Every year, June 26 is marked as International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, with various functions all around the world to signify the event. In Bangkok, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released its World Drug Report 2008, in the presence of Thai officials, foreign diplomats and anti-narcotics officers. In Ayutthaya province Thai authorities incinerated 15 tonnes of confiscated drugs before a crowd of government officials, foreign diplomats and media.
Security conscious Wei Hseuh-kang won't be happy after he finds out that some of his secrets had been revealed by Perspective. This will certainly apply to his brothers, Bang Ron and those who are protecting them.
The people of Mongolia recently completed another successful election, an important milestone for this nascent democracy. Any time the will of a nation is expressed at the ballot box is a healthy development. But in the election's aftermath, in which the ruling ex-communist party and Mongolia's Prime Minister Sanjaagiin Bayar strengthened their positions, Mongolia has erupted in violence and rioting. Clearly the elections also raised worrisome questions about Mongolia's future.
Wei Hseuh-kang's Hong Pang Group is the biggest enterprise in the Wa State, with numerous business interests throughout Burma. These include a cement factory, liquor distilleries, petrol stations, department stores, road building, construction, agricultural ventures, electronics, jewelry and gem business, communications, textiles and many others. The company also has thousands of acres of fruit orchards and owns coal and jade mines.
Walking into the average Thai market, I, along with hundreds of other shoppers, are faced with a plethora of vendors selling more or less the same goods: food, clothing, house wares or souvenirs. Embedded in the garden of stalls, however, I always tend to find the usually popular vendor of pirated movie DVDs, music CDs or computer software. Drawn in by the alluring illustrations of movies not yet out in theatres entices even the most frugal of shoppers. Who can resist buying software at a fraction of the original price? No one takes a second to think of the legality of it all, since the consequences to the average consumer of pirated products have been minimal, if any.
COMMENTARY
The Preah Vihear temple has emerged as a hot issue once again against all odds.
SOUL Searching
Palestinians in the United States are preparing for what they call a historic unity conference in Chicago during the weekend of August 8, 2008, the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba (the Catastrophe). "At a moment when the Palestinian community and Palestinian rights are under severe attack, Palestinian community organisers and leaders from around the US have come together to build (this conference)," says the announcement on the website. It is designed to "empower our community, unify our voice, and affirm the right of Palestinians in the 'shataat' (exile) to participate fully in shaping our joint destiny." It adds, "Grounded in the conviction that Palestinian Americans are morally and politically obliged to be full participants in the struggle for Palestinian self-determination and return, the Popular Conference will strive to develop a principled, inclusive, and nonpartisan Palestinian voice in the US."
IN SIGHT
If public speaking is a bad dream to many people, public speaking on the subject of sex has got to be a nightmare.
POSTBAG
I refer to the article entitled "Preserve the Integrity of Preah Vihear" (Perspective, 29 June 2008).
EDITORIAL
Even though it has perhaps the greatest potential of any single global issue to rapidly degenerate into disaster, the standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment programme has gone on for so long that it elicits boredom in many people.
