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Peruvian Movie Sets Record Amid Praise and Criticism · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Peruvian feature film “Asu mare” is about to set a new record. More than two million people [es] have seen the movie in just three weeks of exhibition, a real record in the country's movie theaters.
Released in local theaters on Thursday, April 11, 2013, the 95-minute long film is based on the single-man show by popular Peruvian actor and comedian Carlos Alcántara, the man behind the whole production. In the movie, Alcántara pays homage and praises his mother, who raised her sons by herself in a populous Lima neighborhood, and how he managed to move on from some hard situations, seen by Alcántara from a mischievous point of view. But this particular mother, although sacrificed and devoted to her children, has a unique way of raising them.
Carlos Alcántara during the avant premiere of Asu Mare. Image by Wikimedia Commons, under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license.
“Asu mare” [es] is an expression any Peruvian may easily understand. Asu mare can be roughly translated as “Oh, my God!”, but needs some further explanation so foreigners can get its full meaning. Asu mare is a shortened form of “para su madre” (for your mother), used as a way to express admiration and should not be taken in a derogatory sense.
The movie has garnered praises and criticism alike during its screening on local theaters.
Blogger Pachini, from The Markethink blog [es], shares his experience [es] with Asu mare:
[…] En la cola me preguntaba: Cuando fue la última vez que pague 19 soles [alrededor de 7 dólares] por una entrada para una película peruana, jamás. Así entre a la sala, con las ganas de reírme sin parar.
[…]
Cuando me senté en la sala, que tenía capacidad para 450 personas, pensé que a lo mucho se llenaría hasta la mitad. Todo lo contrario, una estampida de personas entro y se llenó. La película en sí, tiene todos los ingredientes para el éxito, ya que puede ser una historia como la de cualquier peruano emprendedor. Además, está ambientada en los anos 80’s de manera perfecta con una dirección y dirección de arte de las mejores que he visto en Perú.
[…] While waiting in line, I was wondering: When was the last time I paid 19 soles [about US$7] for a ticket to watch a Peruvian movie, never. So I got into the theater, looking forward to endless laughing.
[…]
When I sat down in the theater, with a capacity for 450 people, I thought that at the most, it will be half filled. Quite the contrary, a stampede of people came in and the theater became full. The movie itself has all the ingredients for success, as it might be the story of any self-motivated Peruvian. Furthermore, it's perfectly set in the 80’s with directing and art direction that are among the best I've ever seen in Peru.
He goes on to share a recommendation:
La gente no paraba de reírse. Estimados guionistas y directores, si quieren una película taquillera el ingrediente perfecto es el humor. Si quieren ganar un Oscar o algún premio en el extranjero, tendrán que hacer varias películas (sin tener mucho presupuesto) hasta dar en el clavo. Entiendan que ya estamos cansados de ver alcohol, sexo, drogas y sangre, lo vemos de lunes a viernes en los noticieros de la mañana, del mediodía y de la noche. El hecho del ir al cine es para relajarse. La película es corta, pero tiene altos y bajos que funcionan y que enseñan mucho. El público salió riéndose y comentando, lo que confirmo todo: UN ÉXITO.
The public couldn't stop laughing. My dear scriptwriters and directors, if you want a blockbuster movie, the perfect ingredient is humor. If you want to get an Oscar or some kind of award abroad, you'll have to produce several movies (without a big budget) until you hit the nail on the head. Please, be aware we are tired of seeing alcohol, sex, drugs and blood, we see that from Monday to Friday in news broadcasts, each morning, at noon, at night. Going to the movies means relaxing. The movie is short, but it has high and low points that really work and teach a lot. People left laughing and commenting on the film, and it confirmed everything: A SUCCESS.
The blog MarcaFreak [es], which focuses on commercial brands, notes five mistakes [es] in the box office hit and concludes:
Cabe indicar que ninguno de los detalles anteriormente mencionados opaca el éxito de la película y sus logros alcanzados en la taquilla local, sin embargo llamándose este blog MarcaFreak no podíamos dejarlos de lado.
It should be pointed out that none of the perviously listed details outshines the success of the film and its achievements in local box offices, but as this blog's name is MarcaFreak [BrandFreak] we couldn't leave them aside.
Meanwhile, Sumidero blog [es] offers a comprehensive analysis [es] of ‘Peruavianness’ and how it is evident throughout the movie:
El caso es que yo entiendo la  como el acto de sentirse realmente peruano. […] Como sea, lo importante es aquí la peruanidad. Por lo menos lo que yo entiendo como peruanidad. Y es que la historia de ahora es la historia de una vida. La vida de un peruano vigente y del milenio pasado. Hablo de ¡Asu Mare! y de lo bonito que se siente ver en el cine una película peruana. Además está el detalle de que se trata de la primera película peruana que veo en una sala de cine.
The thing is, I understand  as the act of one feeling really Peruvian. […] Whatever, the important thing here is the Peruvianness. At least, what I understand as Peruvianness. The thing is, today's story is the story of a lifetime. The life of a current Peruvian and of the last millennium. I talk about ¡Asu Mare! and how nice it is to see a Peruvian movie in the movies. Besides that, there is the detail that this one is the first Peruvian movie I watch in a movie theater.
On the other hand, the website Cero contenido [es] has harsh criticism [es] for the film:
La historia pasa de Machín [nombre de un personaje de Alcántara] siendo niño a Machín buscando chicas a Machín fumando pasta [básica de cocaína] en un taco a Machín haciendo servicio militar. Ninguna de estas escenas tiene conexión con las demás o al desarrollo de la trama que es terriblemente arbitraria. La única motivación real que está más o menos presente en la película es que Machín quiere ser actor (más o menos) y al final lo consigue (de manera totalmente espontánea y sin ningún tipo de explicación o esfuerzo notorio). Sólo entra a una acedemia de clauns y en la siguiente escena ya está en la televisión. Vida resuelta.
The story goes from Machín [name of a well-known character by Alcántara] as a boy to Machín looking for girls, to Machín smoking coca paste in a billiard hall to Machín doing military service. None of these scenes has connection with the other ones or with the plot development, which is terribly baseless. The only real motivation that is kind of present all along the film is that Machín wants to become an actor (kind of) and at the end he gets it (in a totally spontaneous way and with no explanation at all or visible effort). He just gets into a clown school and in the next scene he is already on TV. His life is solved.
Leaving positive and negative opinions aside, what is true is that “Asu mare: la película” has become a box offices success in a country where piracy is almost the norm.


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Singapore’s May Day Protest Against Population Policy · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

An estimated crowd of 5,000 gathered in Singapore’s Hong Lim Park on May 1, 2013 to protest the government’s White Paper on population.
To reverse the country’s aging population, the government plans to hire more foreign workers which is being resented by many Singaporeans.
The May Day protest was the second time that a big crowd gathered in the park to speak out against the population program.
Mr Gilbert Goh of Transitioning.org, which helps unemployed individuals, is lead organizer of the event. He writes about the significance of the protest:
We hope that the sequel will see a stronger turn-out and  hopefully a  rejuvenation of power’s power as I have heard many Singaporeans felt helpless and hopeless as all along we are very disunited and fragmented as a country.
It took us almost 50 years to achieve a 4000-strong massive turnout for a political protest on 16 Feb and hopefully the triumph march of people’s power will return on May 1st.
Patrick Low notes that Hong Lim park is now a space to assert democracy in Singapore:
Singaporeans gathered in Hong Lim Park to protest the government's population program. Photo from Facebook of Gilbert Goh
Every citizen and NGO present there tomorrow can be a co-owner of the action here. Beyond the political framework of a party system hobbled by horse-trading, party allegiance and power mongering the emergence of Hong Lim as a brand new political space for all Singaporeans to share is like the dawn of a new spring. The only common denominator is the common good and the desire to “Change for the Better”.
Jolovan Wham warns against creating a ‘false divide’ between foreigners and the local population:
We need to calibrate our immigration policy such that it does not affect the quality of life of Singaporeans, close the income gap and extend social welfare to all who are disadvantaged and need it. But we cannot achieve this through discrimination and drawing false distinctions because giving foreigners fewer benefits, fewer subsidies and fewer concessions isn't necessarily going to make life better for us Singaporeans. We need to have anti-discrimination laws so that anyone who has been unfairly treated whether it is by nationality, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation or disability can have avenues to seek redress.
Terry Xu of The Online Citizen observes that speakers also discussed other social issues:
But from the topics covered by the speakers in this protest and from private conversations between total strangers who have just met during the event, it seems to have transcended to a civil movement, which normal Singaporeans could feel empowered to make their voices heard by the incumbent.
And judging from the strong positive response from the crowd, this event would probably not be able to satisfy Singaporeans’ urge to voice out their unhappiness and that there will be more of such events to come in the near future.
Bryan Wong supports the rally to improve the situation of Singaporeans:
To me, it is a noble and courageous act. But all these could happen to our own Singaporeans in future if we do not act and stay oblivious to the situation that is happening now
And this pains me even more to see when foreigners are having jobs here by the many, and we have to venture overseas in search of survival.
The Online Citizen uploads a video report about the protest
Redbean thinks the crowd is smaller compared to the February 16 rally:
I was there as an observer, met some bloggers who have followed my blog and listened to the views of Singaporeans there, mostly negative. One thing, the crowd was much smaller than the previous rally, probably less than 3,000. But this time there were more media representations. The other point to note was the predominantly older crowd. The young were less represented, perhaps more busy having a good time while it still lasts.
It was a peaceful protest, according to Spotlight on Singapore
Another milestone on the road to democracy was achieved at Hong Lim Park today.
The crowd was good-natured and polite. Who says Singaporeans can’t protest peacefully?
Street demonstrations make for a greater impact but are banned. This is no surprise.
There were two events in the park on Labor Day. The protest was scheduled in the afternoon while a ‘picnic’ gathered about 400 hundred people in the morning. Breakfast Network described what took place in the picnic:
So it seems that the May Day picnic is just that: Getting people to be happy together. The group’s worry now is being able to cater for what they think would be a bigger crowd than the couple of hundred that had anticipated. Seems the group got more attention than they bargained for.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Mong Palatino


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Environmental Entrepreneur · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In an era where youth…are seen as being dissolute it is truly heart warming to recognise the drive and talent of this young man.
Abeni salutes Kamara Jerome, a 20-year-old Vincentian entrepreneur, who won the Best Environmental Award in the Caribbean Innovation Challenge.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Warner’s Future History  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Like all urban legends, Jack will linger on minds of both the mindful and mindless.
Tongue firmly in cheek, aka_lol predicts Jack Warner's legacy.


