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Mekong Review

@mekongreview.com

A quarterly magazine of arts, literature, culture, politics, the environment and society in Asia, written by people from the region or those who know it well. Subscribe: https://mekongreview.com/subscribe/ Newsletter: https://bit.ly/mekongreviewweekly

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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 5d ago

In contexts where public narratives are written and rewritten according to the whims of those in power, and selective amnesia is imposed upon the population, remembering becomes a political act. 📖: mekongreview.com/rem...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2w ago

The General: Vietnam in the Age of Tô Lâm shows that not even foreigners or non-Vietnamese speakers have immunity from the iron fist Tô Lâm, the Communist Party of Vietnam’s general secretary. 📖: mekongreview.com/pow...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2w ago

We're going to the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival! 21–25 October in Ubud, Bali ✨ Our editor-in-chief, Kirsten Han, will be speaking on a panel and moderating another. And our magazine will be in the festival bookstore! Get your tickets: www.ubudwritersfesti...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2w ago

Would you like to see Mekong Review in your library? Institutional subscriptions are available, covering our entire archive as well as upcoming issues. Recommend us to your librarian or reach out for more information: institutions.exacted...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 3w ago

A father and son travel to experience Vietnam through the birds that call it home, even if only for a little while. 📖: mekongreview.com/let...

Letter from the mudflats
by Hai-Dang Phan

Read more at
mekongreview.com

For the past few days, Ba and I have been on a meandering road trip through the Mekong Delta. He wanted to show me some of the places where he was stationed and fought during the war, some fifty years ago, as an officer of a patrol boat unit in the South Vietnamese Navy.

Today, we return to our primary mission: to experience Vietnam through its birds. Whenever we returned to Vietnam in the past, we usually spent all our time visiting family. For once, I wanted to see the country itself. On this matter, Ba and I found common ground. While he’s no avid birdwatcher like me, Ba likes a good challenge and wants to see as much of Vietnam as he still can.

Just over a decade ago, the spoon-billed sandpiper was on the brink of extinction, their global population plummeting to an estimated 100 breeding pairs in 2011. Ongoing international conservation efforts are slowing steep population declines caused by habitat loss, illegal trapping, and climate change. But they still remain critically endangered.

Before the idea of this trip took hold, I didn’t even know this bird existed. Now, I’m searching for this rare thing on the dull edge of extinction, as if it might show me a way back to a country I might have called my homeland, had life not taken us altogether elsewhere.

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 3w ago

Get a copy of our August–October 2026 issue on our webstore—and maybe pick up some back issues, too! ko-fi.com/mekongrevi...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 4w ago

Don't miss your chance to own some of the original artwork from Mekong Review's past covers. We only have one of each of these watercolours by Erica Eng available on our webstore: ko-fi.com/mekongrevi...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 4w ago

For the Tibetan community in London, the upcoming Chinese mega-embassy at Royal Mint Court is just another physical manifestation of the surveillance and climate of fear they have to navigate. 📖: mekongreview.com/the...

The cost of visibility
by Nathalie Chi

Read more at
mekongreview.com

Face covered, recognisable features hidden. A back-up phone in hand, location services disabled. No recent travel plans. No recent contact with family members in Tibet. Avoid cameras. Avoid interviews. At political protests against the Chinese government, including recent demonstrations against the planned Chinese mega-embassy in London, some Tibetan participants arrive with these calculations already made.

In January 2026, the UK government approved China’s plan to redevelop the Royal Mint Court in central London into its largest diplomatic mission in Europe. The plan has faced sustained opposition from local residents, campaign groups, and politicians, who have raised concerns over national security, surveillance, protest safety, and the impact on surrounding areas.

For the Tibetan community, the
mega-embassy is a concrete reminder that the state they fled, or inherited exile from, can still feel close. Their activism in Britain is shaped by political protests and cultural preservation, with the constant fear that visibility can lead to repercussions elsewhere.

Nithin Coca @nithincoca.com · last mo.

The Chinese government relies on dancing ethnic minorities to project normalcy. Last year, it brought dancing #Uyghurs to #Japan. For the wonderful @mekongreview.com, I unpack the bizarre propaganda of 'Xinjiang Week' mekongreview.com/xinjiang-week/

Xinjiang week - Mekong Review

Uyghur dance performances are invariably showcased by Chinese officials in an attempt to show that everything in Xinjiang is ‘normal’. It’s a move that, through its absurdity, creates even more unease...

mekongreview.com

Badiucao巴丢草 @badiucao.bsky.social · last mo.

1/ My cover design for @mekongreview.com for August - October Look closer where AI is leading to us to. I think its a right time to post it following jacob Coxton ‘s AI doom warning tweet after resigining from Anthopic.

