Word: national
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Without overt political intent, Call If You Need Me shows a Malaysia that may shock many. Here's an entirely amoral, unrelentingly materialist nation that's 100% populated by Hokkien Chinese. This is no devout, mostly Muslim society, nor some showcase of the harmonious multiculturalism shown in destination commercials. Instead of being "truly Asia," to quote the country's official tourism slogan, Lee's Malaysia is truly segregated. The film won the silver prize in the Hong Kong International Film Festival's Asian Digital Competition. Too bad the miniDV shooting format, and timid distributors, will keep this instant noir classic...
...keep Indonesia moving, it's the 60-year-old former army general who last month was sworn in for what, by law, is his final term. SBY, as he is commonly known in Indonesia, already made history in 2004 as the country's first directly elected President. In a nation where 14% of the country's 240 million citizens still live under the poverty line, SBY, who has a careful, consensus-driven leadership style, delivered one of the G-20's most impressive economic growth rates this year. His anticorruption drive, which landed even his own son's father...
...been more than a decade since the U.S. Government first attempted to form an official tourism office. In 1996, under President Bill Clinton, the U.S. National Tourism Organization was launched, only to be abandoned three years later due to inadequate Congressional funding - as were subsequent efforts in 2001 and 2003. But as the 2009 Travel Promotion Act makes its way through Congress, it appears to have garnered enough support to be passed into law - and funded into action. U.S. Travel's Freeman concedes it will probably be another year before the Office of Travel Promotion is fully up and running...
...brief meet-and-greet will underscore a major shift in American foreign policy toward the Southeast Asian nation, renamed Myanmar by its ruling generals. For decades the U.S. has shunned contact with the Burmese military regime and in recent years has tightened financial sanctions on its leaders for their murderous treatment of their citizens. (In the most recent crackdown in 2007, security forces gunned down dozens of Buddhist monks and other peaceful protesters...
...this tension between the public celebration of friendship and the quiet struggle over intractable issues is a microcosm for Obama's first year on the world stage. On Saturday night, Obama landed in Singapore, the 18th nation he has visited in just 10 months, far more than any of his predecessors. At almost every stop, he has espoused a new vision for world relations, one of greater communication, collaboration and cooperation, even among historic foes. "As I have said, in an interconnected world, power does not need to be a zero-sum game, and nations need not fear the success...