5 more reads from Asia
The results of my painstaking digging of the interwebs for your reading pleasure.
How difficult is it to find unique voices from Asians who hail from Asia? Especially on Substack? How about bloody difficult? Well, fortunately I’ve done the work for you.
My last issue highlighting unique, but barely talked about newsletters from Asia was quite popular, so I thought I’d unearth five more finds from Asia for you.
You’re probably wondering why I’m so fussy about my selection, why Asians from Asia? How about Asian Americans etc? Well, the English-speaking world is inundated by content from Western perspectives, ideals, and values. Yes, even Asian Americans voices and perspectives are shared more often in the English-speaking space.
But South-East Asian voices? South Asian? East Asian? Well, as most write in their native tongues, or usually do not dwell in Western-dominated Substack, you will hardly find them here.
I want to highlight them so that you can get insights into different perspectives. So here are some of them:
Khải Đơn by (Vietnam)
Poetry and essays. Yes, she does write a lot in Vietnamese. So if you happen to be learning Vietnamese, congratulations! Comprehensive input right there. Still, she has an English Writing category. Favourite essay: The Man Running from the Death.
Words for Worlds by (India)
Gautam shares his love for science fiction. One of the pleasures of his newsletter is that I get to know about Indian sci-fi authors and authors I’ve not heard about. (BTW I’m so jealous of India’s writing scene!) His selection in Issue 76 is very fascinating as he highlights books from the Middle East.
72 Seasons of Tea by (Malaysia)
Malaysia-born, Kyoto dweller. Found out that she’s a fan of Kishore Mahbubani in her newsletter Idealist x Realist. Anyone who knows about and understands Kishore’s words is worth a lot of reads ;P
Conscious Living by (Malaysia)
Can I cheat by including another Malaysian? I appreciate Rachel’s comments when I drop my newsletter, each and every time. ;) I really relate to her essay, What success truly means. Her essays are a soothing read for the weekend.
China Translated by (China)
You’ve probably heard me rave about Robert a few times in my newsletter. But just in case you missed it, here is he, mentioned again. The essay that made me notice him was his series of essays on Noah Smith, namely, Will China squander its moment in the sun? and Noah Smith is clueless about China. At that time, Noah was driving me insane with his misinterpretation and falsehoods about China, and it was vindicating to read someone who agrees with me LOL. Want a nuanced view of China? Read Robert’s newsletter.
Well, I still have a lot more newsletters from Asian voices in my feeds, so look forward to more in the future. Meanwhile, if you know Asian voices from Asia, drop a comment below!
As I know subscribing to a newsletter can be quite a commitment, you can also give me a tip:
Thanks for the share, Elizabeth! I appreciate that you are championing South/East Asia voices. So much needed - from writing to perspectives on policies, we truly need more of these voices out there.
Thanks for these recos, Elizabeth! Hello from my little corner here in the Philippines. Yay for Substack voices from SEA! :)