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · last mo.

The three volumes of Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi: The Novel contain a rollicking yarn with a cast of colourful characters that swirls about its nucleus, Musashi, with curious and often calamitous results. 📖: mekongreview.com/the...

Musashi: The Novel
Reviewed by Simon Rowe
Mekong Review August–October 2026

Miyamoto Musashi was a real person who lived from 1594 to 1645. His name is known to all Japanese—if not as ‘Kensei (sword saint)’, then as a folk hero whose legendary strength and skill are still revered. Kids emulate his Niten Ichi-ryū (Two Heavens as One) style of swordsmanship with chanbara foam swords; brands of kitchen knives, health supplements, home security systems, and even automotive parts are named after him. My local hardware store is called “Musashi”.

Eiji Yoshikawa has been instrumental in all of this, of course, popularising historical fiction with his reimagining of the lives of famous samurai figures in works like Taiko and The Heike Story—inspiring countless movies, TV dramas, and manga.

Told over three volumes, Musashi: The Novel comes in at a hefty 1,696 pages. But there are plenty of reasons to make the commitment. For one, it is a rollicking
yarn with a cast of colourful characters. The settings are ever-changing; from rural hamlets, snowy mountain passes, and bamboo forests, to hectic city streets with brothels, boozy taverns, temples, and dojos, the reader is whisked along at a lively clip. This is feudal Japan in the early Edo Period—about 400 years ago—a time when the country was transitioning from civil war to an era of peace, order, and artistic freedom. Alongside martial arts, Yoshikawa also gives us cultural practices such as tea ceremonies, calligraphy, and flower arrangement—arts which samurai of yore engaged in to strengthen their mental discipline and build character.

Nithin Coca నితిన్@ncoca.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · last mo.

The Chinese government relies on dancing ethnic minorities to project normalcy. Last year, it brought dancing #Uyghurs to #Japan. For @mekongreview.com, my latest unpacks the propaganda of '#Xinjiang Week' https://mekongreview.com/xinjiang-week/ #China

Xinjiang week - Mekong Review

mekongreview.com

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · last mo.

Get a copy of our August–October 2026 issue on our webstore—and maybe pick up some back issues, too! ko-fi.com/mekongrevi...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · last mo.

A former teacher turned resistance medic supports civilians and fighters in the revolution against the Myanmar military junta. 📖: mekongreview.com/a-f...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · last mo.

What's happened in Tibet and Nepal is devastating. Our hearts break for the families who have lost loved ones and for those who will need to rebuild their lives completely. Many tragic stories will be told, and we hope the artists and journalists who tell them will speak the truth bravely.

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · last mo.

Here's a snippet from our last Writers Room series, in which writer Jamyang Phuntsok explains how Tibetan books reach the Tibetan diaspora worldwide. Find the full conversation on our YouTube channel through the link in our bio.

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Singapore proudly declares itself a “pro-family” nation. But in her latest book, Teo You Yenn uncovers a sense of unease among Singaporean parents from all walks of life. 📖: mekongreview.com/no-...

Unease: Life in Singapore Families by Teo You Yenn

Reviewed by Kirsten Han
Mekong Review August–October 2026

Setting out to understand how parents navigate the much coveted but often elusive work–life balance, Teo finds that it isn’t basic childcare that occupies the most real estate in parents’ minds—it’s education. “Education systems or policies are rarely considered, by scholars or policymakers, as a source of work-life conflict; yet, my research shows that education has become a big component of ‘care labour’,” she writes. “Contemporary demands on parenting go well beyond baths and burps and fevers and sleeplessness, to supervision and nagging and strategising and conflicts of an entirely different, arguably more stress-inducing, level.”

“No one owes you a living.” Teo hears this repeatedly during her interviews. It’s a deeply internalised mantra: Singaporeans are expected to be “self-reliant” and families are the “first line of support” if needs arise. Teo’s interviewees know that “everything they need, for themselves and their families, must come from income they and/or their spouses can generate”, even as they observe that the future might become “more difficult, more expensive, more competitive”. When we recognise this anxiety as the context that informs people’s behaviour, we realise parents aren’t pushing their children to study hard and ace exams out of vanity or pride—they put immense amounts of effort and resources into their children’s education because there are real, long-term costs to falling short or falling behind.

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

The way Daniel York Loh, a London-based actor of Singaporean and British heritage, sees it, there’s no way anyone can resist rising facism simply by being ‘reasonable’ and ‘sensible’. 📖: mekongreview.com/sta...

