https://www.scmp.com/rss/7026/feed Vaudine England was a journalist for three decades in South East Asia and Hong Kong for the BBC, Reuters, the Far Eastern Economic Review and several London newspapers. Now based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, she is completing a PhD in Asian history at Leiden University, is a research associate with the Hong Kong History Project at Bristol University. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com “Honey at Mrs Randall’s – a small quantity of good Honey in small jars, also Gin, Brandy, Sherry, Port, Champagne, Claret, Bottled Beer, Porter etc etc. Lyndhurst Terrace, Victoria.” For “honey” in this advert from June 12, 1851, read sex. Madame Randall had been an actress in Australia before she came to Hong Kong. Her advertisement in the city’s newspapers hinted at a rich, bittersweet world of diverse pleasures. She was advertising her brothel, which acquired fame for its impressive client... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3222722/prostitutes-and-kept-women-victorian-hong-kong-and-how-they-shaped-its-character?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3222722/prostitutes-and-kept-women-victorian-hong-kong-and-how-they-shaped-its-character?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jun 2023 00:15:07 +0000 Less than one month is left for the public to submit their ideas and opinions about what should be done with the 6,000 square-metre site bordered by Hollywood Road and Aberdeen, Staunton and Shing Wong Streets, just west of Central. The site, which has sat empty for 15 years, was the location of the Asiatic Police Quarters (later named the Police Married Quarters) from 1950. It was previously home to Queen's College which, in its earlier guise as the Central School, was the government's first... https://www.scmp.com/article/635428/schools-thought?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/635428/schools-thought?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000 When the Reverend Carl Smith died in Macau on Monday, the diverse peoples of the South China coast lost their most devoted chronicler. Unlike any before him, Smith kept his twinkling eyes on the lives of ordinary people in Hong Kong, Macau and beyond. Instead of listing the governors of the colony and their deeds, or following the history of the church through missionaries, Smith wondered about the other side - the people being ruled, or converted or, more often, not. He set out with ... https://www.scmp.com/article/633485/historian-focused-lives-ordinary-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/633485/historian-focused-lives-ordinary-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000 A leading historian on Hong Kong, Macau and the China coast, the Reverend Carl Thurman Smith, died on Monday in Macau at the age of 90. Smith, who was given an honorary doctorate by the Inter-University Institute of Macau in 2005, had been the inspiration of virtually every historical work on Hong Kong for decades. His warm, generous and humorous nature and razor-sharp memory will be missed by many. Born in 1918 in Dayton, Ohio, he took a bachelor's degree from DePauw University in... https://www.scmp.com/article/632978/inspirational-historian-region-dies-aged-90?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/632978/inspirational-historian-region-dies-aged-90?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Imagine a reservoir that receives no fresh input of water. The stored water gradually drains away, the infrastructure becomes useless and the population is deprived of a key source of life. Transplant that image to the government's records system, and you have an idea of what's happening to Hong Kong's archives, says Simon Chu Fook-keung, the recently retired government archivist. Examples abound of why this matters. Among the more recent is 31-year-old Kelvin Li Kwok-yin, the man seeking... https://www.scmp.com/article/631779/records-swept-away-wave-indifference?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/631779/records-swept-away-wave-indifference?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0000 An exercise in parallel realities will begin next week in Vientiane. Senior ministers from countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion will gather in the Lao capital's five-star hotels to discuss progress on a range of transport and technology 'corridors'. These infrastructure links, backed by various agreements on border and customs details and supported by the Asian Development Bank, are meant to lead to greater 'connectivity' between Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and China - the... https://www.scmp.com/article/630936/mekong-connection-illegal-log-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/630936/mekong-connection-illegal-log-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0000 'I know for a fact that it's not going to happen for me,' says Jennifer Chang Ren-hui - Hong Kong's best show jumper in the current rankings, acknowledging she won't be riding in the Olympics. Chang trains every day and dropped her career two years ago to concentrate on qualifying to represent Hong Kong in the Olympic Games this year. Instead, she has had to let her dream go because no one in the Hong Kong administration can confirm whether or not she would be eligible to compete. 