When I started conceptualizing my new role as an investigative correspondent, I knew one of the stories I wanted to dig into was how & why extreme pro-Beijing narratives are hardening within parts of multicultural Singapore, my home. Here is what we found:
washingtonpost.com/world/interact… In a country where the media is a reflection of the state and vice-versa, we chose to focus our investigation on @zaobaosg , Singapore's flagship Chinese-language newspaper. Some history: Zaobao was created through a merger in 1983 that was encouraged by then-PM Lee Kuan Yew

Hong Kong's juvenile political prisoners have become the latest experiment in China's efforts at thought control, through a deradicalization program that has expanded since 2021. We spoke to 10 prisoners and two former CSD officers to detail the program: washingtonpost.com/world/interact… “It was explicitly said to us that by the end of their sentence, the goal is to ensure the desire of these inmates to continue doing political stuff is less and less, and that they instead look for ways to leave Hong Kong,” a former prison guard told us

Proud to announce that our book, Among the Braves, will be out this Fall. It took some two and a half years to put this together, but encapsulates a reporting journey with @TMclaughlin3 that really began in the spring of 2019 (1/3) hachettebooks.com/titles/shibani… @TMclaughlin3 To say it is the most consequential work we've done would be an understatement. Less than a month after we first pitched this book, most democracy activists were arrested, jailed and denied bail the next month. News outlets like Apple Daily and Stand News have disappeared (2/3)

Yesterday I resigned from the FCC's press freedom committee after three years on the committee, two of them as a board member. As a former winner and judge of the HRPA, I feel nothing but the deepest regret and do not stand by this decision
fcchk.org/hrpa/ It is an award that meant something not only to Hong Kong but journalists across Asia who covered some of the most consequential developments in the region last year -- from the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan to the continued plight of the Uyghurs to, yes, Hong Kong

And so the year ends as it started, with more pre-dawn raids and arrests designed to invoke an absolute sense of hopelessness in Hong Kong. The new year has become something not to be celebrated; instead we brace for what comes next:
washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/… Various diplomats I'd spoken to recently had pointed out that the legco 'election' would be a good moment to take the foot off the breaks even slightly and leave Hong Kong be, with "patriots" firmly in charge. As we've seen in recent weeks, no chance of that happening

Took me way too long to realize where I heard the name @Mayer_Brown before: current mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, was a partner at the firm, which touts its pro-bono work in "restoring public trust between police and communities"
law.com/americanlawyer… When I lived in Chicago, @Mayer_Brown was involved in the Police Accountability Task Force, a landmark effort at restoring trust in the police dept after the shooting of Laquan McDonald

On July 21 2019 pro-Beijing thugs attacked commuters, peaceful protesters and reporters. One reporter who live-streamed the incident is in jail on national security charges. Another who investigated it was convicted today.

Who owns the truth, indeed:
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… This is very much about press freedom, but per @antd it is also "part of a continuing strategy by the government of using the legal system to crack down on dissent, which now includes anyone... who attempts to challenge the government’s official narrative"

Usually its hard to cover something afar, to try to envision the streets, buildings and people who make a story. But Sanchaung the first neighborhood I lived in when I moved to Yangon, the streets full of promise and life and middle class aspirations
washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/… We started reporting this before the situation deteriorated in Hlaing Thayar, which has emerged as the truest example of the depths the Myanmar military is willing to go to inflict brutality on its own people, but Sanchaung for weeks before served as the heart of the rebellion

Amid the disquiet among the expat community on quarantine centers and covid19 measures, a reminder that these lockdowns, first applied in ethnic minority areas, devastated communities and unleashed racism that has no parallel with this new cluster: washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… Nepalese & other South Asian ethnic minorities, who were explicitly targeted by the gov as unsanitary and irresponsible with their eating and drinking habits, were targeted: one was spat one, some lost their jobs, others were unable to make immigration appointments amid lockdowns

Many are drawing similarities between protests in Hong Kong and Thailand. Here's a difference: many, many Thai police officers are on the side of the protesters, back their demands, and do not want to crackdown on their movement
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… Shortly after the June 12 2019 police action on HK protesters, a preview of what was to come, we identified a police officer who admitted he was unwilling to follow orders, participated in the Umbrella Movement and would have rather been on the other side: washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…

