Launch of the Punji Trap

Published on Jan 24, 2018 by Luke Hunt

The Punji Trap was officially launched on January 24, 2018, at Meta House in Phnom Penh with more than 100 people attending. Journalist and videographer Craig Skehan hosted the event and former Saigon Reuters bureau chief Jim Pringle gave a telling talk about the Tet Offensive, which erupted at the end of January, 1968, and turned the tide of public opinion against the Vietnam War. Further launches followed in Kampot and Bangkok. See More..

Ayu Mandala

Published on Jan 1, 2018 by Luke Hunt

Ayu Mandala was born in Denpasar, September 16, 1980. As a Balinese, her career choices are quite different from those of Balinese women in general, namely audio-visual communication.A job that demands high verbal, physical and intellectual abilities. The passion to develop skills and a career in communication has been cultivated for 17 years, starting with working in radio stations, television stations, the cinema industry.Until finally challenged to combine their abilities together with colleagues in Bali and internationally to develop platforms to be able to introduce the Balinese language so that can be learned easily by a wide audience.One of the media that is still being developed today is BASAbali wiki is a combination of multi-language multi-language reference dictionaries, encyclopedias, and....

Myanmar Acquits Journalist’s Killers Amid Muslim Exodus

Published on May 24, 2015 by Luke Hunt

With the world focused on thousands of people left stranded on board rickety fishing boats in waters that divide Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar’s courts turned their attention to the killing of journalist Aung Kyaw Naing, also known as Par Gyi.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Human Rights Press Awards

Published on Mar 13, 2015 by Luke Hunt

Amnesty International and the Human Rights Press Awards in Hong Kong awarded a Certificate of Special Merit for Outstanding Contribution in 2015 to journalists Luke Hunt, Shane Worrell and Denise Hruby for a package of stories about human trafficking, published by the Edge Review. .

Society of Publishers in Asia

Published on Mar 13, 2015 by Luke Hunt

Finalists. Journalist Denise Hruby wrote: "With 2.5 million victims, human trafficking is a global issue, but it is Asia that is one of the major flashpoints, both as a source and destination. In weeks of hard work and intensive research, Denise Hruby, Luke Hunt and Shane Worrell strove to cover every aspect of human trafficking – from victims to traffickers to legal aspects and the economic demand that fuels modern-day slavery.".

Korean Exchange Accused of Plagiarizing Cambodian Report

Published on Nov 2, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Plagiarism has emerged a tremendous plague of the digital age. From high school to the media industry, universities and the corporate world, the ease of copying has found its way into courtrooms around the world and led to the expulsion of many a scholarly cheat.In South Korea this has been taken a tad further, and the Korea Exchange (KRX), which was tasked with conducting a feasibility study for a joint venture to forge the Laos Securities Exchange (LSX), stands accused of plagiarizing a report covering a similar topic for Cambodia.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Australia Shuts Down Its TV Network

Published on Oct 5, 2014 by Luke Hunt

When the final whistle blew on Hawthorn’s thumping victory over the Sydney Swans in this year’s Aussie Rules grand final it also sounded the death knell for Australia Network (AN), the television channel that delivered Australian programs across much of Asia and beyond.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .

ABC prepares to cut-off Australia Network

Published on Sep 21, 2014 by Luke Hunt

It’s official. The lives of tens of thousands of Australian expatriates in Asia will change forever at midnight on September 28, hours after the AFL grand final. A stake will be driven through our souls. For months we have been in denial: how could it be true that our government could close the ABC-managed Australia Network service?Read more from Lindsay Murdoch at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. .

OPCC Takes the Helm

Published on Jun 29, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Written by Luke Hunt for The Phnom Penh Post.The FCC had a legendary name by the time I arrived as bureau chief for Agence France-Presse in 2001, but it was in name only. Journalist numbers had dwindled, and a chorus of reporters complained it was no longer a real club.Indochina Assets had seized control, the names and contents on the premises, amid one spurious claim that permission had been granted by the board. FCCs exist in Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan and South Korea alongside like-minded groups around the world, all non-profit with elected boards and paid-up memberships.Our FCC had none of this and had morphed into a theme bar for tourists arriving by coach.The constitution was changed. The FCC no....

Malaysian Press Selective in Reporting Obama’s Remarks

Published on May 1, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Speaking at a joint press conference in Kuala Lumpur, United States President Barack Obama made  all the right moves, speaking openly about issues ranging from the fate of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 to trade, regional security and hostility against non-Muslims.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .