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Mekong Review

@mekongreview.com
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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: mekongreview.com/subscribe Newsletter: bit.ly/mekongreviewweekly

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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 14h
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 28/09/2026
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 25/09/2026
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 23/09/2026
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.comFor 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.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 22/09/2026
Get a copy of our August–October 2026 issue on our webstore—and maybe pick up some back issues, too! ko-fi.com/mekongrevi...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 17/09/2026
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 16/09/2026
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.comFace 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.Read more at
mekongreview.com
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Nithin Coca @nithincoca.com · 11/09/2026
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/
mekongreview.com
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...
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Badiucao巴丢草 @badiucao.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
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.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 09/09/2026
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 2026Miyamoto 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.Read more at
mekongreview.com
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Nithin Coca నితిన్ @ncoca.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026
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' mekongreview.com/xinjiang-week #China
mekongreview.com
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.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 03/09/2026
Get a copy of our August–October 2026 issue on our webstore—and maybe pick up some back issues, too! ko-fi.com/mekongrevi...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 02/09/2026
A former teacher turned resistance medic supports civilians and fighters in the revolution against the Myanmar military junta. 📖: mekongreview.com/a-f...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 28/08/2026
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.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 28/08/2026
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.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 27/08/2026
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 26/08/2026
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 2026Setting 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.Read more at
mekongreview.com
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 19/08/2026
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 2026You 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.Read more at
mekongreview.com
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 19/08/2026
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!
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 18/08/2026
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...
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Yann Bigant @yannbigant.com · 15/08/2026
"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
mekongreview.com
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.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 14/08/2026
Get a copy of our August–October 2026 issue on our webstore—and maybe pick up some back issues, too! ko-fi.com/mekongrevi...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 12/08/2026
Our August–October 2026 issue is now available online!⁠ ⁠ Check it out... or better yet, subscribe and never miss an issue: mekongreview.com/sub...
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Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 07/08/2026
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.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 05/08/2026
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...
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Miguel de la Fuente-Lau @migueldlfl.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
A bold cover for our latest @mekongreview.com issue. Pick up a copy in the link below!
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 01/08/2026
Our latest August–October 2026 issue is now available on our webstore! Get your copy here: ko-fi.com/s/f36d282a6f
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 29/07/2026
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 28/07/2026
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 24/07/2026
If you’re based in Singapore, come check out our booth at the Singapore Independent Media Fair on Saturday (25 July) from 1–7pm at Golden Village Cineleisure! Our latest issue will be available at a discounted price, and a selection of back issues will also be available for a suggested donation ⭐️
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 15/07/2026
Even if you declare yourself politically apathetic, politics still has a way of seeking you out and banging on your door. 📖: mekongreview.com/whe...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 08/07/2026
Don't miss out! Subscribe to Mekong Review by 10 July to make sure you get added to our mailing list for the August–October 2026 issue. Subscriptions placed after 10 July will start with the November 2026–January 2027 print issue instead. Subscribe now: mekongreview.com/sub...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 04/07/2026
Don't miss out! Subscribe to Mekong Review by 10 July to make sure you get added to our mailing list for the August–October 2026 issue. Subscriptions placed after 10 July will start with the November 2026–January 2027 print issue instead. Subscribe now: mekongreview.com/sub...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 30/06/2026
Don't miss out! Subscribe to Mekong Review by 10 July to make sure you get added to our mailing list for the August–October 2026 issue. Subscriptions placed after 10 July will start with the November 2026–January 2027 print issue instead. Subscribe now: mekongreview.com/sub...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 29/06/2026
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...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 17/06/2026
'Arnold Is A Model Student', a film by Sorayos Prapapan, shines a light on unfairness within the Thai education system, challenging the notion of what it means to be a “model” within broken structures. 📖: mekongreview.com/flo...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 10/06/2026
Is the twenty-first century an Asian one? According to former Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan, this is entirely the wrong question to be asking. 📖: mekongreview.com/wha...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 05/06/2026
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...
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Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 05/06/2026
I've been asked if this was a reaction to @mekongreview.com running into issues with AI use among our contributors. It isn't, actually—I've not come across anything that's raised red flags while editing. But that doesn't mean we can assume that we'll never have to deal with AI.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 03/06/2026
Mother Mary Comes To Me is Arundhati Roy’s most astute political act; in it, she fearlessly makes her most intimate confessions and, by doing so, reclaims the conditions under which she can be known. 📖: mekongreview.com/of-...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 28/05/2026
Earlier this year, we published our policy on AI—particularly generative AI—on our website. Read it here: mekongreview.com/mek...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 27/05/2026
The publication of The Albatross File: Inside Separation is very welcome for those with an interest in the Singapore story—though less for the hitherto secret documents it reproduces and more for the hitherto secret oral histories. Read now: mekongreview.com/kee...
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Andreas Harsono @andreasharsono.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Good news. Mekong Review is now available in Periplus shops in Bali, Jakarta and Surabaya.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 22/05/2026
We're excited to share that Mekong Review is now available in Periplus in Indonesia! Pick up a copy of our latest issue at your nearest P+ shop or find us the next time you fly into Indonesia through one of the P+ airport terminal shops.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 20/05/2026
Packed with prose, poetry, stories, and reportage, Tsering Woeser's Ocean, as Much as Rain is essential reading for all Tibetans and for anyone who wants to understand what it means to live under colonial occupation. Read the review: mekongreview.com/wri...
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Sean Gleeson @seanjgleeson.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
I wrote for @mekongreview.com about the time Air India gifted Dali a baby elephant, which the artist pledged to ride across the Alps like Hannibal, a plan that was almost immediately abandoned when he realised that owning an elephant sucks mekongreview.com/takeoff-and-...
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 13/05/2026
Our May–July 2026 issue is now available online! If you subscribe to our newsletter, you should have received the email announcement that you can use as a digital contents page: preview.mailerlite.io/preview/2318...
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High Peaks Pure Earth @hpeaks.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
"Ocean, as Much as Rain" [...] is essential reading for all Tibetans and for anyone who wants to understand what it means to live under colonial occupation. Read Bhuchung D. Sonam's review in @mekongreview.com mekongreview.com/writing-back/ @woeser.bsky.social @dukepress.bsky.social
mekongreview.com
Writing back - Mekong Review
Packed with prose, poetry, stories, and reportage, Ocean, as Much as Rain is essential reading for all Tibetans and for anyone who wants to understand what it means to live under colonial occupation.
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Miguel de la Fuente-Lau @migueldlfl.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Here’s a bit more background on how Reyshimar rendered such a beautiful cover for us @mekongreview.com
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Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 08/05/2026
One of the perks of my job as @mekongreview.com's editor is that I get the first peek at the cover art for every issue. So glad to have the opportunity to work with Asian artists on our covers and showcase their work!
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