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Turkmen Leader Falls off Horse · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

On April 28, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan and his horse won a race in Ashgabat. Soon after crossing the finish line, however, Berdymukhamedov's horse stumbled and he landed on the dirt. The footage of the embarrassing incident had been made public by international media, and Turkmen dissidents are using the video as an opportunity to ridicule the ‘record-breaking’ president. Blog Ruslana T presents several videos which link the Turkmen leader's spill with episodes from popular Soviet and Hollywood films (here, here, and here).

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Chinese Academic Snubbed at Home, Lauded in the U.S.   · Global Voices
Abby Liu

An outspoken Chinese scientist who was passed over two years ago by China's Academy of Sciences has been scooped up by the United States National Academy of Sciences as a non-voting member.
The news prompted netizens to take a harsh look at China's academic world, with some accusing Chinese academia of corruption and needing reform.
Shi Yigong, a professor and dean of the School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University in Beijing, was elected one of 21 foreign associates at the National Academy of Sciences on April 30, 2013. The elections are based on one's distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, according to the academy.
The news of Shi Yigong's election by the US academy has triggered another debate online. (Image from Sina Weibo)
In 2011, the Chinese Academy of Sciences surprised many when it left Shi off its list of academicians, the top honor it awards to Chinese scientists in recognition for their achievements. Many suspected [zh] at the time that the snub had something to do with the outspoken criticism that Shi, who left his previous post at Princeton University in 2008 for Tsinghua University and renounced his US citizenship three years later, had for China's research funding system.
In the editorial published in 2010, which Shi co-authored with Rao Yi, dean of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University, the two argued that although government research funds in China have been growing at an annual rate of 20 percent, the growth hasn't helped promote scientific development in China as it should have due to the unfair allocation in research funding, which has slowed down the potential pace of innovation in China.
Rao was also passed over by the academy, and Shi and Rao's exclusion triggered public discussion on how academicians are selected in China. According to an interview by the Global Times, China's process for selecting academicians has many problems: for example, academicians stop conducting research once they win the title, and they use that title to gain more research funding.
The news of Shi’s election by the US academy has renewed the debate. User “Jinlin Baguazhou” commented [zh] on China’s most popular microblogging site Sina Weibo:
这是中国学术之耻，也是给中国科学界、中国科学院一记响亮的耳光。打得好，打得痛快！
This is the shame for the Chinese academic field, also a slap in the face to the Chinese scientific field and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Well done!
“Fen 1234” accused [zh] China’s academic world of having the wrong priorities:
施一公当选美国双院院士，为什么这样优秀的人在中国当不上院士？为什么墙里开花墙外香？以中国的标准来看，美国的院士没一丁点儿“技术含量”，不会拉选票，不会请客送礼，在中国不落选才怪呢。美国人选院士看重学术成就，中国人选院士看重人际关系，施的当选与落选，再次证明中国科学界嫉贤妒能。
Shi Yigong was elected to the American academy, why such an outstanding talent failed to be elected in China? By Chinese standards, the academicians in the US doesn’t have any real talent, [because] they don’t know how to pull votes, or treat others or give gifts. It is no surprise that they fail to be enrolled. The Americans value academic achievements in academician candidates instead of relationships like in China, Shi’s case has proved once again that Chinese scientific community are jealous of talents.
A lecturer from Qingdao University, “hangming kantianxia”, echoed [zh]:
国内大学的体制并非是学术占第一位，往往人际关系也在其中起到重要的作用。施教授的例子并非个案。说明国内大学的用人体系出了问题。而且这个问题很顽固，并非是一朝一夕能解决。想必这也是国内几十年来，没有出国际大师的重要原因吧。
Academic achivement is not the priority in Chinese university system, often times interpersonal relationships play an important role. Professor Shi’s example is not the only case. It indicates that there’s a problem in the talent-employment system in the universities. It’s a deep-rooted problem that can’t be solved overnight. Perhaps this is why there hasn’t been any internationally recognized professors from China in the past decades.
Beijing Times commentator Zhang Tiankan urged for [zh] the reform of the academician system:
尽管，当上美国的外籍院士和能否当选中国的院士，没有必然的关系，然而，在一落一当之间，让大家看到的，恰恰是中国院士制度改革值得反思和借鉴的方向。中国要吸引人才，要在学术上领先，院士制度改革是必须的。
Although the election of foreign associates to the US National Academy of Sciences and the selection of academicians by the Chinese Academy of Sciences are not necessarily related, the different results are worthy of the reflection and study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. To attract talent and to become a leading player in the academic field, the reform of the academician system is necessary.

author: Abby Liu


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VIDEO: Turkish Police Crack Down on May Day Protesters  · Global Voices
Baran Mavzer

Violent clashes between Turkish police and May Day protesters in Istanbul left 25 civilians and 22 police officers injured [tr], including one man who reportedly lost an eye due to a teargas canister and another 17-year-old girl with head injuries who was left in a coma for a short time.
Thousands of people made their way on May 1, 2013 to the city's main Taksim Square, a symbolic location where gunmen opened fire on the crowds there during the May 1 protests in 1977, killing as many as 42 people. This year, the government banned any protests or celebration for International Workers’ Day in the square, citing safety concerns due to construction near the area.
Police shot water cannons and teargas to disperse protesters, who fought back with rocks and Molotov cocktails in some cases. Seventy-two protesters were detained.
The response has been criticized as heavy-handed and harsh. Turkey's main opposition party leader Gürsel Tekin told reporters that police shot teargas into houses, hospitals, and even into an ambulance.
Hürriyet, a Turkish newspaper, published a video [tr] of police aggression toward protesters on its website:
Government officials [tr], however, accused protesters of being members of fringe groups, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police, forcing them to shoot teargas in response. Hurriyet [tr], a Turkish newspaper shared a video of some protesters attacking police forces on its website doing just that:
According the nationalturk.com, opinion on the protesters were divided, with some people not approving of the vandalism against the police, and even some yelling at protesters to “get out, you are not welcome here”.
On Twitter, user Murathan Ceylan (@MurathanCyln) was angry at the protesters:
@MurathanCyln Sizin amaciniz 1 Mayis ı mi kutlamak yoksa polise tas ve molotof atip dukkanlari yakip yikmak mi ?!
Is your purpose celebrating May 1st or throwing rocks and Molotovs at police and stores?
Journalist Serdar Arseven (@sarseven) took the criticism one step forward:
@sarseven Vay namussuzlar, can güvenliklerini sağlayan polisin canına kast ettiler!.. Vatan hainleri!..
You dishonorable people. They tried to kill the police who are trying the protect them! Traitors!
Dilan Alp [tr], a 17-year-old protester, was hit by a teargas canister and fell into a coma. She is awake now and her medical situation is improving.
Although the police department [en] said in statement that she fell down from stairs, and the governor of Istanbul, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, called Alp a militant and member of a “marginal” group, the video of the incident tells a different story. Here is the video [tr] of that moment:
Reactions were high on social media over her injuries.
Twitter user Berxwedan Yaruk (@BerxwedanYARUK) criticized the incident ironically:
@BerxwedanYARUK Lise öğrencisi Dilan Alp başından gaz bombası ile vurulmuş.Gerçi işçi değil o değil mi? Taksim'e de gitmek istemiş. Öldürülmesi çok normal.
Dilan Alp, a high school student, was hit by teargas. Well, she is not a worker, is she? She also wanted to go to Taksim, too. So it is normal to kill her.
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) congresswoman Sebahat Tuncel (@tuncelsebahat) visited Alp in the hospital. She mentioned that the girl's father is a former employee of Hey Textile, a large textile company that went bankrupt this year and whose former workers went on a strike [tr]:
@tuncelsebahat Gaz bombasiyla yaralanan Dilan'in kafa tasında ve çenesinde çoklu kırık var.Babasi hey tekstil direnişçisi.Babasi ile bayram kutlamaya gelmş
There are broken bones on Dilan's head and chin, caused by a teargas that hit her on head. His father is a Hey Textile worker. She came to celebrate the Workers’ Day with his father.
Twitter user Hukukcu Themisler (@themisler) accused the government of caring more for the protection of the construction project at Taksim Square than the protection of its own people:
@themisler 40 bin polis ile Taksim'deki inşaat alanını koruyan devlet, işçi-emekçi insanlara copla gazla müdahalede bulundu:Dilan ALP ağır yaralandı..!
Government, with its 40,000 police, kept the construction area in Taksim Square safe, while attacking workers with teargas and nightsticks; Dilan Alp heavily injured.
But to combat the reactions against the police action, the governor publicized photos of Dilan Alp [tr] allegedly holding a molotov cocktail in her hand. He claimed that she was not innocent, and she was injured while attacking police forces.
Alp was not the only one who was injured. Protesters Meral Dönmez, Zafer Yolcu, İbrahim Akal, and Serdal Gül [tr] were all seriously injured and are hospitalized.
Yolcu was hit on the head by a teargas canister, which fractured his scalp, according to reports. Akal lost one of his eyes and is in danger of losing the other, according to his brother Umut Akal's statement [tr].
Twitter user Ali Fırat (@partizan72_) shared a picture of Yolcu in the hospital:
@partizan72_ AKP hükümetinin taksim yasaklaması İstanbul emekçileri yıldırmadı. ZAFER YOLCU pic.twitter.com/TuYlGjgA72
Ruling party Justice and Development Party's ban could not stop the workers of Istanbul. ZAFER YOLCU pic.twitter.com/TuYlGjgA72
Another user, Esra Aksu Gök (@ESRAAKSU12), expressed his anger over Akal's injury:
@ESRAAKSU12 Bunun bedeli ödenebilir mi? 1 Mayısta yaralanan İbrahim Akal gözünü kaybetti http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/1_mayista_yaralanan_ibrahim_akal_gozunu_kaybetti-1131940 … @radikal aracılığıyla
Can there be any price for this? İbrahim Akal injured on May 1 and lost his eye.
Lawyer Efkan Bolaç (@efkanbolac) criticized the government forces sarcastically for attacking Akal:
@efkanbolac Gerçekten teşekkürü hakkediyorlar! İbrahim Akal atılan bombalar sebebiyle bir gözünü kaybetti. Hastane çıkışı ölmedim diye teşekküre gidecek
@efkanbolac They really deserve to receive thanks! İbrahim Akal lost one of his eyes because of the teargas. He is going to thank them when he is out of the hospital!
Twitter user, Dilan Alatas (@DilanAlatas), mentioned Gül while slamming criticism of Alp, the 17-year-old protester, for being at the protests even though she is not a worker:
@DilanAlatas Dilan Alp'ten sonra,metal işçisi Serdal Gul kafasından aldığı darbe sonucu ameliyata alınmış.Yine de ‘ee işçi değilmiş yea’ diyecek misiniz?
@DilanAlatas After Dilan Alp, worker Serdal Gül went into surgery. Will you still say “so, he was not a worker”?
Twitter user, Astrig Daghlian (@Keghetsi), mentioned Gül, too:
@Keghetsi Serdal Gul de komada, ailesi ‘Çocuğumuza hedef alınarak ateş açılmış başından yaralanmış’ http://www.gercekgundem.com/?p=542493
Serdal Gül in a coma too, his family said: “Our child shot by targeted on purpose and got injured from his head”

author: Baran Mavzer


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Animal Cruelty In Kathmandu On The Rise · Global Voices
Rezwan

