Against Abe: Listening for Oppositional Voices within Japan
Memo #268 By Hyung-Gu Lynn – hlynn [at] mail.ubc.ca The poster beside the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Tokyo features a photograph of Prime Minister Abe Shinzō, adorned with the slogan “Take back Japan!” Most English-language media accounts and op-eds create the impression that all of Japan is enthusiastic in its […]
Redback Rising: Canada’s Role in the Internationalization of the Renminbi
Memo #267 By Grégoire Legault – gregoire.legault [at] alumni.ubc.ca The Chinese renminbi, or “people’s currency” (人民币), has been internationalizing more rapidly than experts had previously forecast, even though the country’s capital account remains closed and the currency’s exchange rate is still not allowed to float freely. The redback is crossing national borders at a transitional stage in […]
The Rise of Volunteering in China: Transforming Cities and Personhood
Memo #266 By Lisa Hoffman – hoffmanl [at] uw.edu Indicative of an increased attention to volunteerism as a tool for cities and communities across the globe, in 2011 the United Nations issued its first State of the World’s Volunteerism Report, subtitled “Universal Values for Global Wellbeing.” Young people in particular have been encouraged by agencies […]
Local Voices in Water Resources Management: A Case Study in Negotiated Approach from Bangladesh
Memo #265 By Mustafa Alam – mstfalam [at] gmail.com A case study from Bangladesh highlights the success of a negotiated approach to water resources management, wherein the participation of the local populace in the planning and decision-making process is ensured, local knowledge is used and local stakeholders empowered. In the Khulna and Jessore districts of […]
Intangible but not Insignificant: The Importance of Safeguarding Cultural Heritage
Memo #264 By Sharon Lim – sharon.lim [at] alumni.ubc.ca In 2010, Old Places was the highest-rated documentary on Singaporean television. This speaks to the appeal of Royston Tan’s documentary—structured around the reminiscences of ordinary Singaporeans, with on-screen images of places and material objects that they feel are slowly disappearing from the Singaporean cityscape. Narrators share […]
Professor Halkias Talks Pure Land in Tibetan Buddhism
Memo #263 Featuring Georgios T. Halkias A few months ago the Asia Pacific Memo sat down with Dr. Georgios T. Halkias a noted scholar of Pure Land Buddhism, particularly of the Himalayan region, and the author of Luminous Bliss, A Religious History of Pure Land Literature in Tibet (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2012). He was a […]
NGO Funding and Overhead Costs: Fallacies and Misconceptions
Memo #262 By Xue-Rong Jia – xue-rong.jia [at] alumni.ubc.ca Almost every international non-governmental organizations (INGO) releases an annual report summarizing its activities and achievements for the year, including a breakdown of its revenues and expenses. For example, last year Save the Children spent 3.8 percent of its revenues for administrative purposes, 9 percent in fundraising […]
NYU Shanghai and the Future of International Higher Education in China
Memo #261 By Joel Heng Hartse – joelhartse [at] gmail.com New York University Shanghai recently completed its first semester of operations. Though NYU Shanghai was recently touted by National Public Radio as the first Sino-U.S. joint university, there are in fact hundreds of approved joint-degree programs and more than thirty jointly run Sino-foreign universities operating in China—and the […]
Migrant Labour in Asia: Singapore’s Recent Riot
Memo #260 By Wajihah Hamid – wajihah.hamid [at] gmail.com Riot, angry mob? Surely unheard of in Singapore? But on Sunday, December 8, 2013, a fatal traffic accident involving a migrant worker in Singapore’s Little India sparked an angry reaction from the area’s low-waged migrant workers that morphed into a riot. Temporary labour migration is the […]
Fragmentation vs. Integration in Asia in 2014: A Year for the History Books
Memo #259 By Yves Tiberghien – yves.tiberghien [at] ubc.ca In the wake of major leadership change around East Asia, what will be the major trends in the Asia/Pacific region in 2014? Did the battle over the Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and the provocative visit to Yasukuni Temple by Prime Minister Abe on December […]