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    Our Correspondents
     

    Ron Williams : Burma/Northern Thailand

    ronald.jpgRon Williams was born in Burma. He was exiled after a crack down by the Burmese military post the 1988 uprising. He was an student activist till 2000 he then decide to turn to journalism. He is now the editor for Network Media Group, a stringer for the BBC-Burmese Service and Asia Calling’s correspondent. He also gives training to exiled Burmese journalist in his home town of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.

    King Kong Janoi : Burma/Thailand

    King Kong Janoi was born in Mon State in Southern Burma. He works for print media, radio, and News Online. Kong was a reporter and producer for the BBC world Service Trust and news editor of the Independent Mon News Agency. He has just joined Asia Calling this year. He produces stories while attending university, for his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in Bangkok. During his spare time, Kong likes to travel.

    Ron Corben: Thailand

    Ron_web.JPGRon, from Sydney Australia, has been based in Asia for almost 20 years, and has travelled throughout the region. His focused is on Thailand but he also closely watches events in Burma. His work has also taken him to Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and the Mainland China. Before moving to Asia Ron worked fulltime for Australian Associated Press, the national news agency, in Sydney.

    Sorn Sarath : Cambodia
    Sorn_kompress.jpgSorn Sarath, is a areporter at Voice Of Democracy Radio (VOD) in Cambodia. He is also the Youth Program Coordinator at Student Movement for Democracy. Sorn is very interested in politics and and enjoys working for an NGO. In the future he would like to be a lawyer. During his free time he loves being outdoors, playing football, listening to the radio and watching TV.

    Khortieth Him : Cambodia

    Khortieth Him was born in Kampong Chnang province, 60 km north of Phnom Penh. He graduated from Norton University, majoring in management. He has been working with the Voice of Democracy (VOD) since 2002 until 2007. Apart from being correspondent for Asia Calling he is also a Communications Officer in a NGO in Cambodia.

    Heda Bayron : Hong Kong

    heda_web.jpgHeda Bayron is based in Hong Kong and Bangkok. She has been covering Asian political and economic affairs for more than a decade, primarily for the Voice of America and regional financial magazines. She has also been a journalism lecturer in Hong Kong. Heda grew up in Mindanao, the southern Philippines.

    Mudassar Shah : Pakistan

    Mudassar_resize.JPGMudassar Shah is a freelance journalist based in Fata, Khyber Agency Pakistan. He did his thesis on Religious Elements in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot as an integral part of his master’s degree in English. Shah has worked for a TV channel in Afghanistan and Waziristan for six years, besides working as a communicaitons officer for International Medical Corps (IMC). He will be working on a project on media and conflict in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

    Zubair Babakarkhail : Afghanistan

    zubair_web.jpgZubair Babakarkhail, was born in 1981 in Kabul Afghanistan. When he was three years old he and his family migrated to Pakistan because of the Russian invasion to Afghanistan. He got his diploma in journalism there and returned to Afghanistan in 2002 and worked with Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in 2003. Apart from being a correspondent for Asia Calling, he has worked for Pajhwok Afghan News Agency based in Kabul for the past four years and also the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a Production Assistant for the programe (As It Happens). He is also a member of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA).

    Madhur Singh : India

    Madhur_Photo_edit.jpgMadhur Singh specialises in international affairs, but also likes to be a rabble-rouser on issues relating to political economy, social policy and women. She works with Time magazine’s South Asia bureau. She has an MA in International Relations and a diplôme in French language. When not working, she spends her time traveling, reading, fitness training and evading her parents’ attempts to get her married.

    Liam Cochrane : Nepal

    liem_web.jpgLiam Cochrane is an Australian freelance journalist based in Kathmandu, Nepal. As well as contributing to Asia Calling, he strings for Radio Australia, Voice of America News, the South China Morning Post and World Politics Review. Before Nepal, Liam spent three years in Cambodia working for the Phnom Penh Post.

    Ponniah Manikavasagam : Sri Lanka

    Manik_resize.jpgPonniah Manikavasagam is a free lancer veteran print and radio journalist in the war torn northern part of Sri Lanka. He reports for the BBC Tamil Section from northern most border town of Vavuniya for over 15 years. He has reported for Reuters for over 10 years, while the Indian Peace Keeping Force was sent to Sri Lanka in 1987. His contribution to the leading Tamil national newspaper Virakesari on Sundays is said to be remarkable which revealed the inside stories of sufferings of the people who were caught in the armed conflict between the government forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels. His reports to the BBC is a window of the northern theatre of war to the outer world. He also files for FSRN since 2002. He joined Asia Calling in 2007.

    Michael Leung : Bangladesh

    mikey_kompress.jpgMichael Leung is a freelance journalist based in Dhaka, Bangladesh and has travelled widely around Asia. Before Bangladesh, the bulk of his freelance work was in China and Southeast Asia, primarily Thailand and Cambodia. He previously worked as a news reporter for the CBC and has freelanced for CNN, RTE and Asia Calling. He is fluent in Chinese and conversational in Bengali.

    Jason Strother: South Korea

    jstrother_105_x_106_resize.jpgJason Strother has been covering headlines from Seoul since 2006. He began his career in local news in New York City. Jason’s radio reports can be heard in the US, Europe and Asia. He is passionate about traveling and intends to stay in Asia for the foreseeable future. Jason holds a MA in International Relations from the University of Kent-Brussels and a BA in Broadcasting from Montclair State University in New Jersey.

    Elise Potaka: China

    Elise_web.JPGElise Potaka-Osborne has worked in community and public broadcasting for over 8 years. Elise has reported for both local and overseas services on issues affecting Australia and the region. Elise values independence and integrity in reporting.
    Matt Steinglass: Vietnam

    mattsteinglass.jpgMatt Steinglass lives in Hanoi, where he reports for the Boston Globe and other publications.


    		 


    ON AIR THIS WEEK
     

    We travel to the trouble region of Kashmir where separatist sentiment is at fever pitch.

    Also…

    Joyous farewell for President Musharaff: After a long struggle against the legal system and civil society Pakistan President Musharaf has finally exited public life. For nearly a decade, Pervez Musharraf was the most powerful man in Pakistan. His resignation marks the end of an era for a country facing enormous economic and security challenges. Mudassar Shah in Peshwar, North-west Pakistan takes a look at how he will be remember.

    Islamic Shariah laws must be updated: Islamic intellectual Asghar Ali Engineer: You cannot deal with terrorism with the help of the army or weapons.  It can only be solved through political processes.   That’s the view of leading Indian Islamic intellectual, Asghar Ali Engineer, the founding chairman of the Asian Muslim Action Network . He is speaking with Rebecca Henschke about why Islam is not compatible with democracy and why Shariah laws must be updated.

    Asia Calling : Your Window on Asia