Opinion

We live in a world where it’s kind of a requirement to be politically active, which is the most principled thing to do, right? So what happens when you’re afraid to share your thoughts? What about those people who just want to keep their opinions to themselves? Does that automatically make you unworthy? Ignorant? There is this constant fear that …

SRI LANKA: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appears to have finally succumbed to Sri Lanka’s economic problems. Protesters attacked the president’s official residence and set fire to the prime minister’s house in Colombo on Saturday, and parliamentary speaker Mahinda Rajapaksa stated on Saturday that Rajapaksa will stand down on Wednesday (July 13). Opposition protests have long called for the resignation of Rajapaksa, …

MANILA: 22-year-old Chin Ching Peng had to make a choice between her dream career as a copywriter and a new field that would give her more money to support her family. According to her account of her job search in February, “most jobs (as a copywriter) offered salaries of S$2,500 or S$2,800… the only one that paid more than S$3,000 …

MANILA: From this effort to exist openly came up The Gay Liberation Front (GLF). The Stonewall Inn riots in 1969 were a response to police raids that targeted persons who were clearly LGBT or non-conforming of gender — a historical predecessor to what we now know as Pride in America. Equally in the 1960s and 1970s, the term “safe place” …

US: When Thor: Ragnarok came out in 2017, he had to deal with his brothers and sisters, his planet’s impending annihilation, a booze-fueled sidekick, a gigantic dog and the death of his father. A Taika Waititi film is at its most intense when it has everything: slow-motion strolling, stupid antlered headdresses, sword fighting and laser cannons, capes and zombie soldiers, …

US: Stranger Things, Netflix’s sci-fi horror series, is awash in 1980s nostalgia, with Kate Bush’s 1985 song Running Up That Hill topping the 2022 music charts. The Duffer Brothers, the show’s creators, debut Pennhurst Mental Hospital for the Criminally Insane in season four (which is also mentioned in season one). Teenage sleuths Robin and Nancy enter Pennhurst, where they are …

PHILIPPINES: What does it look like when you try to homogenize several voices into a single and stereotypical narrative?  It is like walking into a room, only to face the caustic mass of people that already defined who you are from head to toe. No need for introductions or chirpy biddings because no matter what you do, you’ll always be …

US: In most cases, the word “mentor” conjures up images of knowledge, thoughtfulness, and even a sense of home. Think of Yoda in Star Wars, or Po in Kung Fu Panda, discovering his actual ability with the guidance of Shifu and Oogway, his two mentors. But what is a mentor, exactly? Venture capitalist Jessica Huang Pouleur says that mentors can …

PHILIPPINES: As imaginative folks, we often get lost in the stories we have read before; we wound up wishing there was a cabinet that led to their world just like the one in Narnia as we’ve grown to love the outlandish characters, the heart-stopping moments, and the carefully crafted world that the author creates.  This is what Taylor Swift does, …

PHILIPPINES: What accounts for real progress? Think of Louisa Alcott’s famous novel Little Women; it is no secret that it is a powerful anecdote that celebrated Feminism, but the book tackled real-world injustices as well. Amy March, one of the book’s protagonists, was questioned about her marriage view, and she replied with a matter-of-fact tone that she is “just” a …