'It's... https://www.scmp.com/article/627375/bureaucracy-hurdle-too-high?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/627375/bureaucracy-hurdle-too-high?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:00:00 +0000 A fresh attempt to solve one of the biggest problems facing Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong will be made today when workers' representatives and Indonesian consular officials meet. Inside the consulate, officials will offer a new draft of a regulation that has brought hundreds of workers into the streets in protest. Outside, some of those workers will continue to protest until the regulation is scrapped. The workers are upset over a new regulation - No 2258 - which prohibits workers... https://www.scmp.com/article/626470/indonesian-migrant-workers-fight-fairness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/626470/indonesian-migrant-workers-fight-fairness?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:00:00 +0000 He's one of those men everyone in Hong Kong should know about, but almost no one does. Chater Road, Chater Square, Chater Garden, even Catchick Street, the extension of Kennedy Town Praya - who was this Chater person? The author of a rare study on the Armenians who ventured east to India and the China Coast, Mesrovb Jacob Seth, wrote in his 1937 book, Armenians in India: 'The future historian of Hong Kong will find his task as regards the past sixty years a sinecure, for the record of Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/article/619754/who-was-man-chater?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/619754/who-was-man-chater?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:00:00 +0000 One hundred and twenty thousand people flocked to Hong Kong Stadium last weekend for the last prayer session of the Franklin Graham Festival. The son of famed US evangelist preacher Billy, the Reverend Franklin Graham had been spreading the word to Hong Kong audiences - and via live broadcasts to Macau - over four days. His aim was to bring 'new life, new power' to the faithful, garnering many hoped-for converts. Tens of thousands of people heard music, sermons and prayer over four days and... https://www.scmp.com/article/618887/preacher-chance-billion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/618887/preacher-chance-billion?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:00:00 +0000 Imagine strolling down a broad street beneath palm trees, breathing in aromas of falafel and hummus, hearing the hiss of the hookah. Mixed groups of men and women are relaxing in low chairs, inhaling honeyed aromatic tobacco through shisha pipes, perhaps even watching Arabic- language satellite television, and drinking sweet tea. Could this be Hong Kong? Not yet. It's not even agreed that this comprises Muslim or Middle Eastern ideas of entertainment. But with the announcement last week of the... https://www.scmp.com/article/616988/muslim-mindset?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/616988/muslim-mindset?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:00:00 +0000 Myanmar's growing relationship with China, evidenced by this week's trip to Beijing by the military leadership, has the junta's wary neighbours torn between concern and guarded optimism about the impact of the link. The concern is that China's firm support of the generals who reinstated military rule in 1988 gives the regime in Myanmar impunity on rights abuse charges, and access to economic benefits denied it elsewhere. There is also curiosity about whether China will use its burgeoning... https://www.scmp.com/article/402747/juntas-ties-beijing-evoke-fear-hope-too?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/402747/juntas-ties-beijing-evoke-fear-hope-too?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2003 16:00:00 +0000 An internationally famed gay sauna in Bangkok is the focus of a series of letters to the editors of local papers following a raid on its premises ordered by Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenond on December 27. The overriding question is: 'Why?' Why should young and elderly men be forced to take urine tests on the spot and be photographed, half-naked and distressed, for publication the next day? The apparent reason is the moral crusade of Mr Pracha, who is gaining quite a profile. But a... https://www.scmp.com/article/402514/burning-outrage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/402514/burning-outrage?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jan 2003 16:00:00 +0000 Several thousand Vientiane residents were still enjoying themselves on the streets last night after the first celebration under the communist government of a royal birthday. The centrepiece of the unprecedented official celebrations of the 650th birthday of king Fa Ngum was the unveiling of a statue of the man who became king in 1353. Before that, ordinary Laotians made Buddhist offerings at the base of the statue, located on the main road near the Novotel hotel. Formalities began with a... https://www.scmp.com/article/402587/laotians-seize-rare-opportunity-celebrate-ancient-monarch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/402587/laotians-seize-rare-opportunity-celebrate-ancient-monarch?