Source: KBR

A pan-Asian news operation with correspondents across the region, KBR Asia Calling publishes TV, radio, and digital content in multiple languages.

Categories
Society

In Nepal, A Private School That Costs One Dollar

Samata school students
Samata school students Samata school the bamboo school of nepal

KATHMANDU — Uttam Sanjel, founder of Samata School, stands before the morning assembly. Samata means “equal for all.” Today he wants to talk about a story from one of his students, whose mother celebrated the birth of a son over a daughter. “After five girls, my mom finally had a boy. She named him “Holy life water.” But our life has become more difficult. Why is it happening? It’s all because of lack of education. You have to tell your family and neighbors that sons and daughters are equal.” They then sing a song called, “Mother is Great, Love Her, […]

Categories
Geopolitics Society

Pakistan’s New Tallest Building Threatens Hindu Temple

Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple, a 150-year-old Hindu temple under threat in Karachi
Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple, a 150-year-old Hindu temple under threat in Karachi India Today

The construction of Pakistan’s next tallest building in Karachi is seen by the country’s Hindu minority yet another attack in this Muslim-majority country of 180 million.

Categories
Future Green Or Gone

The Philippines: Asia’s Most Dangerous Place For Environmentalists

Filipinos clean up a beach on World Oceans Day in Paranaque
Filipinos clean up a beach on World Oceans Day in Paranaque Ezra Acayan

PALAWAN — For 25 years, Filipino lawyer Gerthie Mayo-Anda has tirelessly campaigned for better legal protection of the environment. Often called a forest hero, in the 1990s she established the Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) to halt environmental destruction through court. “I thought it was important to establish a public interest environmental law group where my knowledge and skills as a lawyer can be utilized to help the poor and marginalized communities,” she says. Her group has filed dozens of cases against illegal logging, fishing and mining. “For now, the most difficult field is mining and coal because the parties […]

Categories
Society

Meet India’s Favorite Hip Hop Dancer, He Has No Legs

Vinod Thakur on a dance competition TV show — Photo: Shimul Hossain screenshot
Vinod Thakur on a dance competition TV show — Photo: Shimul Hossain screenshot Shimul Hossain screenshot

NEW DELHI — Pramod, 21, contracted polio when he was a child, but that isn’t stopping him from learning how to dance. He goes to the New Delhi dance and music academy called Artist Mahavidyalaya, where fees are waived for students with disabilities and those who don’t have the means to pay, says academy co-founder Krishna Basumatary. “People think that I’m a handicapped person who can’t do anything with my life,” says Pramod. “They’re full of negative opinions while I’m a proud physically impaired person. I’m turning my weakness into a strength. To dance well, one should first have a […]

Categories
Geopolitics

With Military Backing, A Cambodia Resort Burns Down Family Homes

One of the houses targeted by the military, in Cambodia's Kiri Sakor district
One of the houses targeted by the military, in Cambodia's Kiri Sakor district Borin Noun/Worldcrunch

KIRI SAKOR — It was 8 in the morning, and families living in Cambodia“s Kiri Sakor district were desperately fleeing from their homes. Backed by the military, a company called the Union Development Group was systematically burning down people’s houses. Children were crying while their parents fought authorities, who marched on their community with guns. Nearly 2,000 families had been living in the area since the 1980s. Local farmer Prak Sareth, who is 30, says her 49-acre piece of land was seized by the Chinese-owned company last year and now their houses have been burned down. “This is our parents’ […]

Categories
Society

In Malaysia, Creative Ways to Duck Government Censorship

Planting "flowers" in Kuala Lumpur
Planting "flowers" in Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Spring Facebook page

Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, better known as Zunar, is a cartoonist who has been drawing editorial and political cartoons for over 20 years. His cartoons cover a range of issues, but are known for being critical of the government. “Most of the mainstream media neglect or black out the important issues, just focusing on petty or sensational issues. They want to distract people’s minds from focusing on the fundamental issues. Through my cartoons I want to highlight the important issues in Malaysia, like corruption; there are so many cases of corruption that have been blacked out by mainstream media.” As rules […]

