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Central Asia

“Big Brother is Watching You”: a Dystopian Journey through the Rating System for the Chinese Citizens

Launched on Britain’s Channel 4 in 2011 and then acquired by Netflix in 2015, Black Mirror is a tv series created by Charlie Brooker. The episodes are standalone works about the interaction between people and technology and about future behaviors. Among the episodes, Nosedive is one of the most interesting:…
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East Asia

Veneration & Attachment: Cats in Asian Culture

Cats in the Middle East The world can be divided into two main categories: people who love cats and people who hate them. To be more precise, the first group of people are really crazy for cats. But this is not a recent phenomenon. The bond between cats and humans…
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East Asia

Makli – the Necropolis of Invaders, Kings, Queens and Saints

With funding by the Republic of Korea, the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization UNESCO has launched a program in Pakistan to hold training workshops for the officials of provincial archeological departments of the country on ‘involving the local communities in protecting and preservation of historic places and ancient…
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South East Asia

Press Watch – Singapore: Reporter Warned Over Leakage of Official Secrets

It was a what is being described as a state secret that Janice Tai, a young reporter of The Straits Times (ST), Singapore’s premier mass-circulation daily, stumbled upon while chasing a story. She was following up on a tip-off about an online resale portal that the state housing agency, the…
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South Asia

Woes of the Third Generation Asian

As traditional Asian societies prepared to venture into the New Year, it may be pertinent to introspect on how family units fared socially and financially thus far. How societies evolved and to which direction future generations are headed. In most countries, much has happened politically in the past seventy years.…
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East Asia

The Son Has Turned Black

There is an interesting theory about China: that it follows a policy of de-securitisation particularly for water related issues. It means, China shifts the matter from a security issue towards a political issue. It is happening once again with India and it is China’s way of maintaining a semblance of…
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East Asia

Relaxing Sensory Media for the Overstressed Millennial

Relaxing Sensory Media for the Overstressed Millennial As a girl, I often struggled with bouts of insomnia. Sleep came slowly, typically after an hour of lying awake in bed, and no amount of tossing and turning would help. Now, as an adult, insomnia still keeps me wide awake in the…
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South East Asia

Interview with Philippines’ beloved reporter, Ramon Tulfo

Ramon Tulfo (70) is one of the most well-known and respected journalists in the Philippines. He was the first of four children born to his independence-fighter father and Japanese mother. Tulfo currently works with renowned media outlet The Inquirer as a columnist and runs the regular radio channel ‘DWIZ 882…
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South East Asia

Unconditional support for Duterte’s War on Drugs by citizens

Philippines: the country that sent troops over to support the Korean war; the country that used to be second in wealth to neighboring Japan. In mid-1980s, the people continued in the long-fought race against President Marcos’ dictatorship, winning that race in June of 1987. And even though many Philippines have…
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Central Asia

The Diplomat’s Wife who stole Middle Eastern Treasures

Egyptian researcher of Egypt’s Heritage Taskforce Monica Hanna has uncovered the worst case of illegal pirating by Australian citizen Joan Howard, wife of Keith Howard who served as the Australian diplomat for the United Nations in 1967. In her open letter to H.E. Neil Hawkins (Ambassador of Australia to Egypt)…
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