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jan 2003 16:00:00 +0000 Government and rebel Tamil Tiger negotiators meet for a fourth round of peace talks in Thailand today amid fears that an astounding run of breakthroughs could yet be shattered by discord. Even the most hopeful analysts note that there is a marked gap between words and deeds evolving from the peace talks, which began in Thailand under Norwegian mediation last September. Each round of talks so far has produce impressive surprise statements. The Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have... https://www.scmp.com/article/402588/discord-threatens-sri-lankan-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/402588/discord-threatens-sri-lankan-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jan 2003 16:00:00 +0000 Exiled members of Laos' deposed monarchy have welcomed the communist Lao government's decision to celebrate the birthday on Sunday of their 14th-century forebear. An e-mail apparently from princess Suradjany Kattygnarath, in charge of public relations for the French-based royal family, also states that the family wants to play a role in reforming and uniting Laos. 'The Lao Royal Family Lane Xang Hom Khao wishes to fully take its part in the change process, which would consist in the... https://www.scmp.com/article/402282/exiled-lao-royals-seek-way-back-regime-signals-softening?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/402282/exiled-lao-royals-seek-way-back-regime-signals-softening?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jan 2003 16:00:00 +0000 Malaysia's leadership greeted the New Year with two statements of aggression toward its neighbours. One threatened to go to war with its closest neighbour Singapore over an island dispute. The other offered a 'bloody nose' to countries such as Australia for its 'white-man sheriff' attitude. The comments appear to reflect Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's desire to stamp his mark domestically on what he claims will be his last year in power. The Bernama news agency reported Foreign Minister... https://www.scmp.com/article/402210/malaysia-threatening-war-island-row?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/402210/malaysia-threatening-war-island-row?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Jan 2003 16:00:00 +0000 Deep-rooted insurgencies and a history of military and state terrorism explain current Southeast Asian security concerns far better than the Bush administration's focus on the al-Qaeda network, veteran Asia-watchers say. The Bali bombing, unrest in southern Thailand and the Philippines' Muslim rebellion show terror stems from local causes, not international conspiracy. Fresh enunciation of this important analysis came last week in Bangkok, with a talk entitled 'State Terrorism/Private... https://www.scmp.com/article/402067/look-within-sources-terrorism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/402067/look-within-sources-terrorism?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Rights advocates have urged the United Nations to start war crimes trial proceedings against the Myanmar military for the systematic rape of Shan women and girls. They hope the confirmation from the US State Department that rape reports from Shan women's groups are credible will provide the basis for a UN trial. 'I think the UN should set up a team to investigate the events in order to bring the perpetrators to justice,' said Somchai Hamlaor, the secretary-general of the Asian Forum on Human... https://www.scmp.com/article/401975/myanmar-military-must-face-trial-over-rape-claims-say-rights-groups?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/401975/myanmar-military-must-face-trial-over-rape-claims-say-rights-groups?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Iraq may be a long way from Southeast Asia, but talk of war is real around dinner tables in the tropics. Some expatriate Americans are expressing embarrassment over the aggression of President George W. Bush's administration. Journalists and aid workers are heading in droves to Britain for courses on surviving hostile environments, including chemical warfare. Asians are directly affected by the prospect of war in Iraq, too. More than 50,000 Thai workers are in the Middle East, half of those... https://www.scmp.com/article/401943/price-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/401943/price-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 When the judges gathered at the World Court in The Hague last week and decided that two small islands belonged to Malaysia, their decision-making process was widely applauded. Both Malaysia and Indonesia were praised for submitting to international judgment their rival claims to the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan. Later, Malaysia celebrated quietly. Indonesia formally accepted the ruling with good grace. The World Court said, in effect, that the empires of old maps were dead. What matters is... https://www.scmp.com/article/401540/mapping-changes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/401540/mapping-changes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 About 100 people and 20 police were injured when officers broke up a crowd protesting against a controversial gas pipeline in the southern Thai border town of Hat Yai. Police arrested 12 leaders of the pressure groups which on Friday night massed 2,000 demonstrators outside the venue where the Thai and Malaysian cabinets held yesterday's joint meeting. Student and rights groups lambasted officials for their baton charge of protesters. Suwit Watnoo, of the non-government organisation October... https://www.scmp.com/article/401572/more-100-hurt-melee-police-crush-anti-pipeline-protest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/401572/more-100-hurt-melee-police-crush-anti-pipeline-protest?