Chen Yifang: A Taipei Sashimi Man

At 5:00 p.m. on a small alley in the southern outskirts of Taipei, amid the clatter of home-bound commuters and beside a congested stream of mopeds, cars and bicycles, Chen Yifang opens his business. He runs a small stall with his wife that serves sashimi and seafood noodles. The room where he and his wife prepare the food is tiny–no larger than six by six feet–and customers sit outside on plastic chairs at a small metal table.

Taiwan Gay Pride Parade 2017

This year’s gay pride parade was Taiwan’s biggest ever, with estimates of more than 100,000 attendants.

This man preferred not to give his name, but allowed his picture to be taken. He works as a teacher, and thinks the most important way to improve understanding of the LGBT community in Taiwan is through education.

Last May, Taiwan’s Constitution Court ruled that same-sex unions must be allowed to legally marry.

Taiwan’s Constitution Court gave the legislature two years to craft an amendment granting gay couples the right to marry, after which gay marriage would become legal should no amendment pass.

Since the court ruling, no marriage equality amendment has yet passed in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan.

Most members of Taiwan’s LGBT community I spoke to said they’ve witnessed Taiwanese society become more and more supportive of LGBT rights.

A marcher at the parade dressed up as Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s current president who supports gay rights.

Though optimistic about Taiwan’s general trend toward LGBT acceptance, some LGBT members in the parade said they still had not told their parents about their sexual orientation.

Taiwan would be the first country in Asia to legalize gay marriage.

This couple marched in a parade with a picture of themselves that read, “I want to be married.”

On October 28, shirtless men with body paint and day-glo chest straps tossed rainbow flags and bottles of water into cheering crowds with outstretched arms. The men stood atop trucks blaring music and inching along central Taipei’s Xiangyang Road, followed by the tens of thousands who gathered to march for LGBT rights in Taiwan’s annual gay pride parade, the largest such event in Asia.

Qatar’s Shopping Malls Epitomize the Nation’s Embrace of Global Consumerism

At the front entrance of Landmark Mall in Doha, an advertisement displays the upcoming musical, “The Sound of Music.”

“World War Z” is available for purchase at Virgin Megastore at Landmark Mall in Doha.

Villaggio Shopping Mall in Doha, Qatar, features a luxury goods section frequented by few.

If Doha’s Villaggio Mall seems to feature an Venetian canal, rest assured the food is American.

Western-style kids clothing stores abound in Doha’s Villaggio Mall.

Doha’s Villaggio Mall takes after Venice in Italy.

A man drinks coffee and attends to his smartphone at Häagen-Dazs in Landmark Mall in Doha.

Designer shoes at a store in Doha’s Landmark Mall.

A child reaches for a bubble outside a toy store in Landmark Mall.

DOHA, Qatar—Virgin Megastore in Doha’s Landmark Mall hosts an array of music, movies, electronics and books. In the DVD section, three items offer subtle allegory. “The Walking Dead,” “Evil Dead,” and “World War Z” harken back to filmmaker George A. Romero’s concept of a zombie apocalypse, when the dead rise to eat the living, transforming victims into the same crazed, clumsy creatures after a bite or a scratch, until every last human roams the world unable to fulfill its single purpose.

The metaphor was made more explicit in Romero’s second zombie film. Released in 1978, “Dawn of the Dead,” situated the plight of several survivors in a shopping mall. Throughout the store’s clothing, electronics, beauty and sporting goods departments swarmed legions of brainless monsters who could only think to consume, consume, consume.

But what’s the significance of that message here, in the Gulf, sitting in the back of a store where few stop to notice it?

More Than a Game: Migrant Laborers in Qatar Build Basketball Court to Escape Boredom and Remember Home

Men watch from behind the court, waiting for a game to end. Before Rolly Caragay and others from his company built this court, he says they had nowhere to exercise. Men now come from around the neighborhood.

Rolly Caragay watches the action from the sideline after losing a game and forfeiting his team’s position on the court.

Players take positions as the point guard looks to pass the ball.

Mattresses are tethered with rope to the wooded beams behind. Safety first.

From outside the wall of the compound, you might never know about the court, unless of course you heard the ball being dribbled and looked inside the door.

The roof of Rolly Caragay’s housing accommodation offers a view of the court below and the industrial buildings beyond.

Rolly Caragay built this court three years ago with a group of friends from the same company. It took them one week.

Five minutes into the first game and I’m dead tired. Air streams in an out of my lungs in violent exertions. Arms and legs grow heavy and clumsy. The temperature is a little higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. But the rest of the men on the court show no signs of fatigue. They are weathered to this court. Most play here every Friday. Their bodies have grown accustomed to the Gulf’s the blazing sun and dripping humidity.

Far From Home

This story is a fictionalized account of