I randomly picked up this book by Martha Nussbaum at the Munk Center library the other night. I remember reading about both the Godhra train carnage, the controversy over the Ayodhya temple and the anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat, I think mainly through the Economist.
I am glad that I did, because it was an incredibly captivating […]
I have been following the Burma protests, carefully optimistic, hoping that the great powers will take this opportunity to speak up and be pro-active, especially the other ASEAN countries. Now it looks like that is not going to happen, although I keep hoping, impressed with the great courage displayed by the citizens of Burma.
I came […]
I have been thinking for a while about wanting to post more quick links, without having to write long articles, when I want to share articles I have read, or sites I have come across. Perhaps something like what Kottke does with his tiny links. Perhaps I could also integrate my Google Reader shared links […]
A fascinating article about Daniel A. Bell who works as a professor of political thought at Tsinghua University in Beijing, one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Having also tough in Singapore, he offers some very interesting perspectives.
He writes about the problems he encountered in the one-party state of Singapore, where his teaching […]
It turns out that I will 99% sure be leaving for Indonesia in two weeks, going to work for CARE Canada for a year, in Jakarta. I am very excited, and now that exams are over I threw myself wholeheartedly at learning Bahasa Indonesia. It’s always exciting starting to learn a new language, and I […]
I remember the one time I went to PizzaHut in Wuhan, China, with some of my students. PizzaHut is extremely expensive in China, similar to a 7-course fancy restaurant in the west (compared to income), and they clearly wanted to make the best out of it. We got two salad plates that we could put […]
EastSouthWestNorth has long been among my favorite blogs about China, providing real insights into the media and internet world by posting long translations of newspaper articles, forum postings and the like. That’s where I got the story of Fu Rong, the mayor of Lingao in Hainan, who logged on to one of the most popular […]
I came across an interesting collection of photos of high-density housing in Hong Kong (thank you, Spacing Toronto), some very aesthetic pictures. I haven’t spend much time in Hong Kong, and don’t understand the city as I wish I did, but these pictures made me think of something. When discussing the past, present and future […]
This ia weird little story, that I don’t know all the details of. I am just researching an essay about Laos, a country I visited twice in the past. (Reading the history is very useful, and makes me realize that many of the judgments and assumptions I made about the country when I was there, […]
Just a quick one, and unfortunately I don’t have an English link (yet), but according to an article in the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, American NGOs have been combining missionary work and aid distribution in the areas hit by the tsunami in South-East Asia. According to a report made by the Swedish and English Save the […]