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad led their senior officials in a world first yesterday: a cross-border cabinet meeting. The talks covered bilateral trade, security issues and a range of plans for joint economic development in the border area. Mr Thaksin pledged to step up a joint approach to fighting terrorism and smuggling along their shared border, and to increase bilateral tourism and trade, an official statement said. But the aim of the... https://www.scmp.com/article/401573/talks-join-thai-malaysian-cabinets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/401573/talks-join-thai-malaysian-cabinets?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The Lao government's decision this week to mark the birthday of the 14th century king Fa Ngum is part of its search for legitimacy as communism fades. Builders are already preparing the foundations for a statue of the king near the Novotel hotel in Vientiane. Fa Ngum's birthday, on January 5, will be a public holiday and exhibitions extolling 'Laos' first king' would be held, said Radio Vientiane in a broadcast reported in Bangkok. Observers and scholars are fascinated as to why a self-styled... https://www.scmp.com/article/401210/royal-symbolism-embraced-amid-communist-ideology-laos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/401210/royal-symbolism-embraced-amid-communist-ideology-laos?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The US injected a sour note into the closing statements of the fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference yesterday by claiming an international conspiracy against its anti-abortion stance. 'At the eleventh hour, [this conference] has inserted language specifically designed to ensure that consensus could not be reached on matters relating to abortion,' the US delegation said. The United Nations-sponsored conference of 35 countries adopted a Plan of Action to reaffirm global goals on... https://www.scmp.com/article/401099/us-accuses-population-conference-blocking-its-anti-abortion-views?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/401099/us-accuses-population-conference-blocking-its-anti-abortion-views?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 From 1948 to the early 1960s when its back was broken, Darul Islam was the group that Muslim radicals would join to pursue a dream of Indonesia as an Islamic state. When President Suharto fell in May 1998, the advent of free speech and assembly and the activities of some enterprising military intelligence operatives helped nurture new groups. Thus thousands of eager young Muslim men went to fight Christian compatriots in the Maluku Islands from early 1999. In time-honoured fashion, true... https://www.scmp.com/article/400855/exposing-face-shadowy-jemaah-islamiah?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/400855/exposing-face-shadowy-jemaah-islamiah?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Large organisations of farming and fishing communities have been protesting against the Pak Moon Dam in northern Thailand for years, but their experiences over the past week show that getting one's voice heard is a process fraught with peril. A protest camp set up across the road from Government House in Bangkok was raided by thugs in the early hours of December 5. Soon after, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra showed his populist touch by crossing the road to meet the protesters, assure them... https://www.scmp.com/article/400831/protests-damned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/400831/protests-damned?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The group blamed for the Bali bombings, Jemaah Islamiah (JI) does exist, and wants to form an Islamic state across Southeast Asia. But it suffers ideological splits, is loosely structured, and has been allowed to grow because of corrupt military and police forces, a study has revealed. These conclusions, reached by the International Crisis Group's Jakarta office, are significant because they come from independent research - not from shadowy government intelligence sources. The new research... https://www.scmp.com/article/400420/jemaah-islamiah-real-says-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/400420/jemaah-islamiah-real-says-study?