Categories
Society

In Indonesia, Patients Trade Recyclable Trash for Health Care

Collecting garbage at Garbage Clinical Insurance
Collecting garbage at Garbage Clinical Insurance

MALANG — Mohammad Yazid, 58, is walking slowly toward a health clinic. His whole body is trembling and he says he has a severe headache. He hands over a bag full of plastic refuse along with his Garbage Clinical Insurance card to the clinic staff. “I bring one kilo of plastic and paper waste,” he explains. “I’m glad I can pay for my health care with this. I don’t have to pay anything.” Another patient, Siti Hasanah, says she suffers from a breathing problem. She too pays for her health care by bringing in waste. “I’m happy,” Hasanah says. “I […]

Categories
Society

In Pakistan, Islamic Boarding Schools Accused Of Torture

An Islamic class in a small school near Quetta, Pakistan.
An Islamic class in a small school near Quetta, Pakistan. Tom O'Neill/ZUMA

KARACHI — It’s time for the evening prayer at the Edhi Shelter Home in Karachi, Pakistan. For nine-year-old Rehmatullah Khan, it’s a reminder of a painful childhood past. His parents sent him to an Islamic boarding school in the northwestern city of Quetta when he was just three. “At seminary, my teacher would beat me and the other students,” he recalls. “The teacher would beat us for not memorizing the lessons or making a noise. He sometimes hit us with sticks and would punch me when the other students told him it was me making noise in the classroom.” After […]

Categories
Future

After Flappy Bird, Vietnam Gaming Takes Off

After Flappy Bird, Vietnam Gaming Takes Off
Flappy Bird's official Facebook page

If you played a game on your smartphone in February, there’s a good chance it was Flappy Bird, a Vietnamese mobile app that took the gaming world by storm. According to Mary-Anne Lee for Games in Asia in Singapore, even professional gamers in Singapore couldn’t help but take notice. “The internet just blew up with news of Flappy Bird. It was ridiculously difficult and ridiculously addictive. I think what Flappy Bird has done for the country is given it the courage to realize, hey, we may not be Japan or Korea, but we do have the ability to produce something […]

Categories
Society

The One Burmese Synagogue That Survived The Regime

A tourist inside Yangon's Musmeah Yeshua, the last surviving synagogue in Myanmar
A tourist inside Yangon's Musmeah Yeshua, the last surviving synagogue in Myanmar Esme Vos/Worldcrunch

YANGON — Musmeah Yeshua is the last surviving synagogue in Myanmar. The synagogue has stood in the centre of downtown Yangon for more than 100 years. At its height, it served a community of some 2,500 Jews. But a recent rise in tourism has put the synagogue back on the map. “People from Germany and Europe are amazed to know that there was a synagogue in a country like Myanmar. We are proud of it,” boasts Sammy Samuels, a spokesperson for Musmeah Yeshua. The 120-year-old synagogue is nestled between Indian paint shops and Muslim trader stalls at the corner of […]

Categories
Society

Zen And The Temple Of Motorcyle Mania

The Royal Enfield of Om Banna
The Royal Enfield of Om Banna Daniel Villafruela

An Indian shrine built in memory of a dead traveler and his motorbike has attracted prayerful followers who credit the unusual temple for all manner of good tidings.

Categories
blog Geopolitics

Jehovah’s Witness Challenge To South Korea’s Military Service

Kim Ju-hwan
Kim Ju-hwan Malte Kollenberg

SEOUL — Kim Ju-hwan is headed toward an uncertain future. The 24-year old university student was sentenced to a year in jail for refusing to serve in South Korea’s military. As a Jehovah’s Witness, Kim says he’s morally opposed to war. “Based on what I learned in the Bible, I’m a conscientious objector. There’s a verse that says love your enemy. That’s my belief, and it’s how I’m trying to lead my life.” All able-bodied South Korean are required to serve in the armed forces for about two years. But for conscientious objectors like Kim Ju-hwan, there is no alternative […]

