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....
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Dragon Boats are Back
Published on Dec 2, 2023 by Luke Hunt
Cambodians are celebrating the return of dragon boat races at this year’s Water Festival after a three-year absence amid hopes it will bolster the tourism industry and an economy struggling to recover in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Luke Hunt reports. Camera: Luke Hunt, David Brown, Vicheka Kol. A Bomborra Production for Voice of America.Click here to watch..
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World Music
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....
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A Refugee's Story
Published on Oct 3, 2023 by Luke Hunt
In 1979, Mylinh Lee arrived in Australia as a child, by boat and as a refugee. More than four decades later she is a public relations specialist in Melbourne where she is also dedicated to the construction of the Vietnamese Museum Australia.The museum, due to open in 2025, is the first in the world dedicated to the plight of Vietnamese refugees, who began arriving in Australia shortly after the fall of Saigon in April 1975, signaling the end of the Vietnam War and the communist takeover of South Vietnam.Click here to listen to her podcast recorded with Luke Hunt from The Diplomat..
From Pol Pot to US Presidents
Published on Jul 5, 2023 by Luke Hunt
From the Killing Fields to the US Secret Service. A conversation with author Leth Oun. As a child, Leth Oun enjoyed a happy life in Battambang City in western Cambodia. His family was poor but his father, a lieutenant in the Lon Nol government, ensured he went to school and that there was food on the table. Then, in April 1975, the Khmer Rouge marched into town.He survived Pol Pot's tyrannical rule, was rescued and eventually granted refugee status in the United States. Leth Oun now works for the Secret Service, the first Cambodian to join those ranks in its 158-year history. He guards presidents, vice presidents, and their families with a focus on the K9 unit, training and deploying....