Siromani Dhungana at United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal highlights rising cruelty to animals in the Nepali capital Kathmandu and questions how long it will continue.

author: Rezwan


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Freedom of the Press in Colombia · Global Voices
Lully

Colombians commemorated World Press Freedom Day showing their outrage over the May 1 attack against journalist Ricardo Calderón from Semana magazine. Calderón was investigating corruption among military officers [es]. On Twitter the hashtag #NoNosCallarán [es] (we will not be silenced) is trending in Colombia.

author: Lully


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Islamists Demand that Bangladesh’s Women Stay at Home · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Members of Hifazat-e Islam, a radical Islamist party in Bangladesh, attacked female journalists on assignment as the group marched in the country's capital to demand strict Islamic law, including a ban on free mixing of the sexes and punishment of “atheists and blasphemous bloggers”.
Hefazot Islam introduced their 13-point demand during the march on April 6, 2013 in Dhaka, which would enforce capital punishment for blasphemy, make Islamic education compulsory, and see the the end of “all alien cultural practices like immodesty, lewdness, misconduct, culture of free mixing of the sexes, candle lighting in the name of personal freedom and free speech.”
On 6th of April Hifazat-e Islam arranged a rally to demand action against ‘atheists and blasphemous bloggers’ of the Shahbagh’s Ganajagaran Mancha. Image by Suvra Kanti Das. Copyright Demotix (6/4/2013)
On the day of the long march, Hifazat-e Islam not only barred women from entering the event, but also physically and verbally harassed several female journalists on duty there. Numbers of Hifazat activists chased and physically assaulted Ekushey Television Reporter Nadia Sharmin at Bijoynagar on the path of the rally, and interrupted Financial Express Reporter Arafat Ara at Paltan, close to the event venue, when she was going to her office.
Memberse hurled brickbats and water bottles at Sharmin and she was thrown to ground and beaten. She was sent to the hospital for treatment and was released after three days.
Cases were filed against 60 people. This video uploaded to YouTube by ProfessorZiauddin  shows Sharmin being attacked by a Hifazat mob:
An old woman collecting water bottles at the rally area was driven away on the pretext that “it is not a place for females”.
However, amid countrywide protest of the attacks on the journalists, which called for a boycott of news and broadcast of the news of the Islamists, representatives from Hifazat stated later that the group regretted the attack, saying “miscreants had carried out the attacks on scribes”.
Hefazot Islam activists attack journalist Nadia Sharmin as she covers their long march. Image courtesy Sanaullah Lablu.
So far, the Bangladeshi government has been soft on them and the prime minister has requested to postpone their planned protests in Dhaka scheduled for March 4 and 5, 2013 respectively taking into consideration the ongoing rescue operations for the Savar building collapse victims (see Global Voices Report).
The prime minister also mentioned that many of their 13 points have already been implemented or are under the process of being implemented. She also offered negotiations for other demands.
However, the party has promised to stage protests and disruptions into the long-term.
On May 5, 2013, the group plans to cut off Dhaka from the rest of the country by stationing its activists at all six entry points into the city terming the Prime Minister’s claim of addressing most of its 13-point demands as “devoid of merit”. The oppositions parties BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami are backing them.
Hefazot's anti-woman stance have earned strong condemnation from throughout Bangladesh, with a number of protests and rallies organizing against the group across the country.
Bangladesh is a secular democracy in which women have made significant strides. According to latest census data [bn], about half of Bangladesh's population of 152,518,015 are women. In education, women are progressing faster than men, with 89.19 percent of girls compared to 78.23 percent of boys passing the higher secondary school exam. And women are increasingly economically empowered, thanks to the garment industry in which 80 percent of employees are women.
Activists of Bangladesh group theater federation took a part of mach against Hifazat-e-Islam long march in the Dhaka. Image by Rehman Asad. Copyright Demotix (5/4/2013)
And the country's prime minister, leader of the opposition and ex-prime minister, and the newly appointed speaker of the parliament are women. Many consider Hifazat's oppressive regimen as a halt to the progress Bangladesh has made for women's rights.
On April 27, 2013 an alliance of 68 non-governmental organisations working for women's rights held a rally in Dhaka to speak out against the proposed subjugation of women. Sultana Kamal, a human rights activist, told reporters there:
The people are non-communal and religious tolerant. The nation cannot cave in to the muscle-flexing of a handful of fanatics.
Kazi Mamun Hossain wrote in community blog Somewhereinblog against the Hefazot wish to establish a Taliban-like state with women forced to stay at home inside in burqas:
হেফাজত তাদের ১৩ দফায় ধর্মের নামে নারীদের চার দেয়ালে বন্দী করতে চায়, চায় পোশাক শ্রমিক নারীদের মাধ্যমে দেশ যে বিদেশী মুদ্রা আয় করছে তা বন্ধ হোক, আমাদের মেয়েরা কাজ না করে স্বামীর পদতলে বাঁধা থাকুক। শিক্ষা ব্যবস্থাকে আধুনিক না করে আমাদেরকে অন্ধকারে বেঁধে রাখতে চায়। ধর্মের নামে আধুনিক বাংলাদেশকে তালেবান রাষ্ট্র বানাতে চায়।
Hefazot is trying to confine women inside four walls with their 13-point demand. They want to stop the flow of foreign currency by preventing women workers in the garments industry from doing their job. They want our women to stop earning and be submissive to their income-generating husbands. They want to restrict modernization of our education policy keeping ourself in darkness. They want to establish a Taliban-like state in the name of protecting religion.
On the same website, Nayakraj reiterated that this country is for everybody:
বাংলাদেশকে কোনক্রমেই তালিবান আফগান বানাতে দেয়া যাবে না। বাংলাদেশ কোনো কাঠমোল্লার দেশ না, এই দেশ নারী পুরুষ সবার।
Hefajat-e Islam protests continue and threatened the government of blocking Dhaka on May 5, 2013 if its 13 point demands, including a blasphemy law and execution of atheist bloggers for defaming Islam in Bangladesh capital. Image by Rehman Asad. Copyright Demotix (19/4/2013)
Blogger Himu wrote on community blog Sachalayatan that Bangladesh's women are too integral to the running of the country to remain inside and at home:
যে বাংলাদেশের কৃষি অচল নারীর অংশগ্রহণ ছাড়া, যে বাংলাদেশের শিল্প অচল নারীর শ্রম ছাড়া, যে বাংলাদেশের পরিবার অচল নারীর নি:শব্দ আত্মবিসর্জন ছাড়া, সে বাংলাদেশে মাথায় ফেট্টি বাঁধা কতগুলি উন্মাদের কথায় নারী অন্তরীণ হয়ে থাকবে?
কখনোই না।
The agriculture of Bangladesh is dependent on the women workforce, the industries are dependent on women. In Bangladesh, families are dependent on women's silent contribution in parenting and housekeeping. The women of Bangladesh will not be confined because some radicals with turbans on their head said so. Never.
Shariful Islam Rukun at community blog Amarblog questioned the group's understanding of Islam in light of its attack of female journalists at the march:
ইসলাম শান্তির ধর্ম। হেফাজতের যে সব কর্মীরা এ মহত্ (!) কাজে অংশ নিয়েছেন তারা কী জানাবেন, একজন মহিলাকে অর্ধশত পুরুষ মিলে এভাবে নির্দয়ভাবে পেটানোর অনুমতি ইসলামের কোথায় উল্লেখ আছে?
Islam is the religion of peace. Could the Hefazot members who participated in these holy (!) attacks tell where in Islam it is prescribed that a bunch of men should beat mercilessly an unarmed women?
Irteza (@irteza) asked on Twitter:
@ইরতেজা: সকল গণমাধ্যমকে উদাত্ত আহবান জানাচ্ছি, সাংবাদিক বোনদের ওপর অব্যাহত অত্যাচার নির্যাতনের প্রতিবাদে হেফাজতে ইসলামীর সকল সংবাদ বর্জন করুন।
@irteja: I am asking all journalists to boycott all news related to Hefazot Islam in media in protest of their attack on female journalists.
Bikkhipto Khitish (@projonmo106) wrote that the fundamentalists’ efforts were futile:
@প্রজন্ম১০৬: দু:খিত, হে ধর্মান্ধের দল, নারীকে ঘরে আটকে রাখার দিন এদেশে আর নেই, কোনোদিন আর আসবেও না। sachalayatan.com/dhusor_jolchobi/48746 #শাহবাগ

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Saudi Activist Refuses Trial: “I Will Not Tolerate Women Degradation” · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

This post is part of our Special Coverage: Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia
The fifth session of the ongoing trial of Dr. Abdulkareem al-Khudar, a co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, was held today; and as in the previous session, the judge continued to refuse to allow women to attend the public trial, saying that they shall stay at home.
Last time, when Dr. al-Khudar refused to enter the courtroom without allowing both women and men to attend the trial, the judge issued a four-month arrest warrant.  Since then, Dr. al-Khudar has been imprisoned in the Buraydah Public Prison.
A video was uploaded showing him leaving the court building, handcuffed, in which he said:
ما دخلنا السجن إلا طلبا لإصلاح حال هذه الأمة. أسأل الله أن يحقق ذلك أو يميتنا دونه.
I was imprisoned for trying to improve the status of this nation.  I pray for this to be achieved, or for me to die trying to achieve it.
When the judge continued to refuse to allow women to attend (including Dr. al-Khudar's mother and wife), he refused to speak and wrote a note that his lawyer read after the session:
Dr. al-Khudar, handcuffed, after the session, via ACPRATube.
والله لن تضهد المرأة باسم الإسلام بتحريف النصوص عن معناها ومراد الله فيها؛ وأما إن اضهدت باسم النظام فيحاسب من قام بذلك.”
I swear that I will not tolerate women degradation in the name of Islam by twisting verses [of the Quran] to distort the meaning that God intended; and if the degradation is in the name of the law, those who wrote it should be held accountable.
The next trial session will be held next Saturday, May 11.
This post is part of our Special Coverage: Reformists on Trial in Saudi Arabia

author: Anas Soliman


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Trinidad & Tobago: Gem of a Garden  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

My Chutney Garden is our guide through Trinidad's Royal Botanic Gardens.