Kenneth Leung, who represented accountants in LegCo, describes himself as "boring" and "moderate". He reads books by Thatcher and Kissinger. When he led an approved protest last yr, he insisted it be "civilized". Even he is too radical in the new Hong Kong
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… The Legislative Council, which was already stacked in Beijing's favor, has now become an untenable avenue to push forth pro-democracy ideals, argues @ChuHoiDick who is supporting a boycott of the council over the next year rather than "working as a loyal opposition"

The pro-democracy movement was a way many young people found themselves and their place in Hong Kong. After mass arrests, riot charges, police beatings and the NSL, some are now living underground, far from home -- the only way they can find their freedom
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… In Taiwan, the U.K., Australia, the U.S. and everywhere in between, they have sought to find community, a sense of belonging. But these asylum seekers are living stateless, without work, school or meaning in their life: “I thought of committing suicide,” one told us

“These arrests are about revenge. They are targeting us, a media outlet which is the most outspoken against the Hong Kong government and Beijing.” Our updated version of the stunning events here in Hong Kong this morning: washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… As @melissakchan points out, it is absolutely the Beijing playbook to go after the families of prominent dissidents, even when they are entirely unrelated to their activism. Jimmy Lai had repeatedly said that he does not want his family to be involved and that they may leave HK

Almost all the families @rachel_cheung1 and I spoke to for this piece ended up in HK after their families fled the purges of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China. And now, they are running from the Communist Party again.
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… Among those who are leaving: lawyers, nurses, traders, businessmen, media professionals and many more. After this published, several emails landed in my inbox from firms that help people procure alternate citizenship, citing massive spikes in inquiries

The narrative that Singapore's meticulous government "did everything right" and yet lost control of covid19 misses the fact that for months, they were warned about the conditions that 1/3rd of the workforce were living in. Now, they are the victims
washingtonpost.com/world/2020/04/… From @twc2sg 's Alex Au: “For the first two months, we engaged in a lot of self-congratulation. If anyone had cared to look, the dangers were already there.”

Police are increasingly using mass arrests -- 121 last night, 119 on February 8, 400 on Jan 1 -- to put an end unrest and protests that have continued to flare in Hong Kong. Caught up in these sweeps are journalists, medics and civil rights observers:
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… .@lim_megumi and I spoke to more than a dozen arrested people to put together this feature and mini-doc looking at how this tactic has transformed Hong Kong and undercut rule of law washingtonpost.com/video/world/ho…

//Thread// In responding to protests, Hong Kong police have maintained they are adhering to strict internal guidelines. We sought to get a hold of these guidelines, verify their claims. Over 100+ of leaked documents later, we found the opposite: washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/… Let's start with tear gas, for example. PTU riot police officers have a 3-month mandatory training, and we reviewed page of their training notes from 2017/2018. In one section, it points out that tear gas "not only affects the target" but can spread to relatively "far-off places"

Amid news this morning that police are entering Poly U with a "safety team" to clear dangerous chemicals, debris and assess the situation, the @washingtonpost has two new pieces up, the first by @laurelchor on her experiences inside campus for six days: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/… @washingtonpost @laurelchor With @annakamtw and @tiffanyliang_hk, we spoke to three protesters who successfully escaped Poly U, and traced the drama, risk and lingering trauma of their inconceivable exits. Photos by @mayyin9 :
washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pac…

Spoke to several experts for some context on the dehumanizing language police continue to use against protesters. A few takeaways: it has *always* preceded more violence against a particular group & *always* serves to escalate tensions. w/ @TMclaughlin3
washingtonpost.com/dogs-vs-cockro… @TMclaughlin3 Human beings tend to be averse to violence, we are not socialize to harm or hurt others. But if you see the person you are hurting as less than a human, as an other, then that makes it easier to justify violence against them.

"I’m beginning to realise that, to the racist Chinese gaze, being Indian is the punchline." Cannot agree more with this @RubyThiagarajan piece and am grateful for publications like @NewNaratif which would have helped a teenage me in SG feel less isolated
newnaratif.com/journalism/bro… @RubyThiagarajan @NewNaratif The only silver lining amid this whole thing is having voices who can help amplify how commonplace and state-driven/state-linked racism in Singapore is, which didn't exist in my 2000s Mediacorp-only version of my home

Thread/ @RegineCabato and I spent months taking a deep look into the Philippine trolling industry. Our investigation reveals how deep it has seeped into every layer in society, across the political aisle, and how it is now going global
washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac… @RegineCabato We spoke to more than half a dozen trolls, not all of whom are quoted in here, who have been contracted to make stuff up for literally anyone and everyone you can think of: liberal politicians, fast food chains, Duterte and his allies, Duterte's opponents