From Around The World « The Straits Times Blogs

18 Apr 2013

A congruence of disappearances

BANGKOK - Mr Sombath Somphone, a Magsaysay Award winner for public service, was last spotted by the cold and unblinking eye of a CCTV camera on the evening of Dec 15 last year, getting into an unknown SUV on a street in Vientiane and being driven away.

By Nirmal Ghosh
Thailand Correspondent
nirmal@sph.com.sg

BANGKOK - Mr Sombath Somphone, a Magsaysay Award winner for public service, was last spotted by the cold and unblinking eye of a CCTV camera on the evening of Dec 15 last year, getting into an unknown SUV on a street in Vientiane and being driven away.

Since his disappearance, the Lao government has said he was abducted, but denied that any security agency took him. This has been received with wide scepticism, and the Lao government continues to come under pressure at international forums.

Mr Sombath had only just retired as head of the Participatory Development Training Centre, Laos’ most prominent

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18 Apr 2013

TOEFL or not TOEFL? For Abe, the answer is clear

TOKYO - An acceptable score in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which measures proficiency in the language, is required for entry into many universities in the English-speaking world.

By Kwan Weng Kin
Japan Correspondent
wengkin@sph.com.sg

TOKYO - An acceptable score in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which measures proficiency in the language, is required for entry into many universities in the English-speaking world.

But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has hit upon the idea of using TOEFL to raise the standard of English of his fellow countrymen.

Starting in 2015, he wants young Japanese who aspire to become part of the country’s elite national bureaucracy to obtain a good pass in the TOEFL, in the conviction that Japan needs more civil servants who can communicate in English.

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18 Apr 2013

Caught in the heart of the world's biggest waterfight

THE skytrain seems unusually frigid as I settle down on a rare empty seat between two Thai journalists.

By Tan Hui Yee
Correspondent
tanhy@sph.com.sg

THE skytrain seems unusually frigid as I settle down on a rare empty seat between two Thai journalists.

Here, says the older one on my left, giving a bottle of mineral water to the one on my right.

“Rot naam,” the elder mutters, before stretching out her palms above my lap, in anticipation of the traditional Thai water blessing.

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29 Mar 2013

Nobel winner F. W. de Klerk on Nelson Mandela and what makes a good leader

The friendly, gum-chewing elderly gentleman sitting across from me was easy to talk to, so much so I nearly forgot I was interviewing a Nobel Peace Laureate.

By Rupali Karekar
Assistant to Editor
rupsk@sph.com.sg

The friendly, gum-chewing elderly gentleman sitting across from me was easy to talk to, so much so I nearly forgot I was interviewing a Nobel Peace Laureate.

Mr Frederick Willem de Klerk – better known as F.W. de Klerk – was South Africa’s President when he released anti-apartheid leader and the world’s most famous prisoner, Mr Nelson Mandela, in 1990.

Three years later, he and the famously gentle and soft-spoken Mr Mandela were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in dismantling their country’s racial segregation policy.

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24 Feb 2013

History is the new cool

KUALA LUMPUR: Ms Loke Poh Lin was greeted like an old friend by news vendor Naina Mohd as she passed his hole-in-the-wall shop in the old quarter of Kuala Lumpur, or more popularly known as Chinatown.

By Carolyn Hong
Malaysia Bureau Chief
carolynh@sph.com.sg

KUALA LUMPUR: Ms Loke Poh Lin was greeted like an old friend by news vendor Naina Mohd as she passed his hole-in-the-wall shop in the old quarter of Kuala Lumpur, or more popularly known as Chinatown.

She stopped to chat and buy old-fashioned talcum powder that was also sold by Mr Naina whose family has been running that newsstand for over 50 years.

Ms Loke, 54, is a familiar sight in this part of town, as she’s frequently haunting its streets to document its hidden little stories.

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24 Feb 2013

From disaster responders to doomsday preppers lite

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra - Sending tents and medical supplies to flooded areas. Check.

By Reme Ahmad
Assistant Foreign Editor
reme@sph.com.sg

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra - Sending tents and medical supplies to flooded areas. Check.

Ferrying ready-to-eat meals and blankets to volcano-hit zones. Check.

Rebuilding collapsed schools and bridges in post-earthquake reconstruction. Check.

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05 Feb 2013

Careless in Beijing

“To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.” So spoke caustic Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest. To paraphrase the great Wilde, “To lose one iPhone may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two looks like carelessness.” I am guilty [...]

By Ho Ai Li
China Correspondent
hoaili@sph.com.sg

“To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.” So spoke caustic Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest.

To paraphrase the great Wilde, “To lose one iPhone may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose two looks like carelessness.”

I am guilty as charged.

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17 Jan 2013

Regrets of a one-time Beijing jogger

I once did a dangerous thing: I ran outdoors in Beijing. Actually not once but several times a week.

By Ho Ai Li
China Correspondent
hoaili@sph.com.sg

I ONCE did a dangerous thing: I ran outdoors in Beijing. Actually not once but several times a week.

It's not that I'm a serious runner, but I needed to jog off fears that I was becoming - horrors - fat.

And so I would tighten my shoe laces, stretch my calves and pound the pavement as pram- pushing nannies and senior citizens looked on bemusedly.

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17 Jan 2013

The myths that help rape to flourish

With barely a sound, the glossy black leaflet slid through the letter-box of my home in Aberdeen, North-east Scotland.

By Himaya Quasem
Assistant to Editor
hquasem@sph.com.sg

WITH barely a sound, the glossy black leaflet slid through the letter-box of my home in Aberdeen, North-east Scotland.

I was around 13 or 14 years old at the time, but I still remember the phrase printed on it in bold white type.

It said: Zero tolerance.

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05 Jan 2013

In Japan, lucky bags hold no secrets

Shopping for lucky bags used to mean making a leisurely trip to one’s favourite store, picking out a bag from among many, and going home to find out what’s in it. These days, many stores advertise the contents of their lucky bags well in advance – a surefire way of not only drawing shoppers to their stores, but also tempting shoppers to grab as many lucky bags as they can afford.

By Kwan Weng Kin
Japan Correspondent
wengkin@sph.com.sg

Do your New Year wishes include a nose job, bigger eyes, liposuction or even a face-lift as age sets in?

If so, one beauty clinic chain in the greater Tokyo area has just the right “fukubukuro” (lucky bag) for you.

For the price of about 20 million yen (S$279,616) upfront, the lucky bag offered by the Shonan Beauty Clinic promises the lucky buyer a lifetime of unlimited cosmetic surgery services at any of its 22 branches nationwide, including of course the all-important aftercare.

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