BALANCE of CULTURE

Perfect Storm in Paradise

The political turmoil in Male, the capital of the Maldives, continues to escalate as Islamic extremists have enforced their "Taliban-style intolerance" not only on the streets of the city but also towards the various ancient 12th century Buddhist artifacts housed in the Maldives National Museum.

A senior museum representative stated that the history of the Maldives' Buddhist past has effectively been "erased," as the delicate coral and limestone objects have zero chance of being restored due to their brittle and age. Five men have since been arrested for this.

An interesting fact here: the Maldives National Museum was built and financed by the Chinese government and presented to the Maldives on July 10, 2010. Considering that this Indian Ocean paradise is now a premium destination choice for many newly-wealthy Chinese travelers -- and conveniently located just south of India, China's regional geopolitical sparring partner -- we can probably expect to see much more Chinese influence in Maldivian society in the the next decade.

Off the beaten path: A small hospital we visited on a residential island in the Maldives, 2007.

Most travelers to the Maldives won't see much more than the usual perfect clear turquoise waters and sugary white sands of their island resort. Vacation plans rarely include a visit to see typical everyday life on a residential island (though we were lucky to get a glimpse of this on our first visit several years ago), which is vastly different from the polished experiences offered by their tourism industry.

The Maldives is clearly in a challenging phase of its current political and social existence. The recent coup of President Nasheed, the society's religious "soul searching" (to put it nicely), its frontline position in the battle of climate change, and its internationally-powerful tourism industry is a perfect storm of dynamic factors that will define the country's bumpy road ahead.

I just hope that its pre-Islamic past is not further deleted from history's documentation by modern day "radicals." So tragic.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Banned in India

So the past several weeks we've been watching so many screeners at home, typical for this time of year, catching up on all the films of 2011 before the Oscars. Finally got around to viewing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the movie based on the hit novel. My main qualm with the film was the length -- movies over 2.5 hours usually feel a little long for me, even when I have the luxury of spending that time on a big couch at home.

But the graphic violence in the rape and torture scenes is what has riled the feathers of India's Central Board of Film Certification, which was banned the film from opening in India's massive market after director David Fincher refused to edit portions of the final product.

The movie still has lots of openings scheduled throughout the rest of Asia, so the ban will be pretty much pointless once everyone starts sharing their copies online (probably happening already!).

Angry Birds to Angry Brides

This made me giggle…Angry Brides, a game with a name inspired by Angry Birds (you know, the game that's making all the kids wear those red bird costumes around town even though it's no longer Halloween!).

While in Angry Birds the player tries to destroy structures by aiming the grumpy birds through a slingshot, Angry Brides seeks to highlight the issue of illegal dowry demands for women in India: players attack three greedy prospective grooms -- an engineer, a doctor, and a pilot -- with a variety of weapons such as red stiletto shoes or a broom. Each time a groom is hit, the player wins money towards a virtual anit-dowry fund.

Dowries have been illegal in India since 1961 but this sexist tradition remains strong. Indians are quite creative in how they approach technology and I think this is the perfect way for the anti-dowry message to get out to the young people in Indian society.

The game was created by online matchmaker service shaadi.com and already has more than 270,000 fans on Facebook.

Download the game here.

 

China enters the Indian Ocean

Instead of opting for the Maldives, it looks like China's first naval base abroad will be set up in nearby Seychelles, a former British colony.

It's a win-win for both nations: Seychelles will benefit from having more support against its constant battles with local pirate attacks and China will have a stronghold deep in Indian Ocean territory that is near formidable India, but not so close to the mainland as the Maldives, which is what many experts thought would be China's first naval base in the region (another reason being that Chinese tourists -- no longer Western ones -- are now who maintain the Maldives' renowned tourism industry).

Interestingly, there is also a small indigenous Chinese population in the Seychelles , so the cultural connection is also an easier equation than that of predominantly Muslim Maldives.

With China increasingly present around Africa, South America, and now the Indian Ocean, their efforts of global influence are, at this point, undeniable. From a hard power standpoint, China is clearly doing the legwork to counter any soft power discrepancies as much as possible. This checkerboard strategy should be a fascinating case study even 10 years from now...

McIndia

We all know that McDonald's isn't the healthiest food around, but that hasn't stopped the iconic food chain from continuing to expand throughout many parts of the globe. India, and especially the nation's youth, has embraced McDonald's warmly, evidenced by the lunchtime mobs trying to place their orders for a Chicken Maharaja Mac or Paneer Salsa Wrap.

The next step in the import of McDonald's into India is, of course, the inevitable threat of "Western" obesity. Since Asia has been targeted as "the hottest area in terms of growth," according to McDonald's India managing director Vikram Bakshi, we can reasonably expect India to follow the steps of China, Korea and Japan in their expanding waistlines thanks to American fast food chains (expect India's current 200 McD's to grow to 1,000 by 2015).

Quite an ironic situation considering India's well known context of malnutrition, poverty, and wealth disparity. Money usually equals food (and often too much of it). In India, 1 in 3 private school students are obese, compared to 1 in 10 in public schools.

KFC is well on its way as well...

Pakistani actress Veena Malik stirs the pot

Pakistani actress Veena Malik is in trouble again. She has been threatened with murder by the Taliban and many sexist Pakistani clerics cannot stand her for reasons quite obvious -- especially after her latest FHM cover, where she's not only nude but also sports an "ISI" tattoo:

Is she insulting Islam?

