April 1st 2022 marks a step towards justice for Dalit garment workers in India: H&M signed an agreement to end sexual violence against majority-women garment workers at its largest Indian suppliers. The move comes after the outrage over Jeyasre Kathiravel an H&M-associated factory worker in Tamil Nadu was murdered by her supervisor a year ago. Jeyasre’s family says she endured sexual harassment at work for months. Making our mainstream clothes shouldn't compromise the safety of garment workers in Asia. With this new agreement, all H&M workers, supervisors and executives are required to take gender-based violence training. The agreement was signed during Dalit History Month, and this is the first time a major clothing brand and a retailer is pledging to do their due diligence to ensure garment workers can thrive in a safe working environment.
Norah Yang is changing comedy by delivering her jokes in both Chinese and English. Well aware of the ordeals facing women, she uses comedy to push for gender equality - POV that is missing in a male-dominated profession. As more women take the stage, the landscape of China’s comedy scene is evolving, and Norah Yang is leading that change as the Punchline Queen. Well aware of the ordeals facing women, she uses comedy to push for gender equality. As more and more women take the stage, the landscape of China’s comedy scene is evolving, and Norah Yang is leading that change as the punchline queen.
In January 2022, protests in Kazakhstan became violent in response to social inequality largely stemming the government's decision to raise gas and oil prices. During this civil unrest, the Kazakh government shut its Internet down, simultaneously shutting down its flourishing bitcoin market. What's going to happen to the crypto mining industry in Kazakstanis uncertain, even while the voices of Kazakstan's people shouts louder. This is part 2 of how Kazakhstan went from a bitcoin paradise to a miner's limbo.
On March 21, 2022, a China Eastern passenger plane crashed with 132 passengers on board. The aircraft reached an altitude of nearly 30,000 ft and began to nose dive. The plane hit the ground in less than 2 minutes and all 132 were pronounced dead. The plane was a Boeing 737-800, supposedly one of the safest aircrafts. The unusual nosedive is contrary to the design of the aircraft making experts suggest that a significant mechanical error or pilot action would have had to happen. The crash site recovery team found both of the black boxes containing the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data. These may hold clues that would provide more clarity to the 375 family members of the 132 casualties.
Humaira Chuhan fell in love with somebody outside her Pakistani culture. But when she told her dad about her interracial relationship with a Black man, she faced a traumatic rejection and was almost disowned. She channelled her experience through art and shared it on the Blindian Project - an online community supporting Black and Brown people in interracial relationships. Soon, she got floods of DMs from people with similar stories, making her believe even more that love is love, no matter what!
Beauty standards in Asia stem from biases based on class systems and are deeply rooted in colonization. Classist and Eurocentric beauty standards can be tools to dictate how Asians think and feel - inferior to those with lighter complexions, and thus worthy of self-hate. It’s time we decolonize beauty by celebrating all of our features (our more melanated friends, Asian eyes, body hair, and noses) and define what beauty means on our terms.