Monthly Archives: November 2013

Giving thanks for Doris Lessing

No one wrote about the emotional workings of the human mind better than Doris Lessing. Continue reading

Posted in 20th century literature, 20th century writers, books, Doris Lessing, English Literature, Hong Kong On Air, John Updike, Nobel Prize for Literature, Philip Roth | Comments Off on Giving thanks for Doris Lessing

Ask not what’s happened to America since JFK

Everything changed on that sunny day in Dallas 50 years ago. Continue reading

Posted in America in the 1960s, Asia Times, Hong Kong On Air, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, John F Kennedy assassination, John F Kennedy funeral, John F Kennedy inaugural address, John F Kennedy presidency, US politics | Comments Off on Ask not what’s happened to America since JFK

Chefs without borders

Leading Indonesian and Malaysian chefs show, like good fences, good food makes good neighbors. Continue reading

Posted in ACMI (Aku Cinta Masakan Indonesia), Asia Times, Bali, Chef Wan, Cooking, Hong Kong On Air, Indonesian cuisine, Malaysian cuisine, Ubud Writers Festival, William Wongso | Comments Off on Chefs without borders

Ubud encounters: Pamuntjak, Lewis live dangerously in novels on 1965 turmoil

Two new novels try to pry open the books on Indonesia’s 1965-68 mass killings that remain among the nation’s deepest secrets. Continue reading

Posted in 1965 upheaval in Indonesia, Bali, Bones of the Dark Moon, Hong Kong On Air, Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), Indonesian history, Laksmi Pamuntjak, Richard E Lewis, The Question of Red, Ubud Writers Festival | Comments Off on Ubud encounters: Pamuntjak, Lewis live dangerously in novels on 1965 turmoil

Ubud encounters: Goenawan Mohamad names, reserves judgment on Indonesia’s ‘next president’

Indonesia’s foremost man of letters and so-called conscience of the nation is “watching” presidential frontrunner Joko Widodo but not yet endorsing him. Continue reading

Posted in Bali, corruption in Indonesia, crime in Indonesia, Goenawan Mohammad, Hong Kong On Air, Indonesian politics, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), Tempo magazine (Indonesia), Ubud Writers Festival | Comments Off on Ubud encounters: Goenawan Mohamad names, reserves judgment on Indonesia’s ‘next president’