Perspectives
by Lia Sciortino
Perspectives
Mekong Media Makeover
Not so long ago, adjectives like “staid” and “predictable” were used to describe the state-controlled media of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Viet Nam.
Q & A: ‘Publishing Books Isn’t Like Making Instant Noodles’
The book publishing process can be tedious and take years, test the patience of author, editor and publisher, and involve concerns ranging from how interesting the topic is to the weight and colour of the paper used in printing the final product.
A Healthy Mekong River is Priceless
BANGKOK, Dec 4 - The timeless rhythm of the Mekong’s seasonal cycles has nourished and inspired the peoples of the region for millennia. Many rural peoples’ lives and cultures are intimately tied to the river’s health. Even residents of the region’s bustling cities, whose lives appear more distanced from the river, are linked by the cultural richness it spawns.
Reading Media
BANGKOK -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. What images might these words conjure up in the minds of international consumers of news? Perhaps war, maybe the Khmer Rouge. Or they might say, ‘Oh, it’s that those countries that had that war some time ago. . . they’re near one another, and they’re all the same’.
Events
2007 Imaging Our Mekong DVD Set
From documentaries that delve into issues of ethnicity to transboundary roads and infrastructure projects, to television features on avian flu, the works compiled in the Imaging Our Mekong 2007 DVD set look at what links the countries of the Mekong Region together.
The Imaging Our Mekong 2007 DVD is the latest compilation of the works of the television fellows under the 5th cycle (2006-07) of the Imaging Our Mekong media fellowship programme.
The contents of the DVD include:
• 'Dream Makers', Boualay Phanouvong, Lao PDR
• 'A Ti's Home', Zhang Xiao Meng, China
• 'Shanda's Family', Dang Thi Huong Giang and Nguyen Quang Sang, Vietnam
• 'The Sticky Rice Container', Boungneun Phetchampa and Simmany Keokene, Lao PDR
• 'A Chinese Veteran and the Mekong River', Ou Yang Bin and Yang Hua, China
• 'Two Routes Along the River', Sun Min, China
• 'Highway No. 9: The Way of Changes', Siwattra Tiang Rojrat and Khomsunti Thongmak, Thailand
• 'Life in Laiza', Lanau Roi Aung, Myanmar
• 'Human Zoo', Ko Ko Gyi, Myanmar
• 'Life Without a Choice', Sokhayouk Prak and Kong Sideth, Cambodia
'AVIAN FLU IN THE MEKONG'
- Prom Vicheth Sophea, Cambodia
- Vo Ngoc Van Quan, Vietnam
- Zhu Yan, China
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What's New
Coming in December! Mekong Media Forum
Coming in December!
Mekong Media Forum
BANGKOK - How have economic integration and openness shaped the media environment in the Mekong region? What do audiences expect in the age of more openness? What changes in press laws and access to information have taken place in the last 15 years?
6th Mekong Book Now Off the Press
Whether it's a story about how rubber plantations are taking root at the China-Laos border, how Thai is having an impact on the Lao language, or the use of harmful fishing methods in Cambodia and Vietnam, all the features and photo essays in 'Changing Borders: Reportage from Our Mekong; follow the changes that have been taking place as countries in the Mekong Region deepen their cross-border links with one another.
News from the Mekong
China Pulling Southeast Asia into Its Orbit
BEIJING, May 1 (Newsmekong) - The global financial crisis is proving a boon for a resurgent China, which is poised to exert ever greater influence in Southeast Asia.
China Makes Deep Inroads into Cambodia
SISOPHON, Cambodia, Apr 10 (Newsmekong) – Chem Hout sits at the Maxxi coffee shop on a busy thoroughfare in this rural town of western Cambodia, waiting for the school bus to drop off his nine-year-old son. When the mini-bus eventually pulls by, it carries the Chinese characters for the local Chinese bilingual school – the enviable choice of Chem and other parents who can afford to send their children there.
Mekong Media Roundup
VIETNAM: Guidelines Seek to Assist Trafficked Women and Children
HANOI - Trafficked women and children would receive more help to return to Vietnam and integrate back into society with the release of ministry guidelines on effective use of the law, a press conference was told here on June 27.
LAOS: More Illegal Migrants Volunteer to Return Home
VIENTIANE - A group of 837 illegal Lao migrants arrived in Vientiane on June 22 after spending years suffering in Thai detention camps.
THAILAND: Land mines Threaten Elephants
Thailand - More than 100 elephants hauling logs on the Thai-Burmese border are in constant danger, as one step in the wrong direction could injure or even kill them.
THAILAND: Landmines Threaten Elephants
MAE SOT, Thailand - More than 100 elephants hauling logs on the Thai-Burmese border are in constant danger, as one step in the wrong direction could injure or even kill them.
CAMBODIA: Chinese Language Courses Popular
PHNOM PENH - While English remains the most popular foreign language among students in Cambodia, Chinese, Japanese and Korean are fast catching up as young Khmers increasingly view them as a gateway to better jobs in the country’s growing industrial and tourism sectors.