Categories
blog Geopolitics

Creeping Famine In Pakistan’s Thar Desert

Once again, drought grips Pakistan's Thar desert
Once again, drought grips Pakistan's Thar desert Shadi Khan Saif

KAPOOSAR — Pancho Mai is a villager in Kapoosar, located in the Tharpakar district. Today is the festival of Holi, but the 25-year-old mother is deep in mourning. Over the past three months, her three children have died. “They had fever for a few days, and then pneumonia killed each one of them,” she says numbly. Her mother-in-law, Kaplana Mai, had rushed the children to the only government hospital in the district. But it was too late. They died within days. This is not an isolated case. According to independent statistics reported by the local media, some 200 children, mostly […]

Categories
Society

In South Korea, Plastic Surgery As Path To Career Advancement

Plastic surgery ads in Seoul's Apgujeong subway station
Plastic surgery ads in Seoul's Apgujeong subway station Jason Strother

SEOUL — South Koreans undergo more plastic surgery per capita than anywhere else in the world. Some surveys show that one in five women there have undergone a procedure or received Botox injections. All around the Apgujeong subway station in Seoul, for example, there are advertisements for plastic surgery clinics, showing before and after images of women who have gone under the knife. Images like these are among the reasons why 19-year-old Woori had some work done about a month ago. But she says pressure from friends and family was an even stronger influence. “Whenever I saw pictures of my […]

Categories
Future Society

Local Fallout From Pakistan’s Nuclear Energy Bet

Fishermen in Abdul Rehman goth near Karachi
Fishermen in Abdul Rehman goth near Karachi Shadi Khan Saif

ABDUL REHMAN GOTH — Ahmad Baloch couldn’t remember life ever changing much in this centuries-old fishing village just outside Karachi. But when two nuclear power plants started being built nearby, coast guard and naval security personnel arrived. “They don’t allow us free mobility in the waters,” he says of his fishing trade in Abdul Rehman Goth. “What are we going to do?” Fears about a terrorist attack on the nuclear power plants have led to massive security around them, leaving the fishermen locked out. “There are not enough fish recently,” Baloch says. “We’re just worried for our next generation.” Families […]

Categories
Food / Travel

Exorcism In India, Where A Ghost Fair Lures Believers

Exorcist at work duing the Malajpur ghost fair
Exorcist at work duing the Malajpur ghost fair Shuriah Niazi

MALAJPUR — Every February, people gather in the village of Malajpur, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, for a unique ghost fair. It’s one of India’s most celebrated festivals — an ancient event where exorcists rid the body of evil spirits. Amardas believes that a ghost has taken control of her sister-in-law, Dharmati Bai, who has been shouting strange words for more than a month now. “My sister-in-law must have been possessed by a ghost,” she says. “We’ve come to the Malajpur ghost fair to pay our respects to the temple. They’re treating her now, and I hope she’ll be […]

Categories
Society

Condo Development Threatens Historic Malaysian Village

Kampung Chetti, a World Heritage Site in danger
Kampung Chetti, a World Heritage Site in danger malaysiakini screenchot/Worldcrunch

KAMPUNG CHETTI — The Malaysian states of Penang and Malacca are home to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but now a 600-year-old village in Malacca is under threat from a high-rise development and highway project. About 300 people live here in Kampung Chetti, the heart of the Chettis community whose heritage can be traced back to South India. Their ancestors came here 600 years ago as traders, and since then they have intermarried with the locals and have created a strong bond with the other Malaysian races, says resident SK Pillay. “We can mix very well with the Chinese, we can […]

Categories
Society

Yoko Tawada, A Writer Split In Two

Japanese-German writer Yoko Tawada
Japanese-German writer Yoko Tawada Ric Wasserman

STOCKHOLM — Some say Japanese-born Yoko Tawada who has adopted Germany as her home is a writer with a split cultural personality. After 30 years, she still struggles to reconcile the differences. “Like two personalities, they don’t want to be one,” she says. “They didn’t want to tell one story. I couldn’t put them together. It’s impossible.” In Sweden to launch her 23rd book, The Naked Eye, the award-winning author says the story has links to her own experience traveling by train from Japan to Germany. “I came to Europe by the Trans-Siberian Railway,” she says. “It is a slow […]

