Which will dominate - Chinese or English? Or can they live together?

The dead receive two bows, whereas the living receive only one. And each bow is not the familiar bend-forward-stiffly-at-the-waist variety, but rather, a full and solemn forehead-to-the-ground kowtow-style keun jul to be held for a reverential few moments before the mourner rises to stand. It is a time-honored Confucian custom deeply ingrained in any Korean who visits the gravesites of deceased relatives and ancestors.

ko ko thett celebrates the life and mourns the death of U Win Tin, co-founder with Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma's National League for Democracy.

Burma's National League for Democracy has announced the death of U Win Tin, who founded the democracy movment with Aung San Suu Kyi in 1988 and spent twenty years in prison before his release in 2008. A respected journalist, he spent much of his life in the struggle against the military junta. ko ko thett remembers his unwavering integrity and courage in this post.

Recently I heard some bad news. Chutzpah Tian Nan, a great literary magazine run by Ou Ning, shut down after its 16th issue. That was no surprise: how could they sustain themselves?

Identity: renewal, preservation and decay

Of all the ways that human beings interact and organize as nations, the most ingenious are to be observed among Diasporas.  Identity is greatly shaped by proximity, so when geography vanishes as a driver, what is left apart from the memory of association and shared values? A culture can survive exposed to the elements of dispersal, but usually not for long. 

MH370 and what it says about Malaysia

‘Were we always like this?’ my friend asked. ‘Or have we just forgotten?’

Iranian New Year has just taken place and Iranians the world over are celebrating.

Cold Grandma little by little is packing up and taking her long white hair into her arms from the city, hair by hair! She follows the wind until Uncle Nowruz appears with a message of happiness and freshness. The musky breath of spring blows from beyond the horizon… Ah! These two thousand year old lovers have never been able to meet!

Climate change devastates fishing fleets, forces fishermen to become people-traffickers, and disorientates the mango trees.

‘Cuaca derus kacau ‘bu.’

We were seesawing on a slightly wild sea hoping to get to the Bugis fisherman’s home island before the waves got even bigger. What he’d said was, ‘The weather is a mess.’ It was 2002 and I was all at sea.

Sree Iyer takes us for a walk through Malaysia, Australia and Hong Kong.