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‘Uzbek Princess’ in Social Media · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of the infamous President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, is very different from the children of the leaders of other countries in Central Asia. A Harvard graduate, she has served as Uzbekistan's ambassador to UN in Geneva. She has also launched a pop singing career, a fashion line, a perfume, and a charity. Karimova is also very active in social media, and her provocative Twitter posts and photos shared on Instagram often raise eyebrows among the mostly conservative audiences in Uzbekistan and other countries in the region. Blogger Ayana Seidimbek presents [ru, en] a collection of the most controversial posts and images the ‘Uzbek princess’ has shared in social media.


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Will Malaysia’s Ruling Party for 50 Years Continue to Dominate Elections? · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

A resounding theme in Malaysia’s 13th General Election on May 5, 2013 has been the prospect of change, or ‘ubah’ (change in Malay). A popular slogan being bandied about is ‘ini kalilah, ubah’ which translates as ‘this time around, change comes’.
Having said that, it is unclear how the election will play out, and Channel News Asia has reported that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition might still win, but with a smaller margin. BN has ruled Malaysia for the past half-century.
Shufei made a case for a change in government:
I'm not one for politics. I detest it actually, it makes me more emotional than almost anything else. I'm so easily roused by anger when I read about prejudices, dirty tricks, unjustified behaviour, corruption. Everything that is humanely destructive but equally bracketed into the flawed mortality of individuals I'm entrusting my country with.
But don't you think we should have a choice? A two-party system so we have the ability to choose if the government is corrupt? Isn't that what democracy is all about? Not being shushed or silenced because ‘they have done so much things for us’. Yes, they have done things for us, but they're our government. It's, I'm sorry to be blunt, their job.
Glam also urged their readers to vote for a change in government, using several videos.
Anil Netto also posted a video of voters in Penang calling for change in the country.
The people have made up their minds.
This wasn’t about the people calling for tunnels, new highways and more high-rise luxury condos; it was the about the people calling for an end to corruption in the country and for political change at the federal level.
Thomas described Prime Minister Najib Razak as the ‘Trojan Horse’ of Malaysian politics:
Throughout the country, on the numerous BN’s billboards, printed materials and TV commercials and news, it is Najib’s sweet and gentle smiling face that you see. Never before in the history of general elections in our country has so much been hinged on the persona of a man instead of on the ideals or vision of the party for the country. But Najib Razak is a trojan horse, constructed by professional public relations firm like APCO with the help of a very compliant broadcast and printing mass media industry.  He has had an extreme makeover which transformed him from an ultra Malay rights politician to one that espouse the inclusive and tolerant values of 1Malaysia.
Malaysia has been swamped with campaign materials such as banners, flags, posters and billboards. Photo by Hon Keong Soo, Copyright @Demotix (5/2/2013)
This is the first time that postal voting is allowed in the Malaysian elections. Chelliah, a Malaysian living in the UK, wrote about their excitement at the possibility of a change in government:
As I write this post the sun is rising in Malaysia on a new day and I will be going to bed soon because it is the end of the day in the UK. There is something ironic about that. I left Malaysia 32 years ago and although I now live thousands of miles away I am excited at the prospect of ‘Ubah’ (‘change’ in the Malay language)becoming a reality on 0505.
The election or GE13 as it has become known, I suspect, will be a political milestone for the manifestation of Malaysian unity all over the world. I don't think I am alone in hoping for Ubah while living in a foreign land. You may wonder why this is important for someone who does not experience daily life under a regime that many Malaysians experience as being corrupt and authoritarian. I may not live there now but I did live the daily  life of state-led grind for many years.
In Melbourne, JOM Magazine, a magazine that caters to the Malaysian community, made a video about the postal voting day, which was held a week before May 5.
There is also a video of Malaysian voters in London:
With social media so widely used, it is not a surprise that this election has been dubbed the social media election.

author: Jerrenn Lam


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China’s Unfair Pension System  · Global Voices
Abby Liu

The Economic Observer[zh] ran a piece on China's dual-track pension system, which reveals the huge inequality between migrant workers and civil servants. ChinaSmack has translated the Chinese article as well as some online comments.


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China: Unsolved Poisoning Case in Spotlight · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Due to the recent poisoning case at Shanghai's Fudan University, Chinese netizens have taken renewed interest in another well-known university poisoning from 20 years ago. In 1994, Tsinghua University chemistry student Zhu Ling was nearly killed and permanently paralyzed due to thallium poisoning. Although cleared from charges, her roommate Sun Wei remains a suspect to many due to her family's high-level political connections. Netizens have taken not only to Weibo (which has subsequently dropped searches for terms related to the case), but also started a White House petition asking that Sun Wei be deported back to China. NEW REPUBLIC has more details.


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Fatwas for Imran Khan – Pakistan’s Election Gets Dirty · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

This post is part of our Special Coverage Pakistan Votes 2013.
Screen capture from PTI Official Website http://insaf.pk/
A popular cricket-star turned politician, whose campaign and rallies have been drawing young urban voters with the slogan “Naya Pakistan” (New Pakistan), irked some supporters by distancing himself from the country's persecuted minority group the Ahmadis.
Imran Khan was reacting to fatwas or decrees issued this week by some Islamic clerics and an Islamist party forbidding Pakistanis from voting for him because he is “an atheist” and “an Ahmadi agent”. The country's historic elections, to be held on May 11, 2013 are days away. Khan's party, a new player on Pakistan's political scene, is proving to be a real challenger to the country's established parties.
Khan's statement on Ahmadis
On the official website of his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI, Khan endorsed the constitution of Pakistan, which declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974 and prohibited Ahmadis from calling their faith Islam and their houses of worship mosques in Pakistan.
Pakistan is the only country in the world to have officially declared that “Ahmadis are not Muslims.” The official PTI press release on May 2 states:
PTI totally subscribes to the article in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on the Ahmadis. It is not part of the PTI agenda to seek amendment of the said article in the Constitution.
[…]
This is a political conspiracy against me as a person and PTI as a party …Those Ulema [religious scholars] who label me as kafir [atheist] and tell people that voting for PTI is haram [forbidden by islamic law] in their fatwas [religious decrees] would have been better advised to follow the rules of giving fatwas and ascertained my belief before issuing the same.
A video with Khan directly speaking into camera [ur] was also uploaded on the site on May 2, but was later removed.
Fashion Designer Zarlasht Faisal travelled across the country to attend Imran Khan rallies leading up to the election. Before she was aware of the fatwas, she wrote on her public Facebook page on May 2:
As an ardent PTI and IK supporter, am absolutely appalled by the statement about Ahmedi's on the PTI website; This is seriously disappointing
Religious decree issued against Khan
Imran Khan's statement came in response to a video making the rounds on social media showing a woman that seemed to be representing PTI asking for Ahmadi votes from an Ahmadi spiritual leader. The video propelled several Islamic scholars to issue fatwas against voting for Khan on May 1.
On May 4, Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Pakistan's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami,  also endorsed the decree. Popular broadcast journalist Moeed Pirzada writes on his Facebook page:
Fazlur Rehman used every word that would foment hatred against any person in the conservative masses of Pakistan. He called Imran an agent of “Americans, Jews, Ahmadis and a person of ill character”. “A person who could not make his own children Muslim nor Pakistani, is dreaming of becoming prime minister of Pakistan and making the country an Islamic welfare state,” [the] Maulana [religious scholar] said. — Lol! Where is Election Commission?
A day after Rehman's statement, a grenade was thrown at a PTI office, injuring three people. This was the first attack targeting the party in the run up to the elections, although the campaign trail has been bloody for other parties.
Khan's young supporters react
A post by Pirzada on Facebook churned hundreds of comments within hours. One follower responds:
Bilal Fazal: I am going to vote for IK [Imran Khan] after this Fatwa. This is the kind of fatwas that has made Pakistan a bloody and in-livable place. god help Maulana's followers by giving them hidayat [guidance] and rochni [light] to see it through.
Islamabad-born law student, Imaan Hazir Mazari (@ImaanHMazari), who used to be an ardent supporter of PTI and whose mother is a member of Imran Khan's party, tweets:
@ImaanHMazari: There was no need for him to act so defensive. This has now resulted in the impression that their [Ahmadi] persecution is justifiable. Bad move, IK.
On her personal blog she adds:
I believed in the change he talked about even when I left PTI because I believed that he was a man who wouldn’t bow down to the extremists when he came to power. My belief in him has wavered as his recent actions have been very disheartening to a Pakistani who believes in equal rights for all, regardless of religious beliefs. What is even more upsetting is that I, along with many other Pakistanis, feel helpless and out of choices. If not Imran Khan, who am I going to vote for?
In a Facebook thread on her own profile with dozens of comments, Zarlasht Faisal says:
A very irresponsible statement, but I still have a LOT of faith in him. Fact of the matter is…its a hate mongering law entrenched in our psyche since 1973…its going to take a lot more than talk during a run up to an election campaign to change it.
On May 4, she wrote a longer post explaining why she continues to support Imran Khan.
Pakistan's Ahmadis
In 1973, the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (Benazir Bhutto's father) bowed down to pressure from religious parties and amended the constitution to declare Ahmadis non-Muslims through an act of parliament. In 1984, Pakistan's military dictator Zia-ul-Haq introduced more sting into the law by forbidding Ahmadi's from “posing as muslims.” Which means they cannot call themselves Muslim, or their places of worship mosques, or even say the Muslim greeting in Arabic, asaalamu-alaikum (peace be upon you.)
Since then, hate crimes against Ahmadis have been on the rise. Many fear for their safety in Pakistan and live in the shadows. With Ahmadis at the center of this latest political point scoring game, many young Ahmadis have bravely starting tweeting and mentioning their struggles on Facebook.
Nadir, a 30 year-old Ahmadi currently based in Australia, writes on his private Facebook page (used with permission):
Tough being an Ahmadi. First your parents tell you to be proud and love your country, then everybody starts killing each other and you're told to not return to Pakistan as you may either get killed/kidnapped or never promoted in any job, if you get one; the police can't help you even if its the other persons crime against you or your family, neither can the courts. Kids these days are told not to tell anyone they're Ahmadi, if they do, they get thrown out of schools or beaten or killed or failed or isolated. It's a shit cake I tell you, some serious identity fracture.
An anonymous left-leaning Facebook group called Traitors of Pakistan posted a picture and quote of the country's revered founding father on May 4 that says:
Ahmadis are Muslims, If They Say They are Muslims and No One, Not Even the Sovereign Legislature, has the Right to Say Otherwise.” – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, 05 May 1944.
The quote was shared by hundreds of young Pakistani Facebook users and generated hundreds of comments with many questioning the Ahmadi status as non-Muslims in Pakistan.
Story updated on May 5 22:19 GMT, to include an additional post from Zarlasht Faisal.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Shanghai is China’s Number One Cancer City · Global Voices
Abby Liu

The cancer rate in Shanghai is 25 percent higher than the national average, over 80 people die from the disease every day, according to the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The pollution, food and water crisis are likely to be the cause of the increased cancer rates. Shanghaiist has more details.