Categories
Society

In India, Turning The Illiterate Into Solar Engineers

Students at Barefoot College
Students at Barefoot College Barefoot College

AJMER — In India, 70% of the population lives in rural areas, mostly in poverty. But as a voluntary program has proven, impoverished people can become experts in solar power. Thanks to Barefoot College, an NGO based here in Ajmer, in the western part of India’s Rajasthan state, some 600 women have been fully educated about solar power, a small step towards eradicating poverty. Sunaina Das, 20, is reviewing all the components needed to make a solar lamp. Though she doesn’t know how to read or write, she’s learning to become a solar engineer. “I’ve come here for training,” she […]

Categories
Food / Travel

McDonald’s Lands In Vietnam: History, Capitalism And Obesity

Opening day for Vietnam's first McDonald's restaurant
Opening day for Vietnam's first McDonald's restaurant Lien Hoang

A recently opened McDonald’s franchise in Ho Chi Minh City is the first in Vietnam. Symbolism aside, the ubiquitous U.S. fast food chain also raises health questions for Vietnamese.

Categories
Economy Society

In Pakistan, The World Capital Of Soccer Ball Production

Workers in a soccer ball factory in Sialkot
Workers in a soccer ball factory in Sialkot Mudassar Shah

SIALKOT — Mohammad Idrees walks slowly, with the help of his crutches, to the factory where he works in Sialkot, Pakistan. The 35-year-old has been stitching soccer balls here for more than 17 years, earning $3 a day to support his wife and six children. “I don’t have any other skills to earn a living, so I would have ended up roaming around the city or begging on the street if it wasn’t for the football factory in our village,” Idrees says as he sits on a low chair with some 30 other workers inside the factory. “I work for […]

Categories
Society

The Silent Survivor Of Hiroshima

Hibaku Jumoku, the "survivor trees"
Hibaku Jumoku, the "survivor trees" Tree Project/ National Nuclear Security Administration/Worldcrunch montage

Japanese artist Hiroshi Sunairi has a personal connection with Hiroshima. Apart from growing up in the city, his mother and grandmother were exposed to radiation when the atomic bomb dropped on the city in 1945. Many years later, while working with the Hiroshima museum, Sunairi attended a lecture by botanist Chikara Horiguchi who spoke about Hibaku trees, some of the so-called “silent survivors’ of that fateful day. “I was really moved by his work and philosophy. He talks about trees and nature not having an ideology, but they can symbolize a lot of things if we think about them alongside […]

Categories
Society

Over-The-Top Korean Weddings, Gangnam-Style

A wedding in Gangnam
A wedding in Gangnam Jason Strother

The neighborhood in Seoul known to Westerns from Psy’s mega-hit single is also the place status-conscious South Koreans go to get married. But something is lost in all the ritz.

Categories
blog Society

North Koreans In The South Who Want To Go Back Home

Son Jeong-hun, a North Korean who wants to back home
Son Jeong-hun, a North Korean who wants to back home Jason Strother

Nostalgia, illness and the pain of missing loved ones pushes some to try to ‘re-defect’ back to North Korea. But Seoul won’t allow it, and the risk of punishment upon their return is huge.

Categories
Economy

Look Who Pays The Price Of Burma’s Investment Fever

Look Who Pays The Price Of Burma's Investment Fever
Jack Kurtz/ZUMA

The new freedom of the Asian nation, also known as Myanmar, has drawn global investors in a race to profit from new development. But Burmese workers and farmers suffer the side-effects.

Categories
Society

In India, A Female Police Unit’s Aggressive Anti-Rape Patrols

The Nirbhaya Patrolling Mobile Service
The Nirbhaya Patrolling Mobile Service Shuriah Niazi/Worldcrunch

After the nation and world’s attention turned to the plague of Indian gang rapes, a women-only police unit was founded in Bhopal with one central objective. Some say they go too far.

