Showing 61 - 68 of 68
No plugging this brain drain
News, Published on 27/10/2013
» In reference to the the BP article on Tuesday, ''Can India and China keep rising if their brightest leave?'', it is no coincidence that America remains an epicentre for research and innovation, as one the most important principles of the US Constitution is that citizens are guaranteed freedom of thought and expression. Americans are born with these values and the education system further strengthens them. On the other hand, the educational systems in India and China have never been competitive for the simple reason that they lack an environment that nourishes free thinking. Authoritarianism, cronyism and rampant corruption have turned most universities in India into teaching factories that shell out meaningless degrees, and the same is true of most Chinese universities.
Students put under stress
News, Published on 01/06/2013
» School authorities who had hoped that the beginning of a new term last month would put an end to the problems of the past are having a rude awakening. Not only do the old headaches remain but new ones are emerging.
To end violence against women, turn outrage to action
News, Published on 08/03/2013
» As we commemorate International Women's Day, we must look back on a year of shocking crimes of violence against women and girls and ask ourselves how to usher in a better future.
Looming risk in the South
News, Published on 04/02/2013
» Last week's murderous attack on visiting farmers in Pattani puts the southern conflict at a crossroads. It gives the government clear notice that the country is facing mortal danger. The killing of men trying to help the southern region's economy can only be called a serious threat to the nation, and the government must face up to it or put the nation at risk.
Forget revenge, learn forgiveness
Life, Patcharawalai Sanyanusin, Published on 11/10/2012
» Sept 29 and 30 this year must have been one of the most depressing weekends in decades for Buddhists around the world. That weekend there was a news photo showing a Buddha statue standing amid wreckage, with rows of coconut trees in the background. My heart sank and I immediately wanted to know which temple in which part of the world had been hit by a cyclone.
Judges to give verdict in Taylor's blood diamond trial
News, Published on 26/04/2012
» Rebel fighters hacked off Jabati Mambu's right hand more than 13 years ago in Sierra Leone.
Madness, badness, sadness
News, Kong Rithdee, Published on 21/04/2012
» Horror was replayed, because all exorcism is a form of inevitable horror. First, one of the prosecutors of the Norwegian court read out the names and details of each of the 77 victims killed by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22, 2011. "She was at the water's edge... Shot dead." "He was in the Big Hall of the cafe. Shot dead." "He fled and fell off a cliff near the island's west point... Died of fall injuries and/or drowning." Then again, and again, and again: "She/He was near the water pump. Shot dead." The frigid, literal, unwavering police prose of the report gives you the feeling that you are walking into a graveyard. Or a morgue. You look away but the screams continue. Then comes the horror of Breivik's claim that he is sane. Of his vow that he "would do it again". Of him announcing that the victims were not "innocent". Of him insisting that he acted out of "goodness" to prevent Islam from becoming a major threat to European civilisation. Of his malevolent bombast that what he did in downtown Oslo and a youth camp on Utoya Island last year was "the most sophisticated and spectacular attack committed in Europe since World War II".
Conspiracy of errors has saved Bangkok thus far
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 16/02/2012
» Thailand continues to play a bit role in the Mideast conflict and, as the Valentine's Day bomb debacle in Bangkok has shown, the country also seems to attract mostly second-string operatives in the violence.