Asia

Fighting the death penalty in Singapore

On Sunday 3 April, around 250 to 400 protesters gathered at Hong Lim Park to demand the abolition of the death penalty in Singapore. Hong Lim Park, the only place in Singapore where protests can legally be held, recently reopened for protests after being shut for two years during the pandemic. The protest was almost entirely made up of young people. It was organised by activists Jolovan Wham and Kokila Annamalai, both of whom have previously been arrested for protesting illegally. Workers Party — the only Opposition party in Parliament — was nowhere to be seen. Ananth Tambyah of the Singapore...

Cambodia: Union busting sparks world-wide outrage

Chutzpah. There is no other word to describe the actions of the Naga World company, which runs hotel casinos in Cambodia. In a recent statement, the company boasted of its pro-union credentials: “Because of the strong dedication towards protection of interests and rights of the staff’s welfare, the company has encouraged and emphasised to the staff to unionise since the company’s inception in 1995”. That’s great — not only allowing workers to join unions but actually encouraging them to do so. Except that none of that is true. Naga World has a long history of union-busting going back at least...

Campism runs up against reality

The Morning Star divides the world into two camps, labelled “progressive” and “imperialist”. From that all else flows. In any international dispute or crisis, the paper’s stance is determined by which camp the participants fall into. Usually, this is easy: China, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua are all “progressive” and in the case of the first two, “socialist”. Despite the tremendous anti-imperialist opportunities opened up by Brexit (so the MS thinks), the UK has yet to break free and establish an independent foreign policy. Until recently, Russia was a bit of a problem, especially as the Russian...

Kazakhstan: fight for democracy and workers’ rights

Protests against a fuel price hike at the beginning of January focussed widespread opposition to the kleptocratic and authoritarian regime of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Town square meetings took place across the country, especially in the oil producing west where workers have a recent record of strike action. Protests began to demand free elections. On 5 January, however, a new force joined the protests. A faction of the ruling class around former president Nursultan Nazarbayev attempted to use the protests as cover to move against Tokayev. His supporters overran many public buildings...

From the Malayan Communist Party to Lee Kuan Yew

This is the first article in a series. In The Open United Front: The Communist Struggle in Singapore 1954-1966, Lee Ting Hui attempts to analyse communist activities in Singapore “within the framework of the united front.” While the book fails to understand the ideological context of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), it tells of how the Communist Party led the labour and student movements into struggle against British domination in Singapore (then a colony alongside Malaya). Well-known anti-colonial figures from the time such as Lim Chin Siong are said to have been secret members of the MCP...

One of the memories we must unearth

On 23 Jan 1925, Wong So Ying, a young Chinese woman anarchist, bombed the Office of the Protector of Chinese in Kuala Lumpur (in Malaya, then under British rule). Newspapers at the time noted that she was dressed in a modern style, had a bob haircut, and spoke fluent English and Malay. The Straits Times reported that she was “self-educated against the will of her parents.” She was found to be acquainted with the names of anarchists in China and Chinese anarchist publications. Wong’s bombing was celebrated in several Chinese anarchist newspapers, one of them calling her “China’s Sophia...

A new generation of Kyrgyz heroines

The kidnapping of brides has been banned for decades in Kyrgyzstan, an ex-USSR Central Asian Republic lying north of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The law was tightened in 2013, with sentences of up to 10 years in prison for those who kidnap a woman to force her into marriage. Previously it was a fine of 2,000 soms, about £20. Despite that, the medieval practise of ala kachuu (“take and run”) persists to this day. The Women Support Centre in Bishkek has estimated that 12,000 forced marriages take place every year and very few perpetrators are convicted. About 80% of the girls kidnapped accept...

Educating women, changing mindsets

According to UNESCO estimates, globally, 132 million girls are out of school, including 34.3 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67.4 million of upper-secondary school age. UNICEF reports 15 million of those girls come from the East Asia/Pacific region. Every fifth girl in the region was unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10 according to 2020 figures. The pandemic has also caused increases in gender-based violence, early marriage and teenage pregnancy. One way of pushing for increased education for girls is through projects such as PAWA...

Women's Fightback: A new generation of Kyrgyz heroines

The kidnapping of brides has been banned for decades in Kyrgyzstan, an ex-USSR Central Asian Republic lying north of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The law was tightened in 2013, with sentences of up to 10 years in prison for those who kidnap a woman to force her into marriage. Previously it was a fine of 2,000 soms, about £20. Despite that, the medieval practise of ala kachuu (“take and run”) persists to this day. The Women Support Centre in Bishkek has estimated that 12,000 forced marriages take place every year and very few perpetrators are convicted. About 80% of the girls kidnapped accept...

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