Categories
Geopolitics LGBTQ Plus Society

How The Transgender Of Pakistan Help Save Kids

One child at a time
One child at a time Shadi Khan Saif

KARACHI – Begging and sex work are what transgender people in Pakistan too often end up doing. But this also means that they are more likely to have information about the dark world of child sex trafficking. Bindya Rana had the idea of tapping into this connection to find missing children. “We are provided with pictures of the missing child, which we pass on to the transgender people in the areas where they beg and live,” Rana explains, noting that some 2,000 transgender are on the case. “We direct them to search, and if they get any information to let […]

Categories
Geopolitics

Myanmar’s Landmine Victims Make Prosthetic Legs

Myanmar's Landmine Victims Make Prosthetic Legs
Khon Ba Thar

LOIKAW — Decades of armed conflict in Myanmar make it one of the worst-hit countries for landmines. Six years ago, the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front established a prosthetics factory in Karenni state, near the border with Thailand, to help people who have been disabled by landmines. The special feature of this enterprise? All of the people working at the factory are landmine victims themselves. One of them is Kyaw Win, a former soldier with the Karenni Army who has been fighting a separatist battle with the Myanmar military for decades. While on the battlefield, he stepped on a landmine […]

Categories
Society

Why India Isn’t Taking Care Of Its Elderly

Average life expectancy in India is 65, but many live much longer
Average life expectancy in India is 65, but many live much longer Pension Parishad

Protests are on in New Delhi demanding a bonafide old-age pension. Right now, most Indians don’t qualify for benefits, and those that do only get $4 a month.

Categories
Future

Silicon Valley In Vietnam? Ho Chi Minh City’s High-Tech Play

Saigon Hub, an start-up incubator in Ho Chi Minh City
Saigon Hub, an start-up incubator in Ho Chi Minh City Lien Hoang

HO CHI MINH CITY — Vietnam’s latest economic experiment has both significant government funding — $110 million — and an ambitious moniker: Silicon Valley Vietnam. Though it could take years before the country sees the same kind of success as the California tech companies it hopes to emulate, Vietnam’s GDP growth is at its slowest since 1999 and it is in dire need of an economic boost. So it’s now betting on start-up companies to tap into a domestic market of over 90 million people and a burgeoning young population in particular. One popular meeting place for start-ups in Ho […]

Categories
blog

Indonesia Says No To Monkey Business

"Topeng monyet" in Jakarta
"Topeng monyet" in Jakarta Mohammad Rizky ramadhan

Animal rights groups get their wish: no more monkey shows on the streets of Jakarta, which means raids to rescue the animals and job training to prepare their trainers for new work.

Categories
Society

In Burma, Junkies Drink *Formula* Of Opium And Cough Syrup

The number of Burmese heroin addicts is increasing
The number of Burmese heroin addicts is increasing Banyol Kong Janoi

In this opium-rich nation, addiction is on the rise as other cocktails are invented including a mix of pure heroin and methamphetamine.

Categories
Society

How Belly Dancing In China Has Become The Hip New Thing

Belly-dancing in Beijing
Belly-dancing in Beijing null0

BEIJING — Belly dancing has long been associated with the Middle East, but there seems to be plenty of evidence to suggest that its future may be here in China. There has been a huge growth in popularity of belly dance shows, contests and schools across the country. A recent belly dancing convention in Beijing brought stars from around the world for a weekend of workshops and performances. Two dozen dancers are going through their routines at an afternoon class at the Wen Kexin Belly Dancing School, located in a plush new commercial complex on Beijing’s east side. Fan Hui […]

Categories
Society

The Sham Doctors Who Prey On Pakistan’s Poor

Street scene near Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Street scene near Rawalpindi, Pakistan Guilhem Vellut

