Weeaboos: harmful or harmless?

Up until 2012, Myanmar’s military government and tight censorship laws kept a lid on its music scene, restricting the production of local talent and musicians’ exposure to foreign tunes. But music has always been part of civic life in Burma. The scene has only grown since the country began to liberalise in 2011, influenced as much by local traditions as by overseas influences.

Join host Dot Mason as she attempts to trace Myanmar’s musical history in the context of its recent experiences of political change. Has music played a role in the democratic transition? What drives budding musicians in Myanmar today? And…what’s punk got to do with it all?

Dot is joined by three learned individuals, each of whom bring their own insights to the program.

Trevor Wilson is a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Political and Social Change at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, and a former Australian Ambassador to Myanmar between 2000 and 2003. He has had a long and distinguished career in the Australian foreign service, and specialises in Burmese politics and foreign policy.

Zin Linn is an activist and student at the University of Yangon, and the man behind the band Angry Folks. He plays the harmonica and the guitar and is passionate about social justice.

Mark Gregory is an independent researcher who focuses on the history of protest music through the ages. He has written extensively on the tradition of workers songs and poems in colonial-era Australia, and is a strong believer in the cultural and political significance of protest music. 

Education is Australia’s third largest export, with international students making up a quarter of enrolments in universities across the country and the industry generating a whopping $34 billion to the Australian economy.

But what is the international student experience like? Are students’ needs being catered for in the industry? And is it ethical to have an industry based on students migrating overseas and paying such high fees in the first place?

On this episode of The Monsoon Pod, Serena Ford looks at this industry in Australian universities and talks with experts and students alike, to unpack the international education sector in Australia.

Dr Helen Forbes-Mewitt is a senior lecturer and researcher in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. Her research specialises in international student wellbeing, international education and other migrant groups.

Hazel Ang is the President of the International Students Department of ANUSA, located in the Australian National University. The department works to assist international students in navigating university life during their degree.

Haotian Song is studying a Bachelor of Finance at the Australian National University and is originally from Gan Su Province in China.

Rugby’s biggest dance—the World Cup—is coming to Asia for the very first time.
This September, Japan will host 19 of Rugby’s best national teams for the main event in the World Rugby calendar, and the pressure is on.

After their famous victory against South Africa in 2015, Japan is poised for one of its most important sporting performances. Each new game they play will be the biggest game in Japanese rugby history.

But how did we come to this moment?

In this Monsoon Pod, host Patrick Cooney explores Japan’s rugby story. He offloads the discussion to Ken Dobson, a rugby sevens coach in Hokkaido, to talk about the progression of the game in Rugby’s so-called ‘newest’ market.

Ken Dobson worked with Queensland Rugby Union and is now heading the men and women’s sevens program at the Hokkaido Barbarians in Japan.

What makes the ‘perfect woman,’ the ‘perfect relationship,’ and the ‘perfect marriage’ in China today?

In recent years, an emerging class of highly educated, highly skilled and career-driven young women in urban China have been able to relish in new opportunities to find greater financial independence and autonomy.

However, the ongoing pressure on young women to marry continues to marginalise Chinese woman, so much so that a label has emerged, describing unmarried women aged 27 or older as ‘shengnu’, meaning ‘leftover women.’

In a society where traditional family values and ideas of marriage still hold strong, where does this leave Chinese women?

On this Monsoon Podcast, Karen Zhang explores the many pressures that unmarried urban women in China face today, at a familial, societal and governmental level.

Dr Jane Golley is an Associate Professor at the Australian National University and economist, and is currently the Acting Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World. Jane is also the co-editor of the China Story Yearbook series and her research has investigated various topics regarding the Chinese economy and gender inequalities in education and earnings.

Yixiao Zhou is a Research Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy. Her research is focused on economic growth, innovation, automation, and inequalities in opportunity. Together with Jane, Yixiao has also conducted extensive research into gender inequality in China’s workforce and economy. Yixiao holds a PhD in Economics from the Australian National University.

From Birtherism in the United States to Australia’s dual-citizenship saga. A dark and politically motivated cloud is hanging over politicians worldwide, who may have claim to multicultural and dual national heritage.

In this episode of the Monsoon Podcast, Dominic Harvey-Taylor looks at the history of citizenship as a tool for discrimination in Japan, and how dual-citizenship has generated sagas and scandals for politicians across the Asia Pacific.

Professor Tessa Morris Suzuki is Professor Emerita of Japanese History at the Australian National University. Her research interests include grassroots movements and survival politics in Northeast Asia; the Korean War in regional context; national identity and ethnic minorities in Japan and memory and reconciliation in Northeast Asia.