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TEDXSão Tomé: Event arrives in São Tomé and Príncipe · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

TEDXSão Tomé
TEDXSão Tomé pre-registration is opened.  The event has “Islands Connected : São Tomé + Príncipe = África Connected to the World” as a theme and is going to take place on 20 June. Speakers already confirmed include: Dynka Amorim, Ismael Sequeira, Professor Robert Drewes e Aoaní d'Alva. Tickets cost € 20. More on event Facebook and website [links in Portuguese].

author: Thiana Biondo


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Top 10 Coolest Novels about Modern China · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Peter from China Whisper recommends 10 coolest novels about modern China.


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China Censors Chemical Plant Protest · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Residents of China’s southwestern Kunming city took to the streets on May 4, 2013 to protest against the potential production of a toxic chemical at a nearby factory.
According to state media, the China National Petroleum Corporation plans to build a chemical plant in the nearby town of Anning to produce 500,000 tonnes of paraxylene (PX) used to make fabric. Close to 3,000 people gathered in the city center to protest against the dangers of a possible PX spill.
China's state media kept the news of the protest quiet, and online censors have aggressively deleted information and photos about the demonstration on popular microblogging site Sina Weibo since May 4, 2013. Many Web users switched their Weibo profile photos to an image of “Kunming PX” crossed-out to show support.
Kunming is well-known for its flowers and plants thanks to its perpetual spring-like weather. It is one of the few Chinese cities that regularly enjoy clear blue skies.
Similar protests had erupted in different cities in recent years. In 2007, thousands of people in China's eastern Xiamen city protested the construction of a PX plant. In the past two years, two large NIMBY protests erupted in Dalian and Ningbo.
Protesters wore symbolic masks and brandished posters warning against the dangers of a paraxylene (PX) spill. (From Sina Weibo)
One Weibo user “Boluocun Yihao” from Kunming called for [zh] more support online:
媒体被控制，手机信号被切断，保卫人民生命安全的警察却没有保卫，＂XX石化炼油厂，滚出昆明！＂我们不要牛奶河，我们不要PM2.5，我们不要PX。希望大家可以接力转载，转发。保护我们的母亲昆明。
Media control, cell phone signals cut off, the police who are supposed to defend the safety of the people didn't protect the people, “XX petrochemical refinery, get out of Kunming!” We do not want milk river[a polluted river in Kunming has turned the color of milk], we do not want PM2.5 [pollution], we do not want PX. Please repost this message. Protect our mother Kunming.
Another Weibo user from Kunming criticized [zh] the media censorship:
那么大一个中国，只有《北京晚报》一家如实报道了昆明昨天发生的事。而且还不是亲自采访的，是引用网易的。据说中新社的采访了昨天的事，但是最后没能发表。新华社，央视更是能躲则躲…..中国已经没有媒体能为百姓说话了，同意的速转.
Such a big country, yet only “Beijing Evening News” truthfully reported what happened in Kunming yesterday. It was not an original report, but quoted from NetEase. It is said that China news agency did the interview yesterday, but was forbidden to publish in the end. Xinhua News Agency or CCTV hide as far away as they can….China has no media to speak for its people. Please repost the message if you agree.
A musician from Kunming “Yinyue Xiaosun” echoed [zh] the sentiment:
Banner reads: “Beautiful Kunming! We need to survive! We want to be healthy! PX—out of Kunming !” (From Sina Weibo)
各位昆明的媒体朋友，我理解你们的工作，就像我们理解今天的警察哥哥，警察叔叔，警察姐姐一样。但是，你们都生活在昆明，都爱自己家乡，都希望自己的孩子呼吸新鲜的空气，不是吗？？不是吗？不是吗？
Media friends in Kunming, I understand your work, just like we understand today's police. But you live in Kunming. We all love our own hometown and want our children to breathe the fresh air, don’t you?? Don’t you? Don’t you?
Weibo user “Kong Batian” recalled [zh] the World Horticultural Exposition in Kunming in 1999:
14年前的今天，在“人与自然，和谐发展——共同迈向21世纪”的口号下，昆明人满怀激动与自豪迎来了中国第一个世博会！而14年后的今天，云南人竟然要为了自己的生存环境走上街头进行抗争！这真是对昆明人民莫大的讽刺！
14 years ago, under the theme of “man and nature, marching into the 21st century”, the Kunming people ushered in the first World Expo in China with pride and excitement! 14 years later, Yunnan people had to take to the streets to fight for the environment! This is the great irony for the Kunming people!
Many Weibo users quoted [zh] a poem written by famous journalist Bai Yansong:
Sign reads “Uncle and aunt, we need clean air!” (From Sina Weibo)
用不了多久，这座城市将慢慢退出人们的视线，沦为历史的鸡肋，美丽的传说将永远成为传说，没有人会对此负责，应该对此负责的人早已离开了这个城市，甚至这个国家，他们的子女早已远居海外，留下的只是一个破烂污染的废城，一方癌症的区域，一群朴实、愚昧的人民， 这个城市叫作昆明。
Soon the city will slowly become out of sight and forgotten by history. The beautiful legend will always be a legend. No one will be held responsible because the ones that should be have already left the city, and their children have already immigrated, leaving a tattered and polluted city with innocent people, a cancer area ….. this city is called Kunming.


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China: More Suicides at Foxconn Factory · Global Voices
Owen Guo

Chinese media [zh] reported on 2 May 2013 that two Foxconn employees had jumped to their deaths in Zhengzhou, once again raising concerns about poor working conditions and mismanagement at the world’s largest electronics manufacturer that produces hardware for technology giants like Apple, Dell and Amazon.
In a company statement obtained by Global Voices, Foxonn acknowledged that a 23-year-old female and a 24-year-old male employee were found dead on April 24 and April 27 respectively, but did not specify how they had died.
We can confirm that we were informed by law enforcement authorities in Zhengzhou, China of the death of a 23-year old female employee of our campus in that city at an off-campus residence complex on April 27. We have expressed our condolences to the employee's family and are providing assistance to them at this very sad time. We are also cooperating fully with the law enforcement authorities as they carry out an investigation into this matter.
With regards to reports about the death of a 24-year old male on April 24, we were informed by law enforcement authorities that this individual was found dead on that date at a private residential facility in Zhengzhou. This individual had applied to work at our Zhengzhou campus but was not yet an employee and had never worked at any Foxconn facility. We are also supporting law enforcement authorities as they investigate the facts surrounding this sad incident.
Chinese news reports [zh] blame working conditions and management practices at the Foxconn plant for the deaths. A so-called ‘silent mode’ of working was introduced at the Zhengzhou factory in April of this year. Workers in the plant – uniformed young men and women mostly in their early 20s – are forbidden from chatting while working once they enter the plant. If they do, they risk being fired.
Screenshot from Youku depicting events in Zhengzhou.
Foxconn’s Workers’ Union denied that the ‘silent mode’ was to blame for the deaths. They also claimed that the 24-year-old male was not an employee.
Foxconn, the Taiwanese company founded in 1974 by entrepreneur Terry Gou, has come under intensified scrutiny in recent years due to a rash of suicides in 2010 when 13 young workers, aged between 18 to 24, leapt from their dormitory buildings, in protest of the company’s management practices.
Excessive overtime, dangerous working conditions, high work intensity and lack of social insurance are some of the common problems reported at Foxconn, according to China Labor Watch,a New-York based non-profit organization. In a 2012 exclusive on the Nightline program on ABC News, workers in white uniforms were seen working on the assembly line and taking naps during noon breaks.
In the wake of employee suicides and critical media reports in recent years, the company has responded with pay raises and less strict rules. It also moved some of its plants to interior provinces. The Zhengzhou plant, in central Henan province, started operating in 2010. Touted as a showcase project with an estimated 13 billion US dollars worth of annual exports, the Zhengzhou operation is said to have absorbed legions of cheap labor in Henan where migrant workers usually journey to coastal provinces for better paid jobs. Foxconn employed about 300,000 people in Zhengzhou last year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
News of the most recent suicides came when people across China were gearing up for the three-day 1 May holiday, a day to honor worker's rights. The tragic incidents, as well as their timing, prompted people to take to Sina Weibo to unleash their frustrations.
Dianji Jujin from Shanghai wrote [zh]:
五一国际劳动节前夕 郑州富士康又惊现二连跳 见了这样的消息 我无语了….
On the eve of International Worker’s Day, two “jumps” occurred at Foxconn in Zhengzhou, I was speechless when I learnt the news.
One Beijing Weibo user called Hongyan Xiaolu let out a sigh [zh]:
富士康为什么又有人跳楼了呢？ 真心觉得心痛啊！多宝贵的生命啊，从百米之上落下便没有了。是人内心太脆弱还是真的生存真的失去了意义？
Why is there another suicidal jump at Foxconn? I truly feel pain! How precious life is, it just vanished when a person jumps from a (building) some 100 meters high. Is it that people are too weak psychologically or there is really no point in living on?
Chen Wanyu from Nanchang, capital of China’s central Jiangxi province, offered his advice [zh] to avoid a repeat of the tragedy:
#给富士康的建议#呼吁富士康重视员工心理保健，逐步设立“心理咨询室”。一个以制造代工模式为主的企业，不能一直沿袭以往有效的刚性管理，必须注意管理人性化。员工心理不健康会降低工作效率，企业付出的成本可能比人才流失还大。希望悲剧不再重演
#Advice to Foxconn# I call on Foxconn to pay attention to employee’s psychological well-being, it should establish “psychological counselling rooms”. A contract manufacturer should not carry on a rigid management that used to work, it has to heed human management. Workers that carry a psychological burden will not be efficient in their work, and the cost that a company pays will perhaps exceed its talent losses. I hope the tragedy will not be repeated.
Shangshan Ruowenwen, argued [zh] in defense of the company:
我富士康，实话实说，富士康对那帮操作工不错了，比大陆的企业强多了。为毛媒体只盯着富士康不放，还不就因为是台企么。以前是订单多加班多，他们嫌累不想加跳楼，现在订单少没加班，他们又嫌钱少前两天还有威胁跳楼的刁民太多。
Foxconn, to be honest, Foxconn has been good to those workers, it's better than enterprises in mainland China. Why do the media keep coming down on Foxconn, is it because it is a Taiwanese enterprise? In the past, some want to jump from buildings because they are burdened by overtime incurred by increased orders, now there are also many unruly people who threatened to jump for they are paid less because there is no overtime due to decreased orders.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Jiajia Woshi Jiajia lamented [zh]:
我是真心搞不懂了，为嘛富士康跳楼事件，大家只看标题不看内容呢？其实我想说，不管跳楼也好，买不起砖也好，这都是可以自己调节的啊!你因为公司不给说话否则开除就跳楼？那为什么不换份工作？还是觉得没学历没技术别的公司不可能要你？那么既然富士康收留了 你们为什么还要抹黑他呢？
I really don't get it, concerning the suicidal jumps at Foxconn, why does everyone read the headlines without looking at the content? I'd like to say, be it jumping from the building or not able to afford a brick, people can adjust to (those things)! Why jump from a building if you are not allowed to chat in the company? Or do you feel that other companies don't want to hire you because you don't have relevant diploma and skills? When Foxconn hired you, why do you have to tarnish it?
Tian Qingwei, a Beijing-based lawyer called for action [zh] on Weibo to promote worker's rights:
劳动节前夕，富士康四连跳，劳动者权益何从保障，甚或说工人阶级领导权何处体现？一方面工人罢工不断涌现甚至类似富士康跳楼事件接连发生，一方面却是容忍@茅于轼 兜售剥削有功论，即便重提工人阶级领导权，而若没有实际行动，又有何用？工会的异化，就是工人领导权丧失的鲜明例证。工农已等不起！
On the Eve of Worker's Day, there were four consecutive suicidal jumps, how can worker's rights be protected, how can working class excercise their right to lead? On the one hand, suicidal jumps keep coming, on the other, there is tolerance of “exploiting is meaningful” theory by Mao Yushi.  What's the point of mentioning workers’ right to lead without taking concrete actions? The deterioration of Worker's Union is a clear sign that workers have lost their right to lead. Workers and famers can't wait any longer!

