In The News

Chin Chin Choo!

Pallavi Aiyar March 18, 2004
Despite producing the largest number of films in the world, India's movie industry has yet to make a dent in the Chinese market. Relations between Beijing and New Delhi have warmed over the past few years, but the benefit of better ties has accrued almost entirely to trade in other products. China's strict quota on imported films, coupled with the strong appeal of American culture to...

Expat Perks Drying Up - Even for S'poreans Abroad

Chuang Peck Ming March 9, 2004
Singaporeans are losing their 'edge' as professionals in a globalized world, but they still demand high expat salaries, reports this article. In China, employers of large companies favor Singaporeans for managerial positions because they speak English and Chinese fluently, and being Asians with working experience in western multinational companies, they "provide a good balance of...

India and Pakistan Get Ready for Cricket

M.J.Akbar March 8, 2004
As Indian and Pakistani cricket teams face off this week, the matches may arouse more emotions than the two countries' recent diplomatic relations. The resumption of play on the sub-continent is a remarkable turn in a relationship that has been marked by bloody conflict over the disputed Kashmir region, argues M.J. Akbar, editor of The Asian Age. Now, political pragmatism may outweigh...

Party's Over

Reem Nafie March 8, 2004
On January 1, 2004, the Egyptian government stopped granting foreign belly dancers licenses to dance within the nation. Claiming that the national dance was being appropriated by foreigners, the Ministry of Labor says it moved to alleviate Egyptian unemployment in the dancing industry. Belly dancing was invented in Egypt and has historically been a national art form, being performed at top...

Protectionism Hurts US Schools

Amity Shlaes March 7, 2004
In America's 'panic' over outsourcing, says this opinion piece in the Financial Times, education is a key factor that has received little attention. For too long, says Amity Shlaes, the US public education system has been coddled and protected from competition. American students' poor showing on international educational assessments is the result of decades of decline. The...

Chinatown Is a Hard Sell in Italy

Daniel Williams March 2, 2004
Rome recently laid down the law on would-be founders of a Chinatown in the city's downtown area. The city wants to avoid the creation of an ethnic ghetto “in the historic center of Rome.” The Italians’ strongest complaint is the isolationist nature of the Chinese neighborhood, which operates almost entirely apart from the rest of the city. Many of the Chinese immigrants do not speak...

Balancing Reactions

Gihan Shahine March 1, 2004
Across the Mediterranean from France, Muslims and Christians alike are showing their distaste for the new French ban on "conspicuous" religious symbols in the schools. French politicians have decided that Muslim headscarves, Jewish yarmulkes, and "large" Christian crosses have no place within its secular schools. Muslim and other religious activists disagree. To truly live...