Global Voices Online » East Asia

Global Lives Project: Recording the lives of 10 people for 1 day

Juliana Rincón Parra — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:50:31 +0000

The Global Lives Project is a global initiative created to showcase the lives of 10 different people from all over the world by following them and recording 24 hours of their day in video. These 240 hours of material will be shown at the same time in an installation where a person will be able to walk through 10 different rooms projecting each one of their lives, and a central hub where the 10 screens will be seen simultaneously. Following, their project presentation where they explain what their goals are, how they plan to reach them and more information on the project:

What they are attempting to do is showcase the diversity in the planet, to be able to show to any person how others live, unedited and unscripted. Not only will it be available during the installation, but the content will be online, as a sort of collaborative online video encyclopedia of human experiences.

They are also looking for video makers in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa, exhibition hosts who could show the 20-meter diameter exhibit, translators and funders. More information can be found at their website. So far they have shot a pilot with a US cable car driver in San Francisco and a Brazilian musician/city permit inspector, as well as a shoot in Malawi and another in Japan.

Malaysia: Higher education

Mong Palatino — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:26:19 +0000

The Tempinis diaries thinks Malaysia should seriously consider setting up an academic advisory panel for higher education.

Indonesia: Manhunt for terror suspects

Mong Palatino — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:23:59 +0000

Indonesian police have launched a nationwide manhunt for two top terror suspects behind the latest deadly bombings in Bali. SPH purple reporters provide key background information about the activities of the suspects.

Malaysia: Political scandals

Mong Palatino — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:21:01 +0000

Sex charges, disappearing witnesses, murder, fuel protests. Indeed, political drama is unfolding in Malaysia. Mr. Definite observes local politics gets interesting.

Vietnam: Dissident monk passes away

Mong Palatino — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:16:48 +0000

Ven. Thich Huyen Quang, the Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam has passed away. Vietnam Human Rights Journal comments: “It is sad that a man of Thich Huyen Quang's stature could have been forced into a form of internal exile in central Vietnam, essentially cut off from the outside world, for no crime other than speaking out boldly for religious freedom and human rights. He has truly lived by the Quaker expression, ‘speak truth to power’, and has paid a price for it.”

Laos: Solar-powered lanterns

Mong Palatino — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:13:33 +0000

A company is bringing solar-powered systems to light up the remote communities of Laos.

Laos: Reflections on communist invasion

Mong Palatino — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:10:51 +0000

Laotian Teacher recalls the sad experience of Laos under communist rule

East Timor: Protest against luxury motor vehicles

Mong Palatino — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:07:45 +0000

The East Timor Students Forum is threatening hunger strikes against the decision of the National Parliament to purchase luxury motor vehicles.

China: Senstive Press-Up

Oiwan Lam — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:21:35 +0000

In the Weng'an mass incident investigation, the murder suspect claimed that he was doing press-up in the bridge when the 15-years old girl jumped down to the river. Many netizens started to spoof about the term “press-up”, and now it has become a sensitive term in may portal websites according to lipuman.

China: August moon over Beijing

John Kennedy — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:58:28 +0000

Veteran China pundit Philip J Cunningham looks back at the phases of the moon leading up to the Tiananmen student protest in 1989 and forward to the August moon as it will be when the Olympics begin next month as possible justification for tightened security leading up to the Games in his post, ‘August Moon Over Beijing‘.

China: AI's Human Rights Beijing 2008 campaign

John Kennedy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:26:43 +0000

Red.CBGB at Bullog.cn has posted several of the images from Amnesty International's Beijing Olympics human rights campaign in a photo post, ‘Olympic project'. ‘It feels like a little too much,' writes one reader. ‘This is no exaggeration at all,' writes another, ‘but the truth is always hard for anyone to take.'

China: Shutting down for the Olympics

John Kennedy — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:25:41 +0000

Just over a month until the big games, Fons Tuinstra at China Herald takes a look around Beijing as the city prepares itself in ‘Olympic shutdown gets into places'.

Beijing Announces Traffic Rules to Combat Air Pollution

Kelly Proctor — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:11:04 +0000

Danwei says Beijing recently announced traffic rules that will be in effect during the Olympics. The rules dictate that from July 20th to September 20th 2008, only cars with license plates ending in odd numbers can drive, among other rules. Authorities estimate the new rules will cut down on Beijing's traffic by 70 percent [zh]. Richard Brubaker at All Roads Lead to China blog worries that traffic disruptions are inevitable.

China's netizens weighed in on the new rules. GeLaDanDong complained:

随着北京奥运会的日益临近，奥运对我们的生活的影响也开始越来越大了：禁烟令、禁塑令、坐飞机不能带洗发水、打火机、坐经济舱只能带一件随身行李……，听说以后地铁也要这样；坐火车也不让带水果刀了……，应该还有很多很多。还有就是从7月20日开始直道9月20日的单双号限行！由于住地距离单位有30多公里的距离，所以早早开始考虑如何解决这个问题。首先想到的是再买一辆车…无论是买新车还是二手车似乎都不太理想。那么，乘公交车吧！好，至少要换乘三次。而且换乘站点距离较远，全程大约需要2.5小时.

An English translation of the comments would be:

As the Beijing Olympics comes closer with every passing day, the Games' influence on our lives is also increasing: commands to stop smoking and a ban on free plastic bags; when taking planes you can't bring shampoo, or lighters; when sitting in economy rows you can only bring one piece of carry-on luggage….I hear that these rules will soon apply to subways, too: on the trains, you can't even bring a fruit knife…there will probably be more and more rules. And now there's this temporary regulation that will alternative driving days according to cars' even and odd-numbered license plates, from July 20 to September 20! Since my residence is more than 30 kilometers from my workplace, I'm going to have to start thinking soon about how to solve this problem. First I thought about buying another car (with a different license plate)…but no matter if I buy a new or a second-hand car this isn't ideal. Alright, then, take the bus! Well, I have to change buses at least three times. Furthermore, the place to change the bus is far, and the whole process will probably take about 2.5 hours.

And another, at RenXin Blog:

这虽然在意料之中，但也感觉时间有点太长了，会给人们出行带来很大的不便。没有办法，为了奥运，我们要做好充分的思想准备，克服一切困难，确保奥运圆满成功。

The comments' English translation is:

Although it's being anticipated, I still feel the (two-month) period is a little too long, and it will bring a lot of inconvenience to the people. There's no way out, (because) for the Olympics, we want to the fullest amount of thought preparation (and) get around all difficulties, to ensure satisfactory success.

China: Olympics reporter barred entry

John Kennedy — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:55:25 +0000

Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth translates articles from two Hong Kong dailies of opposing views on the news that one of those newspapers' Olympic beat reporters has been refused entry and sent home.

China: U.S and China Economies

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:15:22 +0000

Xueyong compares the U.S and China economic performance and pointed out that even though China has much higher GDP, its price economy is without solid base and thus results in a serious bubble economy.