author: Owen Guo


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Costa Rican Blogger (Almost) Meets Obama · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

While Laura [Chinchilla] was talking, at one point he [Obama] turned and looked toward my direction. I took the opportunity and put on my best smile and raised my hat as a greeting. With my other hand I was holding his book over my chest. And you know what? He saw me. He said hello with his eyes. Either that or he was very amused with my hat.
In a series of posts [es], Sole from the blog Anchas Alamedas shares a lighthearted account of her experience at the press conference with U.S. president Barack Obama and Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla. In one of her posts she lists possible things she would tell Obama, like: “So you have read the Anchas Alamedas? Oh, please stop, you are making me blush!”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Côte d’Ivoire: Opinions on Marriage for all · Global Voices
Philippe Léveillée

The ‘Marriage for All’ bill approved by France on April 23, 2013, allows gay men and women the same rights to get married as heterosexuals. Several months of bitter debates broadcast by Francophone Africa media have brought the subject home to many African countries, leading to interesting reactions.
Several media outlets in Africa have already reported the case of two South African men who married each other in the ‘traditional’ style:
http://youtu.be/hPJ7zeLkcBA
However, in Francophone Africa, where homosexuality is still severely penalised in several countries, this event has not been copied.
In Abidjan, capital of Côte d’Ivoire, there has mostly been a jokey tone to comments. On Facebook people joked about the subject, making allusions to emigration by family regrouping:
“Le Mariage pour tous voté à Paris; Enjaillement [réjouissance] dans certaines rues de Babi. Djo le frère Madou peut venir marier [épouser] son frère ABLO et partir avec lui à Bengue, le frère DIGBEU peut venir épouser son ami SERI et PARIS est gagné…
The Côte d’Ivoire is one of the few countries in the region which does not penalise homosexuality. In a short film on YouTube, several Ivoirian internet users nonetheless underlined their fears and a showed a moderate point of view.
Some Ivoirians expressed their incomprehension of homosexuality and the possible consequences of the legalisation of gay marriage:
@MyMaLuyDealBi : Après ce sera au tour de la polygamie pour tous j’espère. Oui c’est cela aussi le mariage, en France ou ailleurs
@Lord225: La prochaine etape c'est d'adopter les enfants que les couples normaux auront fait. Pfff Grand N'importe Quoi #directAN
Gay people in Africa continue to be subject to violence and are sometimes even in danger of death. Homosexuality is still against the law in nearly 40 African countries, the most aggressively so being Uganda and Liberia.

author: Philippe Léveillée


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Documenting West Papua’s Political Prisoners · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

West Papuan civil society groups have launched the website Papuans Behind Bars to document the cases of political prisoners in West Papua. At the end of April 2013 there were at least 40 political prisoners in Papuan jails. In 2012 there were at least 210 documented political arrests in West Papua.
West Papua is part of Indonesia although many Papuans have been fighting for independence in the past 50 years.
The Indonesian government is denying that there are political prisoners in West Papua and insists that activists are being arrested because they violate criminal laws.
Initiated by the Civil Society Coalition to Uphold Law and Human Rights in Papua, the online project Papuans Behind Bars seeks to raise public awareness about the human rights situation in West Papua:
This site aims to raise awareness about Papuan political prisoners so that nobody is forgotten. Many of the prisoners have suffered arbitrary arrest, violence, abuse, torture, unfair trials, intimidation and neglect
It is a grassroots initiative and represents a broad collaboration between lawyers, human rights groups, adat groups, activists, journalists and individuals in West Papua, as well as Jakarta-based NGOs and international solidarity groups.
West Papua is one of the resource-rich provinces of Indonesia although it has a high poverty rate:
Despite being one of Indonesia’s most resource-rich territories and host to its largest taxpayer, the mining company, Freeport, West Papua is one of the poorest regions in terms of poverty levels and human development indicators with serious concerns over inadequate healthcare, infant and maternal mortality, HIV/Aids and low levels of educational attainment.
In recent years, human rights groups have exposed the “violent and repressive practices” of the military and police in suppressing the independence movement:
Papuan political prisoners. Photo from Free West Papua Campaign.
Violent and repressive practices of the military and police forces include: intimidation; terror tactics; arbitrary arrests and detentions; interrogations conducted without the presence of lawyers and access denied to visiting family members; torture, ill-treatment and denial of healthcare during detention; mysterious shootings; forced disappearances; and extra-judicial executions. Human rights defenders are particularly vulnerable to abuse.
Papua land of peace writes about the root of the conflict in the region:
From the outset, the majority of Papuans opposed Indonesian rule and they resented the way they had been denied their right to govern themselves. In response to this opposition – both from armed groups and the general population – the Indonesian government resorted to violence and oppression.
This is the background to the colonisation by Indonesians that threatens the existence of indigenous Papuans – and the root of the conflict that continues today.
The website Papuans Behind Bars is a valuable resource to get more information about West Papua’s current and former political prisoners. Many Papuans in the database were arrested because they raised the banned Morning Star flag. Others were charged for treason because they participated in an anti-government rally.
Many political prisoners listed on this site have been detained for activities such as demonstrating or criticising the government, being politically active, or being affiliated to groups which are critical of or challenging to the government. Sometimes individuals who are not politically active at all are detained because they were present at a political event or were accompanying a politically active person.
A postcard showing the banned flag of West Papua
Websites like Papuans Behind Bars and Free West Papua Campaign provide useful information about West Papua since mainstream media reporters face numerous challenges and restrictions in covering the situation in the area:
The flow of information in West Papua is itself politicised. Local and national journalists have faced threats, intimidation, beatings and sometimes execution when reporting from West Papua. Access for foreign journalists and human rights NGOs is severely restricted, and the International Committee of the Red Cross were thrown out of West Papua in 2009, bringing an end to independent monitoring of prison conditions.
The website suggests various ways to support the political prisoners of West Papua. A concrete example is to write to the prisoners:
This is a fantastic way to make sure political prisoners know that they are not alone. See the Current Prisoners list for people to write to. You can send letters directly to the prison addresses, or contact Papuans Behind Bars for details of how to send letter to local human rights lawyers who can deliver them by hand and make sure they arrive.


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‘Hope, Service, Passion’: Meet Laura Boldrini, Italy’s Likable Leader in Parliament · Global Voices
Bah Abdoulaye

