Laravel
Life
placeimg

Making Art

Published on Dec 16, 2023 by Luke Hunt

Nico Mesterharm has spent more than 15 years as director of Meta House in Phnom Penh, producing films, plays, and books, while offering a stage for aspiring local and international artists who have rebuilt Cambodia’s arts scene with the backing of foreign donors.However, Cambodia is no longer a struggling post-war country nor is it a major recipient of foreign aid, with conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza grabbing the majority of the world’s attention.For that reason, finding backers to support fresh projects in Cambodia is proving difficult but Mesterharm still has a number of works in the pipeline, including the documentary “Fraternal Help,”  Mesterharm spoke with Luke Hunt.Click here to listen to from Beyond the Mekong.

Click for full post

placeimg

John McBeth: 1944-2023

Published on Dec 7, 2023 by Luke Hunt

New Zealand-born John McBeth, one of Asia’s pre-eminent journalists with a record of scrupulous and ground-breaking reporting, has died after a short illness. He was 79.Over a career spanning more than 62 years McBeth’s reporting helped shape events in countries including South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.McBeth was a blunt-speaking “old school” reporter and author whose writings pulled no punches and influenced many of the region’s policy-makers over decades.John McBeth was born in Whanganui New Zealand on 31 May 1944, the son of Taranaki dairy farmer Sandy McBeth and Isla Dickenson.After attending New Plymouth Boys’ High School he commenced his journalism career on the Taranaki Herald on 8 February 1962 and moved to the Auckland Star in....

Click for full post : 4 - min read.

placeimg

World Music

Published on Dec 2, 2023 by Luke Hunt

Chris Minko and his daughter Anya have carved out prominent lives in Thailand and Cambodia through music, sport, and education that came with the backing of Australian World War II hero Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop and Thai philanthropist Mechai Viravaidya.Chris was raised in the small town of Myrtleford in the alpine valleys of southeastern Australia and initially found fame as a musician with jazz band Bachelors from Prague in the mid-1980s before moving into event management.He courted controversy with Melbourne’s Moomba Festival when he defied orders and put an Aboriginal float at the head of an annual parade but also found favor with the trade unions and the Australian Football League (AFL), where he organized half-time entertainment at the Grand....

Click for full post : 2 - min read.