Asian Studies Blog

Shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia's airport, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea on Monday October 29th, 2018. All 189 passengers were killed. While all plane crashes are extremely serious, this particular crash seems to stand out to everyone. Firstly, the aircraft involved was a new Boeing 737 Max 8, which is a new model from Boeing. This specific plane had been in service for 2 months with 800 flying hours. Secondly, there is an issue of safety and reliability. Since 9/11, are airlines that fly to/from/inside the United States must meet and comply with rigorous safety standards. Air travel is a staple of traveling around Indonesia due to geographical constraints. While Indonesia has a fast-growing aviation, the country has had a long and negative rap sheet for safety. From 2007-2016, the FAA banned Indonesian airlines from US airspace due to them being “deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, or inspe...

Probably the most interesting news story I have ever read... For the past two years, officials in Maharashtra, India have desperately been trying to capture a man-eating tigress, named T1 and her cubs. T1 is estimated to have killed more than a dozen people. More than 100 camera traps, and other animal carcass traps were used, but those failed. However, an unlikely item may work, perfume! Yes, PERFUME. Some research has been done using Chanel No.5, Jovan Musk, and Calvin Klein Obsession. A study at the Bronx Zoo showed that large cats are attracted to the scents of perfumes. Dr. Prayag H.S., a wildlife veterinarian, used Obsession to capture a man-eating tiger in 2013. Perfumes contain an ingredient called civet, something that civet cats use to mark territory. In its synthetic form, civetone, smells very musky, but also smells like fecal matter. However, it has a floral scent when diluted with water.

When most people enroll in a health insurance plan, most do not read the fine print. All that most look at are what doctors they can see, and what the premium per month is. Sadly, as is the case in India, some people do not have the luxury of affording health insurance. Only a third of the population has insurance. That is about to change in India for the better, hopefully....... Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to roll out the world's largest health-insurance plan, called Ayushman Bharat(Long-Life India). This plan is aimed to target a half-billion of India's poorest people out of 1.3 billion in total population. The government will give allow each family up to $7,000 a year in hospital expenses.  Public health care is not present in India, as the government used to spend only 25% on it. The formation of this new plan will help to create a new market of consumers to help fund the construction of hospitals through out most of the country. https://www.economist.com/asi...

For this blog post, I am using two articles, both from The Washington Post, because the second article helps give context for the first article. 1st Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chinese-warship-nearly-hits-us-destroyer-in-south-china-sea/2018/10/02/877cc788-c5fb-11e8-9158-09630a6d8725_story.html?utm_term=.fe60eeab0aa7 2nd Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/07/13/why-does-china-care-so-much-about-the-south-china-sea-here-are-5-reasons/?utm_term=.de4eff56b5ac ( 1st ) Today, October 2nd, 2018, China accused the United States of violating its sovereignty after one of our navy vessels sailed next to some highly disputed islands(Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea over the weekend. The USS Decatur was completing a freedom of navigation mission; an act to promote lawfulness in oceanic territory in which multiple countries hold claim to the land. Having been extremely angered by this, one of China's Luyang-Class Destroyers was order...