[All links lead to Italian-language pages unless otherwise noted.]
Italy's most recent elections swept several non-career politicians into office. Among these new players on the Italian political scene is writer and human rights activist Laura Boldrini [en], whose popularity during her short time in office has skyrocketed thanks to a reputation for sincerity and compassion at a time when corruption is ever present in the country's politics.
On March 16th, 2013, Boldrini was elected as a member of parliament from the democratic socialist Left Ecology Freedom [en] party and won the seat of new president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies with an overwhelming 327 votes out of 345.
She is a blogger who writes for the Repubblica newspaper's blog Popoli in Fuga and for  The Huffington Post Italia [en] – and has been awarded various prizes and titles for her social commitment, including that of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic [en], the highest ranking honour of the Republic.
From left to right: Laura Boldrini, Giorgio Napolitano (President of Italy) and Pietro Grasso (President of the Italian Senate). Photo by Jaqen on wikimedia.org
There are many comments in her favour on the Internet. The website fanpage.it  presents her experience in international conflict zones as follows:
Chi è? Si tratta senza dubbio di un nome nuovo della politica: è stata eletta nelle fila di Sel (Sinistra ecologia e libertà) e prima di essere candidata è stata a lungo portavoce dell'Alto Commissariato delle Nazioni Unite per i Rifugiati. Prima ancora ha lavorato per la FAO, dove si occupava della produzione audio e video. Ha svolto numerose missioni in luoghi critici: dall'ex Jugoslavia all'Afghanistan, dall'Angola al Ruanda, passando per Iraq, Iran e Sudan. Si tratta con ogni evidenza di una personalità dall'altissimo valore….
Who is she? She is without a doubt a new name in politics: she was elected from the ranks of SEL (Left Ecology Freedom) and before being nominated she had been the spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for many years. Earlier still she worked for FAO (UN's Food and Agriculture Organization), where she was in charge of audio and video production. She carried out many missions in critical locations: from the former Yugoslavia to Afghanistan, from Angola to Rwanda, through Iraq, Iran and Sudan. She is clearly a very worthy personality…
The President of the Chamber of Deputies’ commitment is not limited to sitting behind a desk. Photo by a-a.akamaihd.net, published on Laura Boldrini's Facebook page
A post published by Patrizio Gonnella on linkontro.info describes Laura Boldrini's commitment alongside civil society at the international level:
Ho conosciuto Laura Boldrini. E’ stata al fianco di tutte quelle organizzazioni non governative e sociali che si sono nel tempo opposte al pensiero prevalente intollerante e xenofobo. Con lei molti di noi hanno condiviso l’esperienza della campagna “Io non ho paura”.
Era il tempo in cui l’attuale neopresidente della regione Lombardia e allora ministro degli Interni Roberto Maroni voleva schedare tutti i rom, bimbi compresi. Non è accaduto un secolo fa soli ma quattro anni addietro. A quel tempo la destra ha inserito nel nostro ordinamento giuridico quell’obbrobrio che è il reato di clandestinità.
I met Laura Boldrini. She stands alongside all the non-governmental and social organisations that have, over time, opposed prevailing intolerant and xenophobic thoughts. Many of us have shared with her the experience of the “I am not afraid” campaign.
It was the period when the current newly-elected president of Lombardy and the then Minister of the Interior Roberto Maroni wanted to keep files on all the gypsies, including children. It did not happen a century ago but just four years ago. At that time the right-wing politicians had inserted into our laws the disgrace that is the crime of being an undocumented immigrant.
The Honourable Laura Boldrini in a class of Somali children who live in a refugee camp in Kenya. Photo taken from her Facebook page.
Her inaugural speech was very much appreciated, to the point of making her listeners forget some of the ideological conflicts at the heart of parliament. The blog polisblog.it reported that Pietro Ingrao, who had been President of the Chamber from 1976 to 1979, wrote to the newly-elected president defining her speech a “message of hope”:
Condivido il senso profondo delle tue parole, il richiamo ai valori fondanti della Repubblica nata dall’antifascismo, la difesa dei diritti di cittadinanza, l’impegno dalla parte degli ultimi. L’Italia è attesa a grandi sfide per le quali c’è bisogno della passione, della moralità e dell’intelligenza di persone come te.
I share the profound message of your words, the reference to the founding values of the Republic born from anti-fascism, the defence of the rights to citizenship and the commitment of the less privileged. There are great challenges ahead for Italy which require the passion, morality and intelligence of people like you.
The Huffington Post blog quoted some passages of her speech in which Boldrini explained her vision of what the Parliament should represent for every citizen and the reactions of the chamber:
La politica deve tornare ad essere speranza, servizio e passione”, dice voce che riesce a mantenere ferma nonostante l’emozione. E in aula convince anche chi non l’ha eletta: i 109 deputati del Movimento 5 stelle, per esempio, all’inizio spiazzati, ma poi in piedi ad applaudire. ….
Boldrini piace.
“Politics must go back to representing hope, service and passion”, says a voice that manages to stay steady in spite of the emotion. And in the chamber she also convinces those who did not elect her: for example, the 109 MPs of the 5 Star Movement were taken aback at first, but then stood to applaud her….
Boldrini is liked.
When discussing the role of Italy in European integration, of Europe at international level, the website byoblu.com quotes her inaugural speech:
“l'Italia fa parte del nucleo dei fondatori del processo di integrazione europea, e dovremo impegnarci ad avvicinare i cittadini italiani a questa sfida”, “perché l'Europa torni ad essere un grande sogno, un crocevia di popoli e di culture, un approdo certo per i diritti delle persone”, “un luogo della libertà, della paternità e della pace”.
“Italy is one of the core founders of the European integration process, and we must strive to bring Italian citizens closer to this challenge, so that Europe can go back to being a grand dream, a crossroads of peoples and cultures, a safe haven for human rights, a place of freedom, fraternity and peace”.
In the space of just a few days, Boldrini's Facebook page, where she writes about what she does, went from having 25,000 “friends” to almost 60,000. Every new post elicits numerous comments. There are many displays of sympathy and satisfaction:
Giovanni Guariento Auguri per il Suo nuovo incarico. Anche se non condivido le politiche troppo accoglienti e permissive, soprattutto nei confronti degli stranieri irregolari, mi sembra che Lei dia l'impressione di persona che ha a cuore le istituzioni.Buon lavoro.
Marco Zaniboni A me piace molto, è una donna, è in gamba, si è impegnata nel sociale, che altro si può pretendere? considerate che il predecessore era uno come fini….il che è tutto dire..
Giovanni Guariento Congratulations on your new role. Even if I do not agree with too lax and welcoming policies, especially with regards to illegal immigrants, you give me the impression that you have the institutions at heart. Good luck.
Marco Zaniboni I like her a lot: she's a woman, she is capable, she is committed to social issues. What else do you want? Considering that the predecessor was Fini… enough said.
However, some people found the speech too smarmy:
Gianluca Poddighe neanche il papa ha fatto un discorso cosi mieloso e schifosamente buonista, Cara boldirini cosa vuol fare ? far venire tutti i disperati del mondo in Europa e in Italia e dargli sussidi con i fondi delle tasse dei pochi ormai europei che lavorano? si vergogni!! e pensi alle pensionate ITALIANE che fruganno nell immondizia o ai nostri laureati loro si i veri “rifugiati” in terre straniere …..
Gianluca Poddighe Not even the pope made such a sickly sweet speech. Dear Boldrini, what do you want to do? Make all the wretches of the world come to Europe and Italy and give them benefits with money from the taxes of the now few Europeans who have a job? Shame on you! Think of the ITALIAN pensioners that rummage in the garbage or of our graduates – those are the true “refugees” in foreign lands…
The few negative comments like this one have caused replies full of mockery and anger by the almost 60,000 “friends” of the page, such as:
Santa Carla Papa Cara Boldrini , un attacco di questo genere equivale ad un applauso ! So per certo che Lei è attrezzata…siamo sulla strada Giusta !
Santa Carla Papa Dear Boldrini, an attack of this kind is like a round of applause! I know for certain that you are equipt…we are on the right path!
Because of the many scandals that have affected almost all parties and the carelessness with which politicians are often accused of spending public money, waste of resources has become a salient issue. The Boldrini has not disappointed those who now expect concrete action from her: On 2 April, 2013 on her Facebook page, she explained that:
Dalla data del mio insediamento alla Camera dei Deputati sono stati tagliati 500.000 euro al giorno. I risparmi già decisi, infatti, ammontano complessivamente a 8 milioni e mezzo di euro.
Since I took my place in the Chamber of Deputies 500,000 euros of cuts have been made every day. In fact, the savings that have already been made amount to eight and a half million euros.
As proof that the words of her inaugural speech were not just hot air, the president has already undertaken many acts. Here are a few examples that she recounted on her Facebook page:
La mia presenza al pranzo di Pasqua della mensa di padre Guido, presso la parrocchia dei SS. Cosma e Damiano di Ancona, non è un evento straordinario: è nel solco del mio vissuto.
La qualità delle persone non si misura dal reddito ma dai valori che custodiscono ed in questo momento di crisi, che crea nuovi poveri, compito delle cariche istituzionali è stare vicino alle persone bisognose.
I was present at Father Guido's Easter lunch, at the Saint Cosma and Damiano from Ancona parish. It is not an extraordinary event: it follows on from my experience.
People's quality is not measured by their income but by their values and in this time of crisis, that creates new poor people, the task of those that hold institutional roles is to be close to the people in need.
She phoned Patrizia Moretti – mother of Federico Aldrovandi, an 18-year-old who died in 2005 during a “police search” –  showing satisfaction for the solidarity shown after an unfortunate event: following the sentencing of the four policemen responsible to three years and six months in prison in 2009, some police officers who were members of the Organisation for the Trade Union Independence of the Police Force organised a solidarity sit-in for the four condemned policemen under the window of the town hall of Ferrara where the mother of the victim works.
Her report of this act on 27 March, 2013 gathered nearly 8,700 likes and 4,309 comments:
Ho telefonato a Patrizia Moretti per esprimerle affettuosa vicinanza. Le ho detto quanto ritengo intollerabile che, oltre al dolore ineguagliabile per la perdita di un figlio, lei debba subire l’offesa di una protesta così spietata e incivile.
I phoned Patrizia Moretti to express my sympathy. I told her that I think it intolerable that, in addition to the unparalleled pain of losing a son, she must also suffer the insult of such a ruthless and uncivilised protest.
After her election, the Rizzoli publishing house published her latest book, titled “Only the Mountains Never Meet.” This publishing house had already published her first book titled “Everyone Back,” in 2010. Part of her royalties for these books go to non-governmental organisations who deal with people in particularly disadvantaged situations.
By following this link it is possible to see a presentation of her first book in Italian.

author: Bah Abdoulaye


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Iran Tightens Grip on Internet Even More · Global Voices
Farid

Source: Mahmoud Reza Nourbakhsh
Several reports indicate that the Iranian regime has taken another step to control the already heavily censored Internet. According to an ITIran report [fa], the circumvention software Psiphon, as well as Kerio and Open VPN, are no longer effective against the Iranian state's efforts to block websites.
The report also says that Internet speeds have fallen sharply, restricting access to many websites. Some consider it a leap towards launching an Iranian national internet, and others say the coming presidential election in June is why they are tightening their grip on the internet.
Iranian netizens reacted to this sad event:
The blog ‘Fighting against Internet filtering’ says [fa]:
The problem started on Saturday, May 4. You face problems when you use anti-filtering software and the Internet connection gets interrupted.
@SHoBBarMZ tweeted [fa]:
“Filtering is closer to you than God.” Ministry of Communication
Some netizens directly addressed the Iranian regime. @Babakaram tweeted [fa]:
Be proud that you have one of the strongest cyber armies yet you only use it for restriction and filtering.
Another tweet by the same person says, sometimes the authorities say many countries face filtering and it's a normal thing.
@Mahtab tweeted:
When we get old, we will tell our grand children it's because of filtering that we became old.
The blogger Andarbaba  encourages Iranians around the world to protest against Internet filtering no matter their political opinions.
Iranian filtering does not concern only Iranians. Colin D. Anderson, a computer researcher in the United States, tweets regularly about Iranian censorship. It's a real window on the situation for anyone who wants to learn the real situation of virtual Iran.

