Showing 1 - 10 of 10
A group that went forth and prospered around the world
B Magazine, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 28/04/2013
» China's influence is felt far outside its borders. The country is an agenda-setter in this region and its impact - political, cultural and economic - can be felt around the world. Here, generations of Chinese-Thais have played a formative role in shaping modern Thailand. They have changed the political, economic and cultural landscape, and they have made contributions in fields as diverse as business, public service, the arts, academia, religion, the media, the military - even organised crime.
In a postmodern world, a return to the traditional
B Magazine, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 28/10/2012
» Pakorn Klomkliang, curator of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, describes Songrit Muaiprom's work, as "filled with rich simplicity, unfeigned, unsophisticated, raw and without embellishments". While the pieces in "Northeastern Thai Buddhist Art", Songrit's first solo exhibition, are clear and accessible, that doesn't diminish the dexterity of the artist nor the relevance of his work. He won first prize in the Traditional Thai Painting category at the Bua Luang Painting Exhibition this year, and has won many other awards and been featured in several group exhibitions.
After the horrors, Cambodia looks to reclaim its heritage
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 14/10/2012
» For decades, thousands of Khmer antiquities have been sold on the international art market and through major auction houses in London, New York and elsewhere, bought up by leading museums and wealthy collectors. A large portion of these artefacts came with little or no ownership history, meaning they could well have been looted from temple complexes by thieves during the country's years of political turmoil, with Cambodia powerless to stem the trade or repatriate any of the items.
Development rush could doom Yangon's architectural treasures
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 07/10/2012
» For local investors they are unwieldy behemoths occupying prime real estate. For the nostalgic they remain noble vestiges of an era almost forgotten, when the city, then called Rangoon, was the most cosmopolitan in the region. For tourists they are one of Asia's most concentrated collections of colonial buildings and grand sights in themselves, unartificially preserved in time. For nationalists they can be an unwanted reminder of less independent times, when the subjugated people were answerable to the caprices of colonial authorities.
All that wasn't washed away
B Magazine, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 19/08/2012
» At Koh Kret a Mon man points to a mark on the wall at the height of his head. "The water was here," he says of last October and November. "It was a bad time."
For-profit business model sees citizens reap dividends
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 03/06/2012
» In Yangon an organisation, FXB Myanmar, gives vocational training and business opportunities to HIV-positive workers and women rescued from the Thai sex industry. A manufacturer of affordable foot pumps for irrigation, Proximity Designs, has a network of distribution channels to upcountry farmers that NGOs and government organisations envy. BusinessKind-Myanmar sells low-cost mosquito netting in malarial and dengue fever regions, and half of its work force is also HIV-positive. Myanmar Business Executives provides low-interest microcredit and networking outlets to needy individuals and organisations.
'Asia's Vegas' more than bright lights
B Magazine, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 13/05/2012
» Mediterranean-style cobblestone squares. Chinese shophouses. Western brand outlets. Cantonese dim sum for brunch and galinha a Portuguesa (Portuguese-style chicken) for dinner. Sixteenth-century cathedrals and forts stand beside Chinese mansions and gardens, or temples thick with incense. Garish high-rise casinos and decrepit apartment blocks form a backdrop over narrow winding lanes along the old city walls _ a clash of tastes that mesmerises and disorients.
Reality Check
B Magazine, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 13/05/2012
» She was a part-time musician working in a New York coffee shop when a friend pressured her to audition for an obscure new reality TV show. She reluctantly gave it a shot and two months later was singing to more than 12 million television viewers in the finals of The Voice.
Supporters knocked for a loop by MMA ban
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 08/04/2012
» Less than a week before muay Thai's application to the IOC and World Games, and a few days after Spectrum reported on a high-profile local mixed martial arts (MMA) competition, MMA was banned in Thailand by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) on the grounds that it was hurting the image of muay Thai. MMA is a discipline fought in an octagonal cage using any number of fighting and grappling techniques. To hone stand-up combat techniques, many international competitors train in muay Thai, and for years MMA fighters have been coming to train in the Kingdom.
These guys oughta be locked up! Cage fighting hits town
Spectrum, Ezra Kyrill Erker, Published on 25/03/2012
» In last weekend's main event, Arnaud ''The Game'' Lepont was losing, staggering on unsteady legs as his opponent landed kick after blow and at one point had him in a choke hold. Krysztof ''Haja'' Hajtalowicz, a Polish master of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, had a 10cm height advantage and far greater reach. A blow to the face had split the Frenchman's lower lip, and blood poured from his mouth.