New Mandala

The Second International Conference on Lao Studies will be held in early May 2007 at Arizona State University.  I have recently received a notice from the Centre for Lao Studies about the conference which is worth passing along.
Sabaidee!
This is a reminder that the deadline for an early registration of the Second International Conference on Lao [...]

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This weekend’s commune and sub-district elections in Cambodia have prompted the government to block text messenging for two days.  The International Herald Tribune has more:
Mobile phone text messaging will be blocked during this weekend’s local elections in Cambodia, where the government is imposing a two day “tranquility period” to keep voters from being inundated with SMS [...]

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Over the past week or so a series of potential New Mandala stories have piled up in my inbox. To clear some of the backlog here is an omnibus post of some of the key issues.
Another degree for Lee?
It has come to my attention that the University of North Carolina has also decided to confer an [...]

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In these climate conscious times, new ideas and initiatives for “saving the planet” are coming thick and fast.�
In news this week from Australia, the Environment Minister, former investment banker and Australian Republican Movement heavyweight Malcolm Turnbull, has announced that Australia will “lead the world” through “a material advance in the global effort to tackle climate [...]

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For those New Mandala readers who have expressed an interest in the murals at the Dai-Jingpo cultural park in Jie Gao, just outside Ruili, Yunnan, I have now posted more examples of the artwork.  Viewed in the context of the previous post, these examples may give readers a fuller basis for commenting on these interesting murals.  Unfortunately, none [...]

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Regular readers will have noticed that over the past week I have been somewhat distracted by the Lee Kuan Yew degree circus here at the ANU. Over the next week I will be turning my attention back to the situation in Thailand where the political climate is getting more and more ominous by the day. [...]

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Today’s Canberra Times confirms that Lee Kuan Yew’s degree broke ANU rules on honorary degrees:
[ANU Chancellor] Dr Hawke conceded he was personally responsible for nominating Mr Lee for the honour, discussing it with his vice-chancellor Ian Chubb before taking the suggestion straight to council for approval. Under normal circumstances, the nomination would first have been [...]

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I have just returned from the protest outside the degree conferring ceremony for Lee Kuan Yew. About 150 protesters (mostly students) welcomed Lee’s arrival with chants of “Lee Kuan Yew - ANU is not for you”; “No doctorates for dictators”; and “Masters for Mugabe.” The occasional “shame, Chubb, shame” was also heard.
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Protesters were kept well [...]

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Last week I posted about the Sino-Thai “tree of friendship” planted by Thailand’s Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in the Yunnanese border town of Jie Gao.  That tree is part of a large Dai-Jingpo cultural park that is situated a few hundred metres back from the Sino-Burmese frontier.
Today, I follow that initial post about the cultural [...]

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Despite the growing public interest, the ANU is maintaining its official silence on Lee Kuan Yew’s honorary Doctor of Laws. Still no mention of the award ceremony on the ANU web site nor any attempt to justify the award in the face of growing criticism. One can only assume that this is a decision that [...]

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