author: Farid


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Allegations of Election Fraud as Malaysia’s Ruling Party Wins Again · Global Voices
Tessa Houghton

Malaysians from all walks of life are currently in a state of outrage following the outcome of the nation's 13th General Election, which has been marred with what appears to be widespread and massive electoral fraud and gerrymandering.
Many social media users are blacking out their Facebook and Twitter avatars and walking silently in malls dressed in black to protest what is being described as the ‘death of democracy’ in Malaysia. Both the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR/'The People's Pact’), and Bersih (‘Clean’), the national movement for free and fair elections, are refusing to accept the official result, which has resulted in Barisan Nasional (BN/'The National Front’), the coalition which has governed the country for 56 years, being sworn into power for their 13th term running.
Despite gaining 53.5% of the popular vote in an election which saw over 84% voter turnout (the highest in Malaysia's history), PR only managed to secure 89 of 222 parliamentary seats, with BN taking 133 seats (with only 46.5% of the popular vote) to form the government.
The image below, which is being shared widely on Facebook, highlights the alleged offenses:
An image being shared amongst Malaysian Facebookers outlining the various acts of electoral fraud
Beyond the structural issues above, and other factors such as BN's political-economic control of Malaysia's offline media, the ‘indelible ink’ used to mark voters’ fingers was able to be cleaned off with very little effort, and was applied prior to marking the ballot paper, likely contributing to the huge numbers of ‘spoilt’ or rejected votes.
Malaysian citizens around Kuala Lumpur reported numerous instances of foreigners with suspect ID Kads trying to vote, with some coming back and trying to vote with up to four different ID Kads despite being chased away, with evidence leaked by the Sarawak Report linking the Prime Minister's Office to planeloads of suspect voters flown in to Selangor from East Malaysia.
As votes were being tallied on the evening of the 5th, scuffles ensued in Bangsar, one of the suburbs encompassed by the hotly-contested Lembah Pantai seat, as citizens supporting Calon (candidate) Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of the the much-persecuted opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, fought to prevent vehicles trying to take suspect ballot boxes into the tallying station. They were threatened with tear-gas by the Federal Reserve Unit who were called in to intervene, but were successful in not allowing the ballot boxes, which were marked with another electorate's ID code, into the tallying station.
The following image is one of many circulating on Facebook documenting the incident:
“Ballot boxes marked 120 found in EC car boot trying to enter 121 Lembah Pantai polling station. Blocked by public. Welcome to Malaysia elections.”
From roughly 8.30 p.m. to after midnight, results are alleged to have been held back by recounts demanded by the government following opposition victories in various electorates. This period saw the occurrence of several electricity blackouts around the country, following which, vote recounts revealed that government candidates had in fact won the seats.
It is alleged that extra votes were smuggled in under the cover of the temporary darkness, with the phrase ‘Magic Blackout’ being used by many disbelieving and angry Malaysians. One polling agent recounts the evening here:
Yesterday, by adding up all the ‘scores’ – it seemed like PR has won, and won big.
But no announcements were made. At the EC's main counting centres, recounts were requested on seats that BN lost in (even after all the different saluran had already confirmed the count), blackouts happened, mystery boxes appear – and then suddenly – BN candidates are winning. And then and only then, The EC comes out with official result statements: BN has won this seat, BN has won this other seat. Too dodgy.
PoliTweet, an organisation mapping political social networking activity in Malaysia, logged the surge of tweets/minute containing the word ‘blackout’ during this period:
“Election-related Tweets-per-minute with keyword ‘blackout’ during election night, May 5th 2013.
Highest peak was 210 tweets at 1.01 AM on election night. But mentions of blackouts started as early as 8.48 PM.”
The threshold of 112 seats to form the governments was finally officially announced as having been met by BN at approximately 1.05am 6th May, with Twitter and Facebook exploding as people grappled with the news following the long information blackout. Caretaker/Returned Prime Minister Najib Razak announced his party's success on national television shortly after and stating that the swing towards the opposition was due to a ‘Chinese Tsunami’ – a rising swell of support for the opposition from ethnically Chinese Malaysians, who have been disenfranchised by BN's New Economic Policy, an affirmative action policy instantiated in the 1970s which grants special privileges to ethnic Malays (known as Bumiputras, or ‘princes of the soil’), and its descendent, the National Development Policy.
His statements have been much criticised, with many countering that the ‘tsunami’ is more accurately described as coming from the Malaysian multi-ethnic urban/middle-class, who increasingly reject BN's race-based policies, and who view the party as arrogant and corrupt.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak celebrates after winning the elections. Photo by Hilmi Jaafar, Copyright @Demotix (5/6/2013)
There is widespread uncertainty in Malaysia over what the next few weeks will bring, as there is a period of 21 days in which the results may be contested. Bersih and PR are vowing to continue to demand accountability from BN and the Election Commission, with PR's Anwar Ibrahim calling for Malaysians to “join hands and express our rejection and disgust at the unprecedented electoral frauds committed by Najib and the EC”. He has announced a rally on the evening of May 8th, when he will address Malaysians for the first time since the polls. A Change.org petition calling for international intervention has already garnered 180,000 signatures, and continues to swell.
Many citizens are still in a state of shock, but with a simmering undercurrent of outrage not likely to dissipate any time soon, and with over half the population feeling a clear sense of being cheated of both their democratic rights as citizens and of the government they wanted, Malaysia faces a real crisis of governmental legitimacy.

author: Tessa Houghton


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French a Must in Nigerian Military  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Mensah wrote on koaci.com:
For Nigerian soldiers, enlisted men, officers and even aspirants, the military hierarchy has decided that the knowledge of the French language is now a prerequisite for anyone to get a promotion.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Rat Meat Sold as Lamb in China · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Chinese police have caught a gang of traders who bought rat and fox meat and sold it as lamb. When the scandal was featured in Chinese newspapers and websites, it caused outrage among consumers who have been hit by a series of food scandals in recent years. TeaLeafNation has translated[zh] some online comments from Sina Weibo.


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RuNet Speculates on Protest Rally Size, Again · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

Every Russian opposition rally and march attracts wild online speculation about the numbers of participants — both by observers and the participants themselves. This week's May 6 rally commemorating last year's event which ended in violence and arrests (the so-called Bolotnaya prisoners) was no exception.
As usual, the estimates ranged widely even before the scheduled start of the rally at 7:00 PM. At 6:38 PM journalist Alina Grebneva tweeted [ru] that she thought there were 2.5 thousand people present. Just two minutes later she tweeted again [ru] that another journalist next to her estimated 5 or 6 thousand. Around the same time, at 6:46 PM, Coordinating Council member Ilya Yashin estimated [ru] that there were already 30,000 participants.
Journalist Oleg Kashin singing cult punk classic “Everything is According to Plan” in lieu of a speech at the May 6, 2013 rally in Moscow. YouTube screenshot, May 6, 2013.
The next batch of estimates came after 7:00 PM: first, at 7:06 PM leftist leader Sergey Udaltsov (who is under house arrest, and therefore was not actually present at the rally) tweeted [ru] that there were 50,000 people, Yashin repeated [ru] this figure at 7:10. Meanwhile, by 7:26 PM Grebneva updated her estimate [ru] to 10,000. At around the same time Moscow police low-balled with an estimate [ru] of 7 thousand people passing their metal detector checkpoints, while Radio Svoboda said [ru] that the “consensus” seemed to be around 15-20 thousand. At 7:46 PM Echo Moskvy's Alexey Venediktov did some “math” based on the area of the Bolotnaya Square and arrived at anywhere from 28 to 42 thousand people (at 2 and 3 people per square meter).
Of course, all of these numbers were pure guesswork (doubly so on Udaltsov's part). It is extremely hard to judge the size of a crowd even with a bird's eye view, harder still when you are actually part of the crowd, or looking at it from one side — which is the reason why such estimates always vary widely (one is reminded of journalist Oleg Kozyrev's tweets about hundreds of thousands of participants at one of the prior marches). What is surprising is the ease with which the people guesstimating could arrive at a reasonably accurate number, if only they were willing to put in the time.
SONAR's website. Screenshot, May 6, 2013.
Enter SONAR [ru], a group of electoral observer volunteers, who have organized a hand count of rally participants using tally counters (RuNet Echo has previously reported [ru] on their attempts to arrive at accurate rally counts). SONAR has been tweeting [ru] and updating its Facebook page [ru] live, as the results came in, and it is interesting to compare these results to the various numbers thrown around on Twitter.
At 6:30 PM SONAR counted 7,000, by 7:00 PM the number grew to 13,900 — a far cry from 30,000 first estimated by Yashin, but already higher than the final police estimate. At 7:30 SONAR counted 22,100 people, a number which oddly continued growing until the rally ended at 8:30, with 27,500. It is unclear if the count reflects a lag in reporting, or if there were indeed 5 thousand stragglers who showed up to see the last few minutes of speeches (and missed Oleg Kashin's singing). Although the final number will probably upset both supporters and detractors of the protest cause, it appear to be relatively accurate, as it is in line with some of the saner estimates. Incidentally, SONAR has shown once again that a simple averaging of highest and lowest estimates often works perfectly — Yashin's 50,000 plus the police's 7,000, divided by 2, is 28,500 people.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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South Korean Women Protest Electioneering · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korea’s intelligence agency went under fire for hiring bloggers and using its agents to manipulate public opinion before the presidential election. Korean female net users from the ‘Women’s Generation’ [ko] community site took to the streets (photos) of Seoul to protest against the agency’s electioneering and vowed to continue demonstrating till June.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Stop Somonizing Tajikistan! · Global Voices
Mahina Shodizoda

As authorities in Tajikistan continue their rush to replace Soviet-era Lenin statues with ones of national icon Ismail Somoni, blogger Tomiris provides [ru] a powerful argument against monument monoculture:
It is a pity that instead of the ‘Leninization’ of the monument space we now have its ‘Somonization’. Every town erects a Somoni statue. How much more can we take? Why do we need so many identical monuments? Somoni might have been a heroic figure (which is impossible to ascertain now because the country's history is excessively ideological and politicized), but we should not turn him into a new Lenin, a ‘father’ or ‘grandfather’ of the nation.

author: Mahina Shodizoda