RAWALPINDI — When 40-year-old government employee Danial Ahmed has problems with his teeth, he goes to a quack on the streets of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. “The price of dental treatment is expensive,” he says. “I cannot afford it. These quacks offer cheap treatment. For just a few hundred rupees, we can get relief from toothache and other oral infections.” These cheap alternatives to real doctors can easily be found on virtually any roadside in Pakistan. They sit along the streets or in a small kiosks, where patients are treated on the spot. According to the government, there are more than 600,000 […]

Categories
Society

Traditional Burmese Boxing Knocked Out By Thai Cousin

Saw Ohn Myint, a Burmese boxer, will represent Burma at the upcoming South East Asian Games, SEA Games
Saw Ohn Myint, a Burmese boxer, will represent Burma at the upcoming South East Asian Games, SEA Games Zaw Htet DVB

For thousands of years, traditional boxing has been one of Burma“s primary national sports. But when the Southeast Asian Games are held in December, it will be conspicuously missing, as no other country fights in that style. The more internationally recognized Thai boxing, also known as Muay Thai, will be featured instead. “I was very keen on boxing, so I had sacrificed a lot. Finally, I earned a gold belt,” says Saw Ohn Myint, a former gold belt national champion in Burmese boxing. He says he would have loved to represent his country — officially known as Myanmar —before a […]

Categories
Society

India’s Inspiring Slumdog School With A Railway Bridge As A Roof

Rajesh Kumar teaching at "railway school"
Rajesh Kumar teaching at "railway school" Jasvinde Sehgal

The teacher is a shopkeeper who volunteers his time to kids who otherwise would be shut out from any education.

Categories
Food / Travel

Young Asian Nation Of Timor-Leste Banking On Tourism

Banyan trees in Baucau
Banyan trees in Baucau David Stanley

BAUCAU — Eleven years after achieving independence from Indonesia, Timor-Leste is still one of the youngest countries in the world. And while economic growth rates are good, thanks in part to recent revenue from oil and gas, most people here still live in poverty. But now, the government is hoping to diversify the fledgling country’s economy by focusing on the tourism industry, banking on the the country’s natural beauty as a perfect draw for holiday and adventure seekers. Ricardo Ximenes Marques wakes up to paradise every morning at one of the beaches in Baucau, where the 26-year-old works as a […]

Categories
Geopolitics Society

Pakistan’s Ghost Schools, Rusting Symbols Of A Nation’s Lost Potential

Waiting for teachers to arrive in Pakistan's ghost schools
Waiting for teachers to arrive in Pakistan's ghost schools LicencePaternitéPartage selon les Conditions Initiales Certains droits réservés par

Beyond the Taliban’s attack against Malala, there is also widespread corruption and poor state monitoring that leads to many Pakistani schools being simply abandoned buildings.

Categories
Society

How Weight-Loss Surgery Is On The Rise In India, Where One Quarter Of People Go Hungry

In Goa, western India
In Goa, western India Matt Watts

JAIPUR — India is emerging as one of the fastest-growing centers in the global market for weight loss surgery. Two-thirds of wealthy urban Indians are now overweight. Like 56-year-old Chander Kataria and 65-year-old Mohan Gulati. Chander weighs 85 kilos (187 pounds) while Mohan is over 120 kilos (264 pounds). They are both trying desperately to lose weight, and one of their efforts is a morning walk around the Bhagat Singh Garden in Jaipur. “I try to exercise, shake and vibrate every organ of my body, but it’s not working,” says Chander. Mohan has tried many ways to lose weight, including […]

Categories
Smarter Cities

In A Remote Corner Of Indonesia, A Model Of Clean Energy Use

Bringing electricity - among other things - to Sumba
Bringing electricity - among other things - to Sumba Tempo TV

WAINGAPU — In a remote western village on the Indonesian island of Sumba, 37-year-old Rambu Cinta sits on the porch of her thatched roof house chewing beetle nut. For most of her life she has lived without electricity. “Before at night we didn’t have anything to do. So after we had eaten dinner we just went to sleep,” she says with a laugh. Now her family is one of 100 households that are getting electricity from a nearby micro-hydro power plant. Umbu Hanggar says it has changed the home economics for his family, and extended family. “With electricity, the women […]

Exit mobile version