On Saturday, nearly 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon, South Korea for the first Halloween with no social distancing rules since the pandemic. 156 people were killed in the crowd. As victims’ families mourn, Korean officials admit inadequate preparedness. Most victims were teens, in their 20’s, and women. More than 3 hours before the incident, emergency calls began warning police, but the 130 officers present were focused on cracking down on drugs instead. At 10PM, those at the bottom of a narrow, sloped alley fell and toppled over each other. Koreans are left to ask–why did this have to happen?
In the US, it's spooky season–but how about in Asia? Is there anything similar to Halloween? From India, the Philippines and Cambodia to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, you’ll come to learn that spirits, festivals, and rituals exist across Asian cultures alike. Burning incense, offerings from cars to houses, and honoring spirits are ways that people celebrate during the Hungry Ghost Festival. In other parts of Asia, millions visit cemeteries on All Saints Day like in Manila. Pitru Paksha is a time when ancestors visit the living in India, for Hindu believers. Does your culture believe in ghosts? What traditions do you observe to honor the dead and their spirits?
Rishi Sunak, the UK’s new Prime Minister, is Hindu, of Indian descent, and the first PM of color. He is also one of the richest men in Britain, and his family’s wealth is almost twice that of the monarchy. While many Hindus celebrate the win, others are questioning if Sunak is right to lead. When Sunak was the Chancellor of the Exchequer - equivalent of the finance minister - he raised taxes around the same time his family was accused of tax evasion. The former banker and husband of a tech heiress, is being called to question by critics, like Labour Party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, MP Zahra Sultana and writer Basit Mahmood. Calls for a general election are mounting from both the left and the right. Still others are calling this moment historical for minority representation. Meanwhile in India, many are celebrating his victory as a “gift of Diwali”.
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Anna May Wong was the first Asian American star in Hollywood, and will break barriers again as the first to grace the quarter coin. After a 40-year-long career filled with xenophobia, "yellowface", and being typecast as the sex worker, Anna is finally getting well-deserved recognition in American history. Born Wong Liu Tsong in LA in 1905 to an immigrant family with a laundry business, Anna chased film sets until she finally landed her first role at 17 years old. As an Asian actress during this time, she faced constant challenges including laws that banned her from portraying interracial romance on screen or being pigeon holed into villain roles. She even lost a lead role in a story about Chinese farms to a white actor. Anna eventually left Hollywood but persevered in the business–and advocated for better representation. On Monday, she will be recognized as a pioneer as her image is memorialized on the quarter.
90% of Koreans use Kakao apps daily. So when Kakao experienced an outage last weekend, the country went into chaos. Everyday interactions like ordering coffee or getting a cab were disrupted, and the government is now opening an investigation on their monopoly on the market. The outage was caused by a fire at a data center that affected over 30,000 servers, and services are still not fully recovered. Meanwhile, Naver - a competing IT giant that also shared the data center - was able to quickly restore its services. Now, experts question if Kakao is investing enough in data backup and emergency prep, while national security concerns rise in case of similar blackouts. On Monday, Kakao Corp shares plunged more than 9%, to their lowest since May 2020. 47 million people can’t live without Kakao–are you one of them?
“KPOP” is now a musical on Broadway, and it opened for previews yesterday in New York City. The show features a medley of talented K-pop and Broadway stars, including Luna, Kevin Woo, Min, and BoHyung. The story centers K-pop artists’ ambition, talent, and sacrifices in an industry notorious for grueling practices, perfectionism, and scrutinous beauty standards. The lead, Luna, hopes to encourage curiosity and bring a fun show to the audience, while breaking negative perceptions. For these stars, bringing Korean culture to Broadway is an honor. Composers Helen Park and Max Vernon produced the music and lyrics, which are both in English and Korean. What makes you excited about seeing a KPOP musical?