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 A new combination drug to wipe out malaria is showing almost 100 per cent efficacy in trials, the results of which are due to be announced tomorrow in Cambodia. The cure, with the registered trade name Artekin, is cheap, produces no side effects and is easy to administer. Its development is thanks to Li Guo Qiao, of Guangzhou, who has been a pioneer in the clinical application of anti-malaria drugs for decades. 'I would say it's an exciting new combination,' Timothy Davis, of the medical... https://www.scmp.com/article/400194/scientists-unveil-cheap-treatment-cure-malaria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/400194/scientists-unveil-cheap-treatment-cure-malaria?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The message from hundreds of malaria experts from around the world who are in Cambodia this week is that only intense cross-border and scientific co-operation in the region will keep the deadly mosquito at bay. Papers will be presented by experts from countries including Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines to show how specific programmes to track, treat and prevent malaria outbreaks have succeeded - or failed. The results of a five-year European Commission-funded project across the... https://www.scmp.com/article/400097/experts-call-regional-fight-against-malaria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/400097/experts-call-regional-fight-against-malaria?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The risks posed to tourists by terrorists are now abundantly clear after bombings and missile attacks from Bali to Kenya. Attacks are now specifically aimed at groups of foreigners in countries which appear to offer 'soft' civilian targets. The dilemma for potential vacationers in Asia is: Should one still fly to Bali? Long-term foreign residents and the Balinese say, resoundingly, 'Yes!' There really is no way to know where the next outrage might take place, although commonsense might... https://www.scmp.com/article/400069/rebuilding-bali?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/400069/rebuilding-bali?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 In stark contrast to government denials, the Thai military has admitted that, like other countries in the region, Thailand faces the threat of terror attacks, and is watching some people and places carefully. Groups of Muslims suspected of terrorist acts have sought refuge in the country three times, the military confirmed. The comments, reported in Thai media yesterday, are the first official admission of claims by foreign intelligence that Thailand is not immune to terrorism. Prime Minister... https://www.scmp.com/article/399908/thai-military-speaks-out-terror-threat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/399908/thai-military-speaks-out-terror-threat?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Only the most optimistic believe the passing of Ne Win will have an impact on politics within Myanmar and on the faltering dialogue between the ruling junta and opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi. Sunai Phasuk, an adviser to the Thai Senate's foreign relations committee and a close observer of Myanmar, is one of them. He said: 'General Than Shwe might use the death of Ne Win to say that the days of confrontation are now over and let's restart the dialogue, albeit very carefully and cautiously.... https://www.scmp.com/article/399772/life-he-was-number-one-his-death-will-have-zero-impact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/399772/life-he-was-number-one-his-death-will-have-zero-impact?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The Iraqi people fully expect a US-led war against them and fear the anarchy and score-settling which could accompany a strike. But the war is also seen as a spark for political change, even though just what shape Iraq would take after Saddam Hussein, remains formless and vague. These are some of the conclusions from a survey called 'Voices on the Iraqi Street', just published by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, led by former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans. 'Necessarily... https://www.scmp.com/article/399787/baghdads-streets-people-are-ready-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/399787/baghdads-streets-people-are-ready-change?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 The widespread distrust of Australia currently displayed in Asian reactions to Mr Howard's desire for pre-emptive strikes has yet to over-ride long-standing distrust between Asian neighbours, analysts believe. Scant official support is being offered in Southeast Asia for calls from some politicians that Asean react as a group against Australian Prime Minister John Howard's comments on pre-emptive strikes. The recent history of co-operation within the region on security issues also suggests... https://www.scmp.com/article/399568/show-rage-more-bark-bite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/399568/show-rage-more-bark-bite?