Column - THE AsiaN

Bengali New Year’s Day celebrated

DHAKA, Bangladesh— The Bengali nation celebrated the Pahela Baishakh (New Year’s day) on April 14 amidst festivity and much fanfare throughout the country to welcome the Bengali year 1419. The Bangla calendar was first introduced by the Mughal Emperor Akbar ( 1556-1605AD) to keep tract of the tax collection time in…

Hallyu and mutual respect

It was truly an accident. I was listening to a speaker talk about hallyu, the Korean cultural wave that’s making its way around the world. He showed many photos and video clips as vivid proof that youngsters in Europe, the Americas and even in the Middle East had fallen for…

Column

Cartoons of corrupted Bangladesh minister on front pages

Thursday was in no way designated for any local, national or international event relating to satirical cartoon. But in a unique coincidence in Bangladesh media, six major national dailies on April 13 preferred to publish front page cartoons on Railway Minister Suranjit Sen Gupta along side with reports, editorial …

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Bangladesh endeavors to save fish

Fishermen arrange fishing nets to prepare for fish catching at a river near Dhaka. DHAKA, Bangladesh–As far as food habit is concerned, the South Asian nation of Bangladesh is traditionally identified as “Machey Bhatey Bangali” meaning Bengalis survive on fish and rice. Fish is an essential and irreplaceable food in…

Asian nations watch effect of SNS campaigning

As 40.18 million go to the polls in South Korea’s parliamentary elections today, other Asian democracies are watching to see how the use of social media in campaigning bears on the outcome. What difference will it make given the close fight between the ruling conservative New Frontier Party and the…

Regret on overseas voting

Measures needed to raise low voter turnout The nation went to the polls Wednesday to elect 300 lawmakers who will serve the people for the next four years. This time there was a unique phenomenon not seen in previous elections ― overseas Koreans took part for the first time. Although…

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All politics is national

With a National Assembly election tomorrow and a presidential election in December, 2012 is a big political year for Korea. In recent campaigning, politicians have centered their promises on local issues, but have used national issues to motivate voters. This is an interesting contradiction that says much about the state…

East Asia

[China Now] Aging society, a new challenge

Aging society is a new challenge facing China. According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the number of Chinese population aged over 65 is 123 million or 9.1 percent of Chinese total population of 1.4 billion as of the end of 2011. The statistics was announced by the Health Aging Symposium last…

East Asia

[China Now] Kimchi museum attracts Chinese attention

Chinese journalist Yao Quilin of Xinhua carried a brief story on the People’s Daily Online with a title “Kimchi Museum in Seoul, South Korea” on Apr. 05, 2012. His stroy reflected a great interest of Chinese media in Korea’s traditional food culture. Chinese journalists visited Kimchi Museum in Seoul on Apr.…

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Bangladesh: Where water and religion meet in harmony

DHAKA, Bangladesh –Water is not only a crisis for Bangladesh but also an integral part of religious rituals in a country imbued with communal harmony over the centuries. Bangladesh has been hosting a two-day annual “Astami Snan,” one of the religious festivals of the Hindu community, beginning from Friday in…