In The News

Japan will not slash aid budget for East Asia

Kwan Weng Kin August 13, 2002
As the largest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to East Asia, Japan plays a crucial role in maintaining regional economic stability. However, domestic concerns over Japan’s declining fiscal health have left others anxious about its role as a benefactor to China’s growing prosperity . Some feel that Japan is financing China’s economic growth. Nevertheless, recognizing East Asia as...

'Heat Island' Tokyo Is in Global Warming's Vanguard

James Brooke August 13, 2002
In Tokyo and in other growing metropolitan areas, global warming has become an increasingly grave and worldwide concern. The Japanese capital has seen an average increase in temperature of over 5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900. To help tackle the problem, the Japanese government has given tax breaks to those who plant gardens on their roofs. With new architectural innovations that make roofs...

Amnesty Urges Malaysia to Stop Whipping Illegals

Reuters August 12, 2002
Until recently, caning was an infrequent practice in Malaysia, authorized as a supplementary punishment for many crimes but used only 13 times in 2001. The practice has been revived now as a punishment for illegal immigrants, most of whom come from Indonesia. Amnesty International has requested that the practice be stopped, calling it cruel and unlikely to deter immigrants or asylum-seekers....

Vegetable Prices Set to Soar After Exodus of Illegals

August 8, 2002
When more than 320,000 illegal immigrants left Malaysia during a four month amnesty, the agricultural sector took a bad hit. Farms in Johor Baru and Bukit Kempas were left unattended or worse, completely weeded over. With supply down by 40 percent, officials fear that consumers in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore might have to pay 30 percent more for all their vegetables. Farmers say they hired illegal...

Filipino Nurses Losing Out to Chinese

August 6, 2002
Greater numbers of Chinese nurses are now finding employment in the UK and US, fast overtaking the demand for popular Filipino nurses. Chinese nurses have gained the upper hand as a result of their improved proficiency in English and their consent to pay higher placement fees as part of a salary reduction scheme. China helped the nurses by providing language instruction, prompting some in the...

…And Click Here for China

Erik Eckholm August 4, 2002
Though the Chinese government is notorious for keeping tabs on the information its citizens can access, it is having a harder time now that the Internet’s popularity has surged in recent years. Surfing the web is cheap and fast at any of 200,000 cyber cafes around the country. Though many anticipated that the Internet would be primarily a forum for dissidents and a force for political change,...

25 Million Around the World Learning to Say Ni Hao

July 24, 2002
In the last century, only English, French and Spanish could claim the title of an international language. But thanks to Beijing’s new policy of increased communication and cooperation with the international community, the study of Mandarin is growing rapidly at colleges and universities worldwide. Though regional dialects persist throughout China, Beijing's insistence that Mandarin become...