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Asian politicians who have railed against Western arrogance in the past will feel vindicated after Australian Prime Minister John Howard's wish for pre-emptive strikes against alleged terrorists in the region. Initial responses to Mr Howard's comments, such as Indonesia expressing confidence in continuing to 'play by the rules' of international diplomacy disguise a bitter satisfaction in some circles that Australia has once again lived up to its more negative image in the region. Every... https://www.scmp.com/article/399355/howards-view-terror-likely-provoke-resentment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/399355/howards-view-terror-likely-provoke-resentment?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Defining what constitutes the exotic has absorbed thinkers over the centuries, pitting West against East, primitive against civilised worlds and, in Thailand, insect collectors against health officials. A months-long craze has now come up against the law in Bangkok, with the arrest of a 28-year-old man called Pisit Pakhawan. His crime was to be found breeding large, hissing Madagascan cockroaches which he claims were intended as fodder for snakes and crocodiles, but which collectors have been... https://www.scmp.com/article/399340/exotic-hobbies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/399340/exotic-hobbies?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Dec 2002 16:00:00 +0000 After ignoring months of complaints from prized Korean and Japanese investors, Indonesia will soon lose a Sony audio equipment plant and another thousand jobs in an increasingly bleak foreign-investment environment. But Indonesia's loss will likely be Malaysia's gain, Sony sources told Japanese news media, as Northeast Asian investors watch progress within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to liberalise inter-region trade. The shift of manufacturing plants out of Indonesia is... https://www.scmp.com/article/399086/prized-investors-leaving-indonesia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/399086/prized-investors-leaving-indonesia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Cambodia's small Muslim community is receiving funding, education and a more fundamentalist slant from Malaysian and Middle Eastern missionaries, some of whom are linked to the Wahabi sect made infamous by Osama bin Laden. But this does not add up to the existence of any threat to Cambodia from orthodox Islam, nor to the region in the form of terrorist sympathies, agree diplomats, analysts and anthropologists. The minority Cham community in Cambodia, thought to number around 700,000 after... https://www.scmp.com/article/398635/fundamentalists-woo-small-cambodian-muslim-community?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/398635/fundamentalists-woo-small-cambodian-muslim-community?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 With eight months to go before elections in Cambodia, the country's Buddhist monks are torn over whether they should vote. The battle over the monks' ballots reflects a wider struggle by some politicians to seek the influential backing of a Buddhist clergy pondering its role in a democratic future. Cambodia's Buddhist clergy is dominated by two sects, both led by patriarchs who have called on monks not to vote. Tep Vong heads the Mohanikay sect which covers more than 90 per cent of the... https://www.scmp.com/article/398269/cambodian-parties-fight-monks-backing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/398269/cambodian-parties-fight-monks-backing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Reports that the Bali bombings were hatched at a January meeting of terror suspects in Thailand are coming under scrutiny as Australia's top policeman told reporters there was no evidence to support the story. 'Clearly, the bombing was carried out with such precision that detailed planning would have occurred,' said Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, on the sidelines of a Bangkok conference of regional drug law enforcement chiefs on Monday. '[But] we have no hard evidence at... https://www.scmp.com/article/397328/officer-disbelieves-plot-was-hatched-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/397328/officer-disbelieves-plot-was-hatched-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 THE NEW ROAD SIGN on Mao Tse Tung Boulevard in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh hints at a burgeoning relationship between East Asia's largest country, and one of its smallest. After the Khmer language name and before its English translation on the road sign, the evocative street name is also rendered in Chinese characters. More dazzling to Phnom Penh residents are the traffic lights installed at each junction along the boulevard, on which the Chinese Embassy sprawls behind tall walls. Traffic... https://www.scmp.com/article/397231/china-woos-coy-phnom-penh?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/397231/china-woos-coy-phnom-penh?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 A TRIO OF BOOKS about East Timor highlight the diversity of passions aroused by that tiny nation's struggle towards independence through the observations of three contrasting journalistic voices. Timor: A Nation Reborn (Equinox Publishing $140) by Bill Nicol is where the story starts chronologically. Nicol was an investigative journalist in East Timor in the mid-1970s and witnessed the growing cataclysm which resulted in 25 years of Indonesian occupation. His first book, Timor: The Stillborn... https://www.scmp.com/article/397053/tears-and-cheers-rocky-road-nationhood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/397053/tears-and-cheers-rocky-road-nationhood?