Music: Twisting Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

With the world ever more connected and globalised, foreign cultures are readily and easily available to us all. This has led to large audiences of fans forming internationally around specific cultures. One nation which has found its culture in immense world-wide popularity has been Japan.

Foreign fans of Japanese culture are labelled, and sometimes self-identify, as ‘weeaboo’. The term has no concrete meanings, but it’s generally used pejoratively against those who form a large part of their identity around Japanese popular culture.

On this Monsoon Podcast, Hiroki Hunter explores the sentiments around being a ‘weeaboo’. Can we collectivise such a diverse international group simply because they enjoy a unifying element?

Peter Gravestock studies a Bachelor of Arts and Asian Studies at the Australian national University, and is passionate about Japanese popular culture.

Antigonie Bradshaw studies a Bachelor of Chemistry at ANU and is a fan of Japanese pop culture.

Claire Okumura studies a Bachelor of Asian Studies, focusing on Japanese history. She lived in Japan until age 6, and has continued interest in studying Japanese culture.

Dr Mark Gibeau is an expert on modern Japanese fiction. As a translator and annalist, he is experienced in the issues surrounding orientalism.

In this episode of the Monsoon Podcast, Emily Lyon on the eSports industry and how professional videogaming is levelling-up in Asia.

Videogames are a ubiquitous part of modern life, but the professional competitive sport that has grown around them is still poorly understood by many outside of the business.

How did this business come to be? Why does Southeast Asia have such a key role in the industry’s future? What even is eSports?

On this Monsoon Podcast, Emily Lyon shares the controller with Saira Mueller and Tobias Scholz, to answer these questions and give you a primer on all things eSports.

Saira Mueller is the Director of Content at Gen.G Esports. Saira is also a former journalist with Dot Esports, and the founder of the Women of Esports community.

Tobias Scholz is an Assistant Professor and Post-Doc Researcher at the University of Siegen. He is also co-editor of the annual eSports Yearbook, and a long-time eSports fan.

In this episode of the Monsoon Podcast, Greg Thomson explores Korea's divide – not between the North and South, but on whether reunification is wanted and workable at all.

In the decades since the Korean War, a reunified Korea has become an increasingly far-flung dream. Yet 2018 brought a glimmer of hope, with North and South Korea engaging in ground-breaking dialogue and cooperation politically, economically, and socially.

Why is this a dream for some and ringing alarm bells for others? Is South Korean President Moon Jae-in really representing the people by advocating for unification? And is re-unification even possible as the political and cultural divide between the nations grows ever-wider?

On this Monsoon Podcast, Greg Thomson takes these tough questions to two experts.

Lauren Richardson is the Director of Studies at the ANU Asia Pacific College of Diplomacy. Her research focuses on the role of non-state actors in shaping diplomatic interactions in the context of Northeast Asia, particularly Japan-Korea relations.

Olga Krasnyak is a researcher in diplomatic studies at Yonsei University's Underwood International College. She holds a PhD in History and has lived in South Korea for eleven years. Her areas of expertise include foreign policy, international relations, and science, cultural and public diplomacy.

Feature image source: Republic of Korea

Music: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

In this episode of the Monsoon Podcast, Alisa Asmalovskaya blasts off into space law to see what's there and what remains to be explored.

Physicist Stephen Hawking famously warned that humanity will not survive if it doesn't venture out into space within the next century. Science and technology, however, are not the only disciplines which need to evolve for us to manage this feat.

How is the legal system venturing into space? Can countries claim space territories as their own? Astronomy can tell you what happens when stars collide – what about when it's space objects like satellites?

On this Monsoon Podcast, Alisa Asmalovskaya takes flight into the uncharted realms of space law with Joel Dennerley.

Joel Dennerley holds a Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Laws at the Australian National University. His Honours thesis focused on how to prove who is at 'fault in our stars', specifically, when space objects collide.

Feature image source: US Defence

Music: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

In this episode of the Monsoon Podcast, Kai Clark dives below the surface of the Pacific region and the reasons it's worth exploring.

Covering over 30 per cent of the Earth's surface, the Pacific is home to a multitude of countries, cultures, and languages. Yet when we discuss this region, if at all, the conversation is limited to politics and security or the impacts of climate change.

What can we learn from the Pacific beyond this conversation? What insights can the region provide on some of the most pressing issues facing societies today, and what do they tell us about knowledge itself?

On this Monsoon Podcast, Kai Clark delves into the Pacific region with PhD candidate Bianca Hennessy and Pacific Studies student Oliver Lilford.

Bianca Hennessy is a PhD candidate at the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University. Her research seeks to understand how Pacific Studies is taught and understood throughout different universities in the Pacific.

Oliver Lilford is a 3rd year Bachelor of Philosophy student at the Australian University specialising in Pacific Studies.

Feature image source: Free-Photos on Pixabay

Music: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License