Torn and Frayed offers a writing guide for new arrivals in the Philippines.:

It is essential that your first sentence should include the words “7,000 islands”. Sprinkle the text with such phrases as “vibrant” (perhaps the most useful word when describing the Philippines), “crystal clear waters”, “hellish pollution”, “idyllic stretch of white sand”, “monster traffic”, “sunset”, “mishmash of cultures” “3,000 pairs of shoes”, “ferry disaster” and “vibrant (there it is again) night life”.

When describing the politics of the Philippines, you should always describe it as an “exuberant democracy”. Mention no politicians other than film stars or Imelda Marcos.

Never use the word “prostitute”, “bargirl” is much nicer. When describing nightlife make sure you mention the “ubiquitous San Miguel” and the fact that Filipinos eat only balut.

There is no need to discuss the history of the Philippines beyond a brief mention of the Bataan death march.

Since smiling Filipinos seldom venture out from beneath their palm trees (and then only to ride their beloved jeepneys to church), there is rarely any need to discuss the economy. However, if you must, you will find “default”, “$1 a day”, “stagnant”, “airport”, “unfulfilled potential”, “overseas remittances”, “hopeful” and “next year” useful phrases.

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, media, philippines, southeast asia

Google’s top China challenger Baidu has put out an internet viral indicating that Google can’t speak Chinese, and further that Baidu is better for wooing women:

Video clip here and translation and explanation here.

(Via Bill Bishop)

Technorati Tags: asia, china, east asia, google, northeast asia

Via GI Korea, AsiaPundit learns of the new ‘lite’ soju.’:

Doosan Corp. unveiled yesterday its new brand of soju, with a slightly lower alcohol content and a slightly lower price.

Soju is a colorless, nearly tasteless liquor that has become the stuff of lore and legend among foreign residents here. T-shirts available in Itaewon describe "the nine stages of soju," and even many American GIs are leery of the stuff.

But the announcement could lead to questions about whether company officials had been taste-testing their new product a bit too much. The alcohol content in the new brand was reduced from 21 to 20 percent and the price is 70 won (about 7 cents) cheaper than the mainline version.

Han Key-sun of Doosan’s beverage division said the alcoholic content was reduced to cut costs and the savings passed along to consumers who imbibe to forget their economic hardships.

Interesting, in most countries ‘lite’ means low calorie or low in alcohol, as in Australian ‘mid-strength’ beers. In Korea ‘lite’ seems to mean "cheap enough so that the unemployed can drink away their sorrows."

Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, korea, northeast asia, south korea

The BBC has set up a ’special’ site for China users, which will not display news that is offensive to the Chinese Communist Party. While Google, MSN and Yahoo can probably claim to be acting in the interest of shareholders, is this what UK citizens expect from a public broadcaster that lives off license fees?:

The BBC World Service has launched a website targeted at the mainland Chinese market, offering English-language training and news that is unlikely to upset Beijing’s internet censors.
China has long blocked access to the British broadcaster’s main Chinese website, www.BBCChinese.com, which yesterday led with a story about US forecasts that Beijing’s suppression of dissent could undermine national stability.

By contrast, the top item on the broadcaster’s new www.BBCChina.com.cn site was a Chinese-language news story on the much less sensitive topic – to Beijing officials at least – about the row surrounding cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed.

There are other Western media that have set up China services and this really changes little about the media environment in China. However, as AsiaPundit noted with the Google.cn launch, this demonstrates an inability to read current public opinion and really hurts brand credibility.

UPDATE: A commenter noted that the articles were inaccessible on the self-censored BBC site. Connectivity seems to be restored. Ironically, one of the Beeb’s top stories is on how the Rolling Stones self-censored two songs at their Superbowl performance (English here):

Imagine, a British institution like the Rolling Stones, which once had a reputation for daring and challenging authorities, succumbing to self-censorship on behalf of foreigners for what must be only a few quid in the grand scheme of things.
How ironic. The Beeb is right to give this story the attention it deserves.

(UPDATE 2: AsiaPundit apologizes to the Rolling Stones. Their performance was censored by the US ABC television network and they did not self-censor. As AsiaPundit noted, it would be very sad indeed if a respected British institution would self-censor just for a small bit of money in a foreign market. AsiaPundit regrets any offense he has caused Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and the rest of the band. Unlike some aging institutions, the Rolling Stones still have balls.)

(UPDATE 3: AsiaPundit was speaking with the BBC today. The spokesman said that the FT had misrepresented the nature of the website which, he said, was an educational site and not a news site. He said the news on the site was intended to be UK-related news that reflected British culture and was not intended to be an international news site. The Beeb has responded to the FT in a letter, reproduced below. (click on graphic for larger, readable, image.)

Technorati Tags: asia, censorship, china, east asia, northeast asia, BBC