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 India agreed to establish a free-trade area with Asean yesterday during the first summit between New Delhi and the regional bloc, catching the current wave of enthusiasm for such deals. India became a full dialogue partner with Asean in 1995 but yesterday's meetings were the first time it had formally joined economic integration efforts. 'We are seeking to accelerate trade and investment flows between India and Asean through enhanced co-operation with the Asean Free Trade Area,' said Indian... https://www.scmp.com/article/396645/india-commits-free-trade-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/396645/india-commits-free-trade-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Asean's heads of government met each other and their counterparts from China, South Korea and Japan in Phnom Penh yesterday to deride terrorism, lament lost tourism dollars and talk of tourism ties. But their statements were as cocooned from reality as were the delegates from the media and ordinary Cambodians, diplomats and observers said. Roads are empty of human traffic within a large radius of the summit venue. Motorcycle taxi riders jockey for US$1 (HK$7.8) fares from journalists while... https://www.scmp.com/article/396607/little-more-usual-talking-shop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/396607/little-more-usual-talking-shop?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 As China launches a range of diplomatic initiatives with Asean, so too are members of the regional body trying to engage China for their own interests - with varying degrees of success. China is making a splash as never before at the Cambodia-hosted Asean summit, spurring one analyst to describe the nation as China's 'conduit' to Southeast Asia. 'China needs a country which can be easily overwhelmed, used almost as a puppet, and Cambodia fits the bill for the moment,' said the analyst. Close... https://www.scmp.com/article/396608/some-court-china-others-still-prefer-deal-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/396608/some-court-china-others-still-prefer-deal-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Asean remains hobbled by its weaker members and by its lack of vision - contrary to the impression it tries to create of a group off leaders ready for the challenges of globalisation. And it must face China's growing dominance. That was the consensus of diplomats privy to yesterday's talks. They revealed the frustrating realities behind Asean's talk of combating terror and achieving closer economic integration. The Asean secretary-general, Rodolfo Severino, also offered a frank analysis.... https://www.scmp.com/article/396606/leaders-talk-lot-baulk-action?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/396606/leaders-talk-lot-baulk-action?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 When Asean opens its eighth summit today in Phnom Penh, the issue which was pivotal to the group's establishment in 1967 - how Southeast Asia should deal with China - will likely be resolved. To some observers, it is a stunning historical irony that Asean is now succumbing to the embrace of a newly friendly China, when it was the perceived threat of China-backed communism which was partly the reason why Asean was founded in the first place. 'China has established itself as the premier player... https://www.scmp.com/article/396495/china-once-communist-bogeyman-now-partner?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/396495/china-once-communist-bogeyman-now-partner?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 While downstream countries linked to the Mekong River worry about how Chinese decisions on dam-building may affect them, a mainland-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) is trying to tackle the issue at source. Dr Yu Xiaogang, director of the Yunnan-based Green Watershed NGO, said: 'We work at the country and township level on specific watershed management projects, so far with a very positive result. 'Of course there are tensions and problems, but actually we think the process is really... https://www.scmp.com/article/396496/dams-group-goes-grassroots?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/396496/dams-group-goes-grassroots?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000 Friday night revelry in Phnom Penh was different this week. The city has been swept clean of dirt, street-dwellers and prostitutes in preparation for the eighth summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which opens tomorrow. Less planned were the off-the-record warnings offered in local circles to stay away from certain bars where foreigners congregate, in case someone chose this moment to copy the Bali bombers. It was a sign of how the often-moribund talks among Asean... https://www.scmp.com/article/396364/time-consensus-tackling-threat-terror?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/396364/time-consensus-tackling-threat-terror?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Nov 2002 16:00:00 +0000