Long Tan Remembered

Published on Aug 19, 2011 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — A 500-strong crowd gathered for a service to commemorate Long Tan Day in southern Vietnam. The battle site memorial service on Thursday was organised by the Australian embassy and consulate, with assistance from the New Zealand embassy. Military attaches from both nations also attended. Read more from Helen Clark in The Sydney Morning Herald. .

Suu Kyi Hits the Road

Published on Aug 19, 2011 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Ignoring warnings from the authorities, Burma’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has taken to the road and travelled outside of Rangoon for the first time since she was released from house arrest late last year. If her attitude disappointed the government, then they would hardly have been impressed by the thousands who the lined rural streets of Bago, about 80 kilometres north of her home, and chanted ‘mother’ as she opened a library. Her three-car convoy moved on to nearby Tha Nat Pin. Read more in The Diplomat. .

War Memorial Dedicated

Published on Aug 16, 2011 by Luke Hunt

Photo by Luke Hunt/Bomborra Images ASIAWATCH — A memorial to honour Allied troops who died fighting to liberate North Borneo from Japanese occupation towards the end of World War II was unveiled in Sandakan on Sunday. Luke Hunt reports. Listen here to Radio Australia broadcast. The statue of a standard issue 303 rifle with its barrel in the ground and a slouch hat slung across the butt symbolizes the military practice of marking where a soldier has fallen. A crowd of more than a hundred local and international dignitaries, including veterans from the Australian invasion force, were on hand for the unveiling of the memorial marking the 66th anniversary of the end of the war and the liberation of Sandakan.....

Hate Mail & Other Letters

Published on Aug 9, 2011 by Luke Hunt

Unloved? Hilary features in Hate Mail & Other Letters ASIAWATCH — Hate Mail is an occasional series by AsiaWATCH which publishes letters to the editor and online comment that elucidates and too often says more about the letter writer than what was originally published. Spectrum magazine, published in the Sunday Bangkok Post witnessed no shortage of comment in response to an article headlined: Deadly Army Discipline which told the tragic story of a raw recruit who entered the Thai military for service and never came home. The Narathiwat Ratchanakarin army camp, where Songkhla native Wichen Puaksom served time as a conscript, sent soldiers to his funeral, asking if they could cover his coffin with the national flag, but the family....

The Free Papua Movement

Published on Aug 9, 2011 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Twenty-one people are dead after a series of rallies in Indonesia’s remote West Papua and Papua provinces where, much to Jakarta’s annoyance, a nagging independence movement refuses to go away. Read more in The Diplomat. .