EJ Insight

1 week ago | ejinsight.com | Mark O'Neill |Kevin Ng |Brian Wong

The Western world, including half of the population in the United States, are in a state of shock and disbelief at President Donald Trump, who took office just two months ago. He is signing presidential orders at a rate not seen since Franklin Roosevelt, who signed 3,721 during his 12-year term from 1933 to 1945. He fought the Great Depression and the Axis Powers in World War Two. To justify his orders, Trump has also declared a national emergency, even though none exists.

1 week ago | ejinsight.com | Mark O'Neill |Kevin Ng |Brian Wong

In 19th century Hong Kong, families abandoned thousands of girls whom they could not or would not bring up. They faced death, disease, a life of domestic service or prostitution. But the Sisters of St Paul’s, a French religious order who arrived in 1848, adopted them and gave them an education, vocational training and arranged a good marriage. Between 1848 and 1897, the Sisters adopted an astonishing 34,113 abandoned children, of whom 88 per cent were female.

2 weeks ago | ejinsight.com | Kevin Ng |Mark O'Neill |Brian Wong

“After I surrendered to the Ukrainians, the Russians dropped on us an explosive with gas. I started to breathe it and thought I was going to die. I lost consciousness. Then a Ukrainian soldier pulled me out by the scruff of the neck. I lived.”This was the dramatic account of Wang Guangjun, 34, from Zhengzhou, Henan province. He is one of the first two Chinese soldiers in the Russian army to be captured by Ukraine. He said that he joined up to receive military training and earn Russian citizenship.

2 weeks ago | ejinsight.com | Kevin Ng |Mark O'Neill |Brian Wong

Hong Kong Ballet premiered last weekend a two-act ballet “Frida” by the Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Her last creation for the company in 2023 - “Coco Chanel” - was a big success. “Frida”, which was originally created for the Dutch National Ballet in 2020, tells the life story of the renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo who is regarded as one of the most significant artists of the 20th century.

2 weeks ago | ejinsight.com | Kevin Ng |Mark O'Neill |Brian Wong

“Eternal friendship” was how China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi described relations with Russia last week after meeting President Vladimir Putin. What Putin wants is “permanent war”. President Xi Jinping will see for himself when he goes to Moscow in early May to attend celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of victory in World War Two on May 9. The celebrations are Kafkaesque.