Indonesia taps influencers to convince people to move to its new, under-construction capital (April 10, 2024, Rest of World)
As Indonesia prepares to move its capital away from the overcrowded and rapidly sinking city of Jakarta, authorities are relying on influencers to sell Nusantara as a liveable and desirable city.
Look, no hands! My trip on Seoul's self-driving bus (April 20, 2024, BBC)
At first, looking at the steering wheel moving by itself, then seeing the bus ghost to the left and right accordingly, is enough to fill you with trepidation. But soon that feeling passes.
Without fanfare, the Philippines is getting richer (April 23, 2024, The Economist) (Login required)
Yet things are improving. Roads are being paved, bridges built. In February the government picked a private consortium to revamp and double the capacity of Manila’s main airport. Later this year, it is expected to award contracts to modernise several regional airports, too. Manila is scheduled to have its first underground metro line by 2029.
Fewer yaks, fewer craftsmen: Local handicraft sellers in Bhutan’s Pelela Pass feel the threats (April 25, 2024, Asia News Network)
At the shops on the top of Pelela mountain, you can find handicrafts from Bhutan like yathra products, ropes, and slingshots made from yak wool, as well as bells and hangers also made from yak wool. They also sell yak meat and bamboo items. Additionally, there are goods from Nepal like shawls, earrings, and rosaries, along with locally dried vegetables and incense items.
I spent a night in one of the empty apartments in Malaysia's $100 billion ghost town, and I can see why very few people want to live there (April 3, 2024, Business Insider) (Login required)
It looked like an average residential neighborhood in Singapore — with its endless blocks of public housing and the ubiquitous sight of plants and trees — but without the people.
The fastest-growing countries for software development, according to GitHub (February 5, 2024, Rest of World)
Year over year, the data shows Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Pakistan had the fastest-growing developer population.
With Starlink and Satellite Launches, Mongolia’s Digital Transformation Reaches a Milestone (March 6, 2024, The Diplomat)
Mongolia’s digital transformation is inevitable. Currently, only 23.8 percent of Mongolian territory – less then a quarter – is covered by telecommunications services, including access to high-speed internet. Another 40 percent of the territory is sparsely populated by nomadic people with no access to the internet.
North Korean women are now the breadwinners – and shifting this deeply patriarchal society towards a matriarchy (Mach 7, 2024, The Conversation)
With this shift, it became a whole new lexicon that was derogatory around men, because the economic power had shifted. Women are the breadwinners in a very tight economic times, and men were another mouth to feed.
Update: how is the war in Ukraine affecting global food prices? (February 3, 2024, Economics Observatory)
It is projected that almost 600 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030 if the war is sustained, with Africa – home to some of the world’s poorest and most hungry populations – hit the hardest. This is around 23 million more people than if the war in Ukraine had not happened.
Sri Lanka cultivates sustainable fashion for an economic revival (March 5, 2024, Nikkei Asia) (Subscription Required)
Hosting an International Climate Change Forum last November, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe spoke of plans to transition to a clean economy and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
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Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs. Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University …View Full Bio
Blessing Asia
In October-2022 more than 500 Christian leaders from across Asia gathered in Thailand for the Asia 2022 Congress, sponsored by the Lausanne Movement and various partnering organizations. I had the opportunity to participate in the Congress virtually and was mightily blessed. From Bible exposition to K-pop worship, and through seminars and workshops, the participants were encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in countries all over Asia. Clearly, God is on the move.
A beautiful vision was portrayed in a video of the popular worship song The Blessing, featuring singers from all over Asia. Here it is:
Many of the sessions have already been posted on their website and to their YouTube channel.
One that I found particularly helpful considering all that is going on in China was a presentation titled Church and State Relationship in Asia Today. You can see the video here.
I encourage you to spend some time on their website; there are fantastic resources for understanding God’s work in Asia today.
Original link: https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/blog-entries/blessing-asia/
Image credit: Andrea Brucker, via Unsplash
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