ISI is often referred to as the Pakistani version of the US' CIA, and the fiery relationship between Pakistan and India has long involved the covert schematics of the ISI. People are totally upset with the actress for her political "commentary" modeling, and surprisingly Malik has backpedaled on the photo, claiming the photo was published without her full consent and that the "ISI" logo was supposed to cover the majority of the image itself. FHM has denied her claims, saying they have records of her being very excited for the concept.

Not surprisingly, Malik mostly works in India, so we'll see how this affect her reputation and career in the long-term. Maybe it's because I'm familiar with the Hollywood machine of reinvention and comebacks, but I somehow doubt this fiasco will permanently damage her career -- after the dust settles, her personal fame and notoriety will probably be bigger than ever, whether conservative Pakistanis like it or not.

Pakistan's "It" Minister

Something has recently piqued the interests of onlookers on both sides of the perennial Pakistan-India headbutting -- 34 year old Hina Rabbani Khar, who is the youngest person, and first female ever, to be sworn in as a foreign minister in Pakistan:

She's incredibly young pretty, glamorous and has no fear of appearing flash. She wore pearls when she arrived and diamonds for the talks. We're so obsessed with her designer bag and clothes that we forget she first held talks with the Hurriyat [Kashmiri separatists]. She could be Pakistan's new weapon of mass destruction."

Educated in the US and now known for her penchant for accessorizing her salwar-kameez with Roberto Cavalli sunglasses and black Hermes Birkin (of course!)

Khar has apparently thawed, if only temporarily, the usual frosty media relations between the two contentious states -- no easy feat:

Indian papers and news programs today gushed over Khar, praising her beauty and style. The Times of India headlined their front page story: "Pak Puts On Its Best Face." The Navbharat Times said the country was "sweating over model-like minister." The Mail Today said she had brought a "Glam touch to Indo-Pak talks" and asked, "Who says politicians can't be chic?" These are not the usual superlatives Pakistani diplomats are used to getting in the Indian press.

Though the disputes that have plagued India and Pakistan for decades will undoubtedly require a long road of reconciliation, one this is clear: a generational shift has finally occurred where the au courant is gaining momentum and is carving a place for progress, something that the older generations have been incapable of harnessing thus far.

[Image: BCCL]

Calling Out Corruption in India

Getting a drivers' license or passport, receiving medical care or seeing your newborn baby...sometimes these are things one needs to pay extra money for in India. Bribery is common when dealing with everyday life in many parts of the world and India is quite well known for its corrupt practices by government officials. To counter this ubiquitous habit and cleanse official departments' lack of honesty in the country, a crowdsourcing website called I Paid A Bribe has set up where people can share their experiences of bribery costs, details, etc.

India isn't alone in having such a reputation though -- I think so many places could utilize and benefit from this kind of platform! While a virtual public square for discussing bribery may not be the most ideal or perfect way to solve such a hugely common issue, it's a great start for finally calling out these problems in a way that has not been done before (Karnataka's State Transport Department is using the website to cleanse internal corruption).

These kinds of tech-based approaches to societal corruption are still pretty much unexpected by the average person in 2nd and 3rd world states. However with the ubiquity of cell phones and broadband in increasingly obscure parts of the globe, the virtual public square may often be the only place where people can safely air out their experiences in order to prevent future problems from proliferating.

Hello, 2011!

Photo: Courtesy of Equinox/Terry Richardson

Hope everyone had a great holiday season! It's been an amazing experience for me to share the goings-on of global cross-disciplinary cultural relations during the past 8 months - I've met so many intriguing and incredible people through BoC and have exciting things in store for 2011.

Unfortunately, I don't "do" new year resolutions (I've always thought the concept was all-too convenient timing for things like gyms and diet food companies to hawk their gimmicky and mediocre products to a temporarily inspired public), but Equinox's ad campaign shot by seedy (depending on who you ask) photog Terry Richardson should attract a good amount of sluggish hipsters to join a location near them, right? Ok, maybe not, but the images were fun at first glance...

A few interesting developments to start off this week:

India has finally taken a stand against Wikileaks.

CNN has declared Seoul, Korea as the Hollywood of the east.

The British Council has opened a diverse exhibition of British art from the last 30 years that will tour four cities in China: Chengdu, Xi’an, Hong Kong New Territories and Suzhou.

Brazil's first woman President, Dilma Rousseff, has been sworn into office.

Couldn't see this coming: The Black Swan instigates all sorts of commercial buzz, from the fashion runways to crowded ballet studios.

BoC's Online Dérive: 26 November 2010

[Via]

As usual, the Boston Globe's "The Big Picture" has an excellent photo report on the tension in the Korean peninsula.

“It’s just this guy is coming in, and he’s got the bucks so we feel like he’s controlling and intruding in our little life.” The guy is Christo, who has divided a central Colorado community with his impending 42-mile art installation along the Arkansas River.

Black Friday shopping? HumaneWatch asks you to remember that pet shelters need all the support they can get these days, and here's how you can help.

Every American can be a citizen diplomat when traveling abroad - even NFL players.

Global cultural tourism: the Delhi International Arts Festival is set to open on December 3 for a 10-day event featuring projects and performances from 18 countries.

U.S. ambassador James Jeffrey is definitely not down with WikiLeaks.

Pamela Anderson urges Orthodox Jews not to wear fur hats during her stint on Israel's "Dancing With the Stars."