Happy 24th Birthday, Vui Kong
Dear Vui Kong, Happy birthday, in advance. You’ll be 24 on the 19th of January. It’s a huge milestone. Outside here, your supporters are celebrating the fact that you’ve lived another year. Last time we met, I asked what you were planning to do on your birthday. You said you’d spend it thinking about your...
Goodbye 2011, You Just Flew By
This is one of my favourite pictures this year. Taken in some park in Amsterdam, on my iPhone. No action, no drama, no backstory. I think I like it because it captures a moment that was just so not the 2011 we know. I remember the day well. James made a huge breakfast. And then...
Storm In Subic Bay: Some Random Thoughts
Our new documentary, “Storm in Subic Bay” airs today on Al Jazeera English’s 101 East. We will post the link to the film as soon as it is available. Rudolfo Alvarez and his children. Photo by Kirsten Han. We meet Rodolfo Alvarez on a gloomy, overcast afternoon. His home isn’t much to look at –...
"All My Preconceived Notions Went Away"
The photo shows a girl with long, curly hair and big expressive eyes. Her name, we’re told, is Christa. And she is an inmate at a maximum security prison in Tennessee. What led her there was an unspeakably gruesome crime. She had lured a girl she suspected of sleeping with her boyfriend into an isolated...
iPhone, iPad, iProtest
In May this year, we followed Hong Kong activist Debby Chan, as she investigated allegations of labour rights abuses at Foxconn, the company that manufactures shiny Apple gadgets like the iPad. Debby was an inspiration – smart, fearless and focused. She taught us what it meant to stand up for a cause, and showed us...
In Search Of The Tiger Mother
What was your childhood like? If you’re Chinese, was it filled with after-school tuition classes, piano and swimming lessons, ballet and homework? Did your parents tell you it was all for your own good? Do you now agree? Cram school in Hong Kong Recently, we spent three weeks in Hong Kong visiting schools and talking...
Senora Jacinta
She was one of the reasons why we grew to love Oecusse. The little East Timorese enclave inside Indonesia had fabulous beaches and brilliant sunsets and the best grilled fish in the world. But only if you knew Senora Jacinta. I still remember how she did them – stuffed with air manas, barbecued over a...
Coming Soon
It’s taken us a little longer than expected, but we’re almost there now. Poster design by Joshua Chiang.
The Point
Remember Amulla Sarkar? He’s the old man in ‘Small Fry, Big Catch’ who was chased off his land by shrimp cultivators. Amulla is pushing 90. His memory is barely there. But he knows what’s right and he knows what’s his. And even though some of his fellow victims have given up hope and moved away,...
Race Day
John Njoroge had never raced before. But on the 11th of July, he finished 13th in the Etape du Tour. 13th in a field of more than 9,000 cyclists. His time – 3 hours 52 minutes and 13 seconds. He’d covered a distance of 107 km and climbed the Telegraph, Galibier and Alpe d’Huez. When...
