July 2018 – Lone Umbrella

Semper Ad Meliora | Always Towards Better Things

Opinion

Opinion: No, Everything’s Not On Fire

July 28, 2018June 6, 20206 min read Yusoof Monawvil

In the world of today’s 24 hour news cycle, here’s why you should be glad for tomorrow—with a more personal note.

Activists from a number of Asian countries are calling for the boycott of the film “Mulan,” released by Disney on September 4, on the grounds that production’s lead actor, Liu Yi Fei, has publicly expressed support for the police crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong.

Maximum Sentences for Bribery in Latin America

Kicking off commentary on Latin America, Lucas Tisani marks his foray into corruption in the region and the embattled system that seeks to dismantle.

“Taiwan,” “W.H.O?”

Our resident cartoonist, Iggy Kim’s latest piece on WHO Assistant-Director General Bruce Aylward pretending not to hear RTHK journalist Yvonne Tong’s question on Taiwan’s membership.

The Long Reach of Chinese Censorship

I spent the last ten years living in China’s Xinjiang province, one of the country’s so-called “autonomous regions.” In my experience, labeling these regions as such had little to do with autonomy and everything to do with the local governments being able to pull in more money from tourism. This exploitive tourism featured costumed dancers in tightly controlled environments with thematic scenery and had little to do with anything that might be culturally controversial; it was all cultural appropriation on a horrifying scale.