australia
Opera Australia sparks criticism over traditional use of ‘yellowface,’ Chinese stereotypes in ‘Turandot’
- Vietnamese writer Cat-Thao Nguyen and her Chinese husband walked out of Opera Australia’s performance of “Turandot” during the first act after being appalled by its traditional use of “yellowface” as well as its racist and sexist stereotypes.
- “I felt utterly sick,” she wrote in an article for Sydney Morning Herald. “I clutched my husband and clamped my hand over my mouth. As the scenes unfolded, I felt a violent wilting of dignity for myself and my Chinese husband.”
- Equally disconcerting for Nguyen was that the predominantly white audience appeared to be quite comfortable with what they were watching.
- “Turandot,” completed in 1926, is set in ancient China, a country that its famed Italian composer Giacomo Puccini never visited.
Australia’s premier opera company is being called out for its traditional use of “yellowface” in its current performances of “Turandot.”
Cat-Thao Nguyen, a writer of Vietnamese origin, was so appalled with what she and her Canadian-Chinese husband saw in Opera Australia’s production that they walked out of the Sydney Opera House after the first act.
Expert advances ‘active’ pilot theory after MH370 crash investigation, ATSB orders search data review
- British aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey has pinpointed what he claims to be the location of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370).
- The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft carrying 239 people mysteriously disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
- Previous multinational search efforts failed to find the wreckage of the plane.
- According to Godfrey, Flight 370 hit the ocean about 1200 miles (1,933 kilometers) west of Perth, Australia, and some 13,123 feet (4,000 meters) under the water.
- Godfrey pinpointed the location using Weak Signal Propagation Reporter analysis to monitor radio frequency disturbances the plane created around the world.
- Godfrey also noticed irregular patterns the aircraft made throughout its journey that fateful day which shows that pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah may have contributed to causing the plane to go off course.
- It remains unclear whether the new findings will lead to renewed efforts to search for the wreckage in the new location.
- Australian Transport Safety Bureau released a statement saying that Godfrey is a credible expert on the subject of MH370 but declined to endorse a new search.
A retired aerospace engineer believes he has uncovered the whereabouts of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370), the passenger aircraft from Malaysia that disappeared nearly eight years ago, after conducting an unofficial investigation. His findings have led to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to order a review of search data.
The Malaysian Airlines flight shocked the world when it mysteriously “vanished,” along with the 239 people on board (227 passengers and 12 crew), while traveling to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
‘Married at First Sight’ star says her experiences dating white men with ‘yellow fever’ were ‘so cringe’
- “Married at First Sight Australia” star Selina Chhaur, 33, revealed she has dated white men with “yellow fever” before, which she referred to as “so cringe.”
- “Yellow fever should not be a thing,” the reality TV star told Refinery29. “Sadly, it is a thing, and a lot of my ex-partners [who were European or Caucasian], even though they wouldn't use that term, if you look at their past record of their exes, they were all Asian."
- The interview came after Chhaur’s “new husband” from the show, Cody Bromley, admitted he doesn’t find Chhaur attractive because of her race.
“Married at First Sight Australia” (MAFS) star Selina Chhaur recently revealed she has been subjected to Asian fetishization while dating other white men who have “yellow fever” in the past.
Speaking to Refinery29, Chhaur, 33, described her experiences of men with “yellow fever” as “so cringe,” adding that it should “not be a thing.”
Hong Kong denies Australia access to dual citizen facing life imprisonment under national security law
Australian consular officials have reportedly been barred from accessing a Hong Kong-born Australian man detained under the city’s national security law.
The man, who is speculated to be 42-year-old political activist Gordon Ng, was arrested on Jan. 6, 2021, for allegedly “conspiring to subvert state power,” according to Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He was released on bail the following day but was again apprehended on March 1 for subversion.
Survivors of Korean internment camp being described as real-life ‘Squid Game’ press for justice
Survivors of an internment camp in Busan that has been likened to Netflix’s “Squid Game” are still fighting for justice 30 years later as they continue to call out the family of the man behind the brutal games.
Seeking justice: Details of the abuse by the officials of Brothers Home were investigated by journalists Mary Ann Jolley and Susan Kim and aired on Al Jazeera’s weekly television program 101 East on Dec. 9.
Ex-Chinese diplomat warns of ‘Armageddon’ if Australia joins US in protecting Taiwan
A former Chinese diplomat has warned Australia against joining the U.S. in blocking China’s mission to reunify with Taiwan, saying it would result in an “Armageddon.”
Driving the news: In September, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. signed a security pact called AUKUS, which would help Australia’s capital of Canberra acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China over Beijing’s aggression in the Taiwan Strait, which recently saw a record 150 warplanes breach the self-governed island’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Youngest-ever mayor-elect of Melbourne suburb delivers victory speech in Vietnamese and English
Maribyrnong, Australia, has elected its newest and youngest-ever mayor on Tuesday.
History in the making: Anthony Tran, 22, formally accepted the mayorship in both Vietnamese and English on the same day.
PwC diversity executives mocked Chinese accents, dressed as ‘bat from Wuhan’ during company trivia event
Two human resource executives at PwC, Australia’s largest consulting firm, are accused of racist behavior at the firm’s trivia event last Thursday, in which one of them was said to have dressed as a “bat from Wuhan” while the other mocked Chinese accents. The company is now undergoing an internal investigation of the matter.
The incident: The racist behavior occurred in a skit performed during a virtual trivia event for the national infrastructure division hosted by PwC’s human resources team, according to The Australian Financial Review.
Pedophile who ‘wrote the Bible on child abuse’ deemed to be at low risk of reoffending by Australian judge
On Friday, an Australian court sentenced Geoffrey William Moyle, who sexually assaulted multiple children while filming the acts, to eight years and nine months in prison.
Going to prison: Moyle, 48, from Adelaide, Australia, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Cambodian children aged 10 to 12 while allegedly working as a foreign aid worker for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, according to ABC Australia. The DFAT refuted the claim in January 2020.
‘I will kill it if I meet it again!’: Australian man demolishes sign blaming China for COVID-19
A video of an Asian man wrecking a sign that blamed China for the spread of COVID-19 in Melbourne, Australia, has gone viral on social media.
Where it happened: The sign, which was made of metal, was attached to a pole outside a home in Glen Waverley, a suburb in the City of Monash. It’s unclear who put it there or whose property the pole was located on.
Three Asian Students Brutally Attacked by ‘Gang’ of Teens in Australia
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include that the original Reddit video was locked by a moderator “due to ‘racism,'” according to News.com.au.
Police in Queensland, Australia are investigating a vicious attack by a group of teens against a trio of Asian students late last month.
Australian Woman Who Woke Up From Surgery With Irish Accent May Be Stuck With It for Life
An Asian Australian woman who woke up with an Irish accent after undergoing surgery has been struggling to get her original accent back.
How it happened: Angie Yen, who lives in Brisbane, Queensland — and has never been to Ireland — had her tonsils removed on April 19. Nine days later, she woke up with “an Irish-sounding accent” she did not recognize.
