The Death Penalty in Asia

The death penalty is often a hotly debated topic here in America. In more forward thinking countries in Europe no such things exist. In fact, I personally believed the death penalty to be one of the contributing factors to instability and a deterrent for growth in a country. China, Japan, and other Asian countries may be able to rebuttal that notion though as their populations, economics, and military strength have grown over the years.

Needless to say though, as The Guardian article states, "The Amnesty International report...showed the death penalty has been maintained, and even re-emerged, in law and practice across the Asia-Pacific." What I found particularly striking was even some economic crimes were deemed punishable by death. I'm sure we could find some schmucks on Wall Street would be deserving of such a punishment...but I digress. The article goes on to maybe suggest terrorism as a catalyst for the increase in popularity of capital punishment in Asian countries. It's also important to note that while Asia has the most executions in the world, China more specifically executes more people than all of the other countries in the world.

So why might this region be so execution hungry? Are Asian teenagers growing up with Call of Duty and the dream of eventually joining a firing squad? I'm sure that's hardly the case obviously, and the answer may be found in something deeper whether that be a social norm formed from religion, history, culture, or perhaps a combination of all of the above. Regardless, if Asia wants to maintain its image as a front runner in global prosperity it should clean up its act regarding capital punishment.

Source(s):
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/25/asia-pacific-countries-most-prolific-users-of-death-penalty-amnesty-report-shows

Fighting Cyber Crime in Asia

There's been a lot of talk lately about cyber crime, and how to fight it. We can look back to the breach of Sony in which hundreds of emails, and other sensitive information pertaining to the company was leaked online. Just recently U.S. President Barrack Obama met with several prominent tech industry figureheads in the Silicon Valley, discussing the topic of cyber-security. Now, according to this article, Microsoft has targeted Singapore and built a "satellite station" which is used to monitor cyber crime.

The article goes into brief detail about Singapore's importance as a financial hub in Asia. Additionally, Asia is a common location of origin for malware, botware, and other nasty viruses that one does not want on their computer. As the globalization continues, we'll see more instances of U.S. companies expanding their reach into areas such as Asia. Singapore geographically and politically makes sense for this Microsoft satellite location due to the fact that it's in a central location in this "hub-type" area, and there is also an INTERPOL branch located there which can enact upon information that this security branch finds in regards to malware, child pornography, and other mischievous cyber crime.

Sources:
http://www.cnet.com/news/asia-could-be-the-next-hotbed-of-cybercrime-says-microsoft/

Sodomy in Malaysia

Sodomy in Malaysia, which is a predominantly Islamic practicing nation holds quite a long prison sentence if found guilty (up to 20-years). Turns out that the opposition leader to the current Malaysian government, Anwar Ibrahim has been convicted and found guilty of sodomizing a younger aide. Anwars side claims that the entire thing has been fabricated, and that the DNA evidence was tainted. The court refused to accept that claim, and proceeded to persecute him for the charge posed against him.

What's important here isn't necessarily if Ibrahim is actually guilty or not, it's the fact that sodomy in this country is illegal and holds such heavy imprisonment repercussions. Human Rights Watch had the following to say, which I agree with, "the conviction of Anwar Ibrahim after seven years of politically motivated proceedings under an abusive and archaic law is a major setback for human rights in Malaysia."

Human rights is one of the most basic and fundamental foundations to build a prosperous nation upon. Malaysia has seen its economy transform over the past decades from raw materials into a more diversified and technologically savvy modern one. Statistically speaking, countries in which capital punishment is prominent, women's rights are non-existent, and education is neglected in get left behind as other nations move forward. While sodomy doesn't compare to the aforementioned criteria, archaic laws that punish what should be a basic human right do hinder the ability for a nation to grow.

Sources:
Article
Malaysian Economy / Basic Information

Asian Air Travel

Looking at the news over the past year, one may say that air travel in the Monsoon Asia region is risky. We've had a slew of unfortunate accidents ranging from Malaysian Airlines who had a flight vanish over the Indian Ocean, and another shot out of the sky above Ukraine, as well as two TransAsia flights and one AirAsia flight. So this begs a question, is it safe to travel via air in Asia?

One side argues that it is not safe to travel in Asia through the air. That Asia is still a developing region (which it is), and therefore its standards in air travel and safety are lower. While it may be true that the safety standards are lower, in the grand scheme of things it still is relatively safe. Especially when we compare travel in Asia to that of Africa as one of maps in the article below will present.

After reading both sources, my own personal conclusion is that air travel in Asia is safe. While we have seen an increased amount of air tragedies in this region, it still is an extremely small portion when compared to the total amount of flights.

Sources:
Risky Asian Flights
vs.
Asian Flights Still Safe