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Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

PEOPLE


Driven Crazy

To say Juan Ponce Enrile was irritated is like saying Imelda Marcos once owned a pair of shoes. The Philippine senator was incandescent. The reason? Somebody had stolen his lovely Mitsubishi Pajero - and he wanted it back. Not tomorrow, not next week. Now. "If you cannot recover my Pajero, you cannot recover the Pajero of anybody in this country," the former defense minister railed against the police in a Senate hearing. He warned that if the car wasn't returned, he would be taking a close look at the annual budget of the police force in the district where the theft took place. To nobody's surprise, the Pajero was quickly found - alas, minus its engine - in a warehouse apparently packed with stolen vehicles. A happy ending? Not for everyone. A woman member of the public who shouted out in the Senate that Enrile was wasting everybody's time when the country had far bigger problems to deal with was arrested for interrupting the proceedings. She faces a possible sentence of six months in jail.

The Height of Absurdity?

You climb Mt. Everest, you become a hero. That's the way it is in the mountaineering business, right? Well, no - not always. When Malaysians (and Singapore permanent residents) Khoo Swee Chiow, 34, and Edwin Siew, 29, reached the summit of the world's highest mountain last year, they returned to find themselves at the center of a controversy. The problem was that they were leading a Singaporean expedition - and Singaporeans wanted to know what Malaysians were doing planting the Lion City's flag on the peak. Says a perplexed Khoo, above: "This was supposed to be the high point of my of life. This was definitely a Singapore team, a Singapore effort. We flew the Singapore flag proudly." But now, at last, the matter has been settled. Khoo has taken out Singaporean citizenship - and Siew plans to do the same.

A Love Spurned

"As I was growing up/My ideals were rudely broken by reality/But when I left and looked back/I realized how much I love the country/I love you, China." It's hard to see what Beijing's censors might find to offend them in those lines from the latest album by popular mainland singer Ai Jing. But it seems those are the words that have caused Made in China to run into problems. Ai - best known for her 1993 ode to Hong Kong, "My 1997" - says she is baffled by the fact that the album still hasn't been released. After all, she wrote the words after a trip to the U.S., where she discovered goods marked "Made in China" and realized how proud she was to be Chinese. But it's not all gloom for the 30-year-old artist. Made in China is doing well in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia - and pirated copies are much in demand on the mainland.


This edition's table of contents | Asiaweek home

AsiaNow


   LATEST HEADLINES:

WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner



TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state



ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness


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