Culture

Culture • STORY OF THE DAY • Aug 08, 2019 • 10 min read

Urban development Setting the scene

By James Springer • Aug 08, 2019
As Southeast Asia's cities are modernised and gentrified, art and heritage are undergoing a form of commodification – endorsed in some cases by local political leaders

Culture • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 12, 2019 • 8 min read

Cambodian music Music of the spirits

By Emily Howe • Jul 12, 2019
For millennia, Cambodia's pleng arak musicians have summoned up the Kingdom's countless spirits through their songs. But with more and more Cambodians turning to doctors instead of deities, will the country's sacred spirit musicians fall silent?

Culture • STORY OF THE DAY • Jun 17, 2019 • 7 min read

Buddhism Dead monk walking

By Tom Vater • Jun 17, 2019
From our print archive: Every year, a much-loved abbot is raised from his glass casket, brushed down and paraded before an adoring crowd

Culture • STORY OF THE DAY • Feb 27, 2019 • 6 min read

Whatever happened to… The Amish tuk tuk drivers of Siem Reap?

By Tom O'Connell • Feb 27, 2019
Back in 2011, a reporter from the Phnom Penh Post was visiting Siem Reap when something strange caught his eye: two white guys driving tuk tuks. We tracked down the boys from Coshocton, Ohio, to see what they’ve been up to since

Culture • Jan 04, 2019 • 8 min read
Indonesia

Rising from a century of lost hopes

Southeast Asia Globe talks with feature moviemaker Joko Anwar, who’s taking a break from the big screen to tell stories for HBO Asia
By Mark Adnum

Culture • Dec 16, 2018 • 5 min read
Photography

China’s bound feet women

Jo Farrell has been taking photos of the last living women with bound feet in China for 14 years. The images are shown at the Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap
By Tom O’Connell

Culture • Dec 10, 2018 • 5 min read
Opinion

Rapping against dictatorship

An exiled Thai academic writes that the response by the military junta that rules Thailand to the recent viral video sensation by the group Rap Against Dictatorship is a sign of things to come
By Giles Ji Ungpakorn

Culture • Nov 16, 2018 • 5 min read
Photography

The tribes of Vietnam

Photographer Réhahn is on a quest to capture the cultures of the country’s 54 tribes
By Graeme Green

Culture • Sep 25, 2018 • 5 min read
FreedomFilmFest

The future is bleak, says ‘A Cambodian Spring’ director Chris Kelly

In the run up to its screening at this year’s FreedomFilmFest, Southeast Asia Globe speaks to the director of 2017 documentary A Cambodian Spring, which highlights the infamous land disputes of Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh and charts the return of prominent opposition politician Sam Rainsy
By Lesly Lotha

Culture • Sep 06, 2018 • 7 min read
Lunch Actually

Dating on schedule

During a stint in the financial sector, Violet Lim spotted a trend in the industry: successful singles with no avenue for meeting potential partners. So she set off to make a dent in the love industry
By Janelle Retka