Month: October 2022

Australia, EducationLeave a comment

Australia re-asserts itself as a top study destination

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Kalinga Seneviratne When Australia’s borders were opened in November 2021 after being closed for over two years, international students started to come back, slowly at first but, if industry sources are correct, that trickle could become an avalanche by 2023. A report titled Emerging Futures by global education specialist IDP, based on research conducted in August this year, confirms that international students are returning to Australia, with the country bouncing back to become the world’s second most popular higher education study destination. In a presentation to the Australian International Education Conference ‘Beyond Borders’ conference in the Gold Coast last week … Continue reading Australia re-asserts itself as a top study destination

Buddhist IssuesLeave a comment

Manipulations at ‘World Fellowship of Buddhists’ Conference

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Buddhism Is Losing Its Voice in Asia By Krishan Dutta BANGKOK (IDN) — The theme of this year’s 30th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) was “Buddhism in the Time of Crisis”, but many disillusioned members of this premier Buddhist organization say it is the WFB that is in crisis. “The conference was poorly organized, and the theme of the conference was not addressed. There was no presentation from members about the challenges facing Buddhism in Asia at a time when these challenges are very serious, especially in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar”, one long-time Indian … Continue reading Manipulations at ‘World Fellowship of Buddhists’ Conference

EducationLeave a comment

Government tackles student debt amid wider funding debate

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By Kalinga Seneviratne More than 25 years after the Thai government’s Student Loan Fund (SLF) scheme for disadvantaged students was introduced, criticism that it has produced many life-time debtors has led to a debt forgiveness campaign – as well as debates about alternative ways to ensure that disadvantaged students can access higher education. The student debt forgiveness campaign has gathered momentum since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the Thai government tabled an amendment bill in parliament to address the issue. Passed by the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, on 14 September 2022, the … Continue reading Government tackles student debt amid wider funding debate

Australia, Education, Migrant LabourLeave a comment

It’s on and off again for foreign students wanting to work

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By Kalinga Seneviratne Before and after Australian borders were closed during the pandemic, it was common to see young Indian and Nepali women working in cafés and as cashiers in shopping malls. Young Indian men dominated home delivery systems and were common sights stocking shelves and cleaning supermarkets in Sydney. They were foreign students who were allowed to work limited hours per week. After some 30 years of resisting pressure from various employer bodies to remove the 40-hour per fortnight cap on the number of hours student visa holders could work while their course was in session, Immigration Minister Alex … Continue reading It’s on and off again for foreign students wanting to work

Buddhist Issues, Media and Communication, ReligionLeave a comment

Child Massacre Exposes Weaknesses in Thai Society

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By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK (IDN) — The massacre of 37 people, 26 of whom were preschool children taking an afternoon nap in their day-care centre, in a remote north-eastern township of Thailand on October 7 has shocked the nation, with many social media postings calling for the extrajudicial killing of those involved in the drug trade and gun running. Many medical experts have also raised the issue of the weakness of the Thai public health system, where visiting a psychiatrist is very costly and carries with it a stigma in society. The perpetrator of the massacre is a 34-year-old former … Continue reading Child Massacre Exposes Weaknesses in Thai Society

Human RightsLeave a comment

The West Is Exposing Itself to Double Standards by Weaponizing Human Rights

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Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK (IDN) — The recently concluded 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva exposed once again the double standards of the global human rights agenda. West’s failure to get a resolution adopted at the UNHRC on October 6 on further investigation into the violation of human rights of the Muslim Uighurs in the north-western region of Xinjiang province in China reflects the international community’s scepticism of weaponizing human rights. Interestingly the western bloc of countries that sponsored the resolution could not even get the votes of India and Ukraine for it, … Continue reading The West Is Exposing Itself to Double Standards by Weaponizing Human Rights