Sunday, PM Najib Razak said that the Government would implement electoral reform on its own terns, adding that “we want Malaysia and UMNO (the main governing party) to be respected by the world. So, go back, strengthen our unity and Insyallah, we will be successful in our struggle.” (more…)
Malaysia nips an hibiscus uprising – Asia Times
July 11th, 2011
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MG12Ae01.html
KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government is on the defensive after Malaysia’s biggest opposition-aligned protest in almost four years was put down forcefully on Saturday by riot police, water-cannons and teargas in the national capital.
Riot police fire tear gas at protestors approaching Merdeka Sq in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Over 1,600 people were arrested in the crackdown, including opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the leadership of the protest organizers, Bersih 2.0, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seeking reform of the country’s electoral system. (more…)
Thai PM-elect calls for reconciliation – The Irrawaddy
July 4th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21617
BANGKOK – Attempting to widen her incoming Government’s appeal, Thailand’s Prime Minister-elect Yingluck Shinawatra today announced a five-party coalition that will control 299 seats out of 500 in the next Thai parliament.
Yingluck Shinawatra and her coalition partners after press conf in Bangkok earlier Monday (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Her Peua Thai party won 265 seats in Sunday’s election, enough to govern alone with a narrow majority. (more…)
Thailand opposition wins election – Los Angeles Times
July 4th, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-thailand-election-20110704,0,4667812.story
Thailand’s first female prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is set to take office. She’s an admitted stand-in for her controversial brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin
Thailand's PM-elect Yingluck Shinawatra speaks to media at Peua Thai party HQ earlier this evening (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Shinawatra. Supporters hope the victory will endure but fear ‘dark hands will take away our rights again’.
By Mark Magnier and Simon Roughneen
Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand— Thailand’s main opposition party won a fractious election Sunday, paving the way for the selection of the nation’s first female prime minister and the possible return from exile of her controversial brother, as disenfranchised voters laid down a new challenge to the nation’s political establishment.
Several hundred supporters mobbed party headquarters as word spread that the Puea Thai party, led by political novice Yingluck Shinawatra, 44, had secured more than 260 of parliament’s 500 seats in preliminary results. The ebullient crowd chanted, danced, blocked traffic and set off fireworks.
“There is a lot more hard work to do,” she told cheering fans. “There are many things to accomplish to make reconciliation possible.”
Shinawatra supporters hope this seeming victory will endure, having seen past elections undermined by judicial decisions, military pressure and parliamentary maneuvers engineered by royalist conservatives. (more…)
Thailand goes to the polls – Los Angeles Times
July 3rd, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-thailand-election-20110703,0,6762985.story
Outgoing PM Abhisit votes earlier on Sunday (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
By Mark Magnier and Simon Roughneen, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Bangkok— Only one outcome appears clear as Thailand goes to the polls Sunday: the risk of violence no matter who wins.
A year after more than 90 people died in street protests and a bloody crackdown, many of the tensions that exploded in a ritzy shopping district of Bangkok have barely been papered over in a country beset by vast social and economic disparities.
“Eventually, only some kind of a workable grand bargain can save Thailand from itself,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “It’s imperative to heal the wounds of conflict and confrontation.” (more…)
Thailand readies for elections – The Diplomat
July 1st, 2011
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/07/01/thailand-readies-for-election/
Crowd gathers at National Stadium in Bangkok for Peua Thai's final campaign rally this evening July 1 (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
BANGKOK – “I am not sure who to vote for”, said Nawa Lee, a bus station clerk in Bang Na district of Bangkok. Between 20% and 30% of the voters remain undecided, according to some opinion polls, and with forty parties contesting 500 seats, there are plenty of options for voters, based on raw numbers at least. (more…)