Daniel York Loh

Interviewed by Calum Stuart
Mekong Review August–October 2026

You kind of think this should be our moment, as people of colour in theatre [in the UK]. This should be our moment, where we should be doing really bold work that kicks back against [far-right politics]. But it’s not really happening. And I think it’s because a lot of it is filtered through a kind of arts council–funded gatekeeper network. As we’ve seen—and I’ve been in one of those organisations—the pressure on you to be compliant, to be a ‘reasonable’ voice is so huge. That doesn’t allow for vibrant art. And if you haven’t got vibrant art, you won’t get much in terms of a voice.

I think we need to get back to valuing the vibrancy and the political expression of artists. That makes it sound like I want everything to be ‘political theatre’. But it’s not. It’s literally about being able to do something like The Sound of Music, that’s based in a certain era, that has some sort of social awareness. It’s not about a political lecture, which is what people mistake it for.

In terms of East and Southeast Asians, I think we have to be a lot bolder, a lot more ambitious. We have to value our own stories here in Britain. We have to appreciate each other’s work more.

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Our second installment from our Writers' Room series is now up! Tune in for a candid conversation about the state of Tibetan literature with Kirsten Han and two of our contributing writers from May-July 2026 issue, Bhuchung D. Sonam and Jamyang Phuntsok. Full conversation on our Youtube channel!

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Yann Bigant @yannbigant.com · 2mo ago

"I don’t know what Ba makes of these converging lines of flight: our escape from Vietnam as political refugees over forty years ago, and our return to the country as birdwatching ecotourists." A tale of human & shorebirds migration: mekongreview.com/letter-from-... @mekongreview.com #birds

Letter from the mudflats - Mekong Review

A father and son travel to experience Vietnam through the birds that call it home, even if only for a little while.

mekongreview.com

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Get a copy of our August–October 2026 issue on our webstore—and maybe pick up some back issues, too! ko-fi.com/mekongrevi...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Our August–October 2026 issue is now available online!⁠ ⁠ Check it out... or better yet, subscribe and never miss an issue: mekongreview.com/sub...

Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 2mo ago

Excited to be headed to the George Town Literary Festival at the end of the year, representing @mekongreview.com! Looking at the line-up, I'll get to reconnect with old friends and hopefully make lots of new ones 🥰

GTLF 2026 reveals line-up of writers, speakers, and thinkers

GTLF is pleased to announce its line-up of participating writers, poets, speakers, moderators, and contributors for its 2026 edition, bringing together 53 voices from Malaysia and beyond, representing 20 countries and territories. GTLF 2026 features a diverse range of perspectives, including voices from Australia, Belgium, Canada,
Myanmar, the Netherlands, Palestine, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and more.

The line-up includes Alice Jolly, Amelie Skoda, Amir Muhammad, Ananya Jahanara Kabir, Anitha Devi Pillai, Asmaa Azaizeh, Bernice Chauly, Cecil Rajendra, Christopher Chu, Evren Sharma, Gaea Schoeters, Hanna Alkaf, Janet Tay, Jeremy Tiang, Josh
Stenberg, Kathrina Mohd Daud, Kirsten Han, Kuo Chiang-Sheng, Lo Sirong, Maggie Hoi, Malachi Edwin Vethamani, Martin Vengadesan, Maznah Mohamad, Melanie Katz, Minh Bui Jones, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Normawar Marzuki, Ratih Kumala, Robin Ruizendaal,
Sam Sussman, Samantha Chong, San Mon Aung, Sara Kelly, Somnath Batabyal, Tan Twan Eng, Tuan Phan, Viji Krishnamoorthy, Wazir Jahan, Wiley Ho, Xu Xi, and Yu-Mei Balasingamchow.

As the Festival continues to develop, more speakers might be added to the line-up. The Festival retains its established multi-format structure, featuring panel discussions, literary readings and book launches, workshops and student programmes, and performances and fringe events.

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Chan Eng Thai the man may steel himself against disappointment by adopting the pose of a fatalist, but Chan the poet wields his words with a vigour that stubbornly defies the fading of the light. 📖: mekongreview.com/sav...

Miguel de la Fuente-Lau @migueldlfl.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A bold cover for our latest @mekongreview.com issue. Pick up a copy in the link below!

Mekong Review@mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Our latest August–October 2026 issue is now available on our webstore! Get your copy here: ko-fi.com/s/f36d282a6f

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

Our latest August–October 2026 issue is now available on our webstore! Get your copy here: ko-fi.com/s/f36d282a6f

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 2mo ago

This is what you have to do to navigate life in Vietnam: accept that things are precarious and constantly vulnerable to change. 📖: mekongreview.com/mou...

Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 3mo ago