Only after I saw this weary man under a tree in Hong Kong did it occur to me to ask the fundamental and important question: Why is it that in some places, as here, people can rest peacefully in public and not fear for their safety, while in other places the public space is a dangerous one?
Singapore is the battle between old and new, the product of three ethnic groups shepherd into the 21st century under the canopy of a common tongue and a united vision. The result is tension between past and future, but not among citizens. It is…
This unlikely story is mostly about the immigrant girl, but it started with the immigrant man. And it ended with every country whose bounty and success attract people seeking a better life, because there in front of me was the whole immigration debate in a nutshell: a girl fleeing a country where she was valued less even than the clothes she wore, a new country that took her in, and a local population increasingly fed up with immigrants.
A pro-Erdogan celebration in Stockholm, Sweden highlights a larger debate about the balance between preserving a country’s culture, on one hand, and admitting refugees and other immigrants, on the other. Or to look at it differently: “Who are ‘we’?” and “How much of ‘them’ should we tolerate?”
Bath, UK is two cities in one. The first is classically attractive, the second, positively ravishing, luring visitors with pedestrian malls and fine food and diverse culture and seductive charm. You really don’t want to miss it!
Oh, the irony, to see Erdogan supporters in Stockholm, Sweden celebrating his (apparent) victory — after Turkey blocked Sweden’s entry into the EU. A few more photos:
Would you help this girl? I did, and it got me in trouble with my local friend, who told me that his country would be better off if people like me stopped forcing our judgements on situations we don’t understand. I countered that children shouldn’t be beggars, and I was in a position to help. But…
Hong Kong’s soul rests far from the casual eye, modestly shrouded and demurely confident, or maybe just unwilling to fight for the limelight. Hidden. So well concealed, in fact, that most visitors miss it. I almost did.
My taxi driver sat ramrod straight, and exhibited a confusing mixture of subservience and independence. Halfway through the ride I figured out who he was. And it was a problem for me.
I have a complicated relationship with Ukraine, because right there on one of their bills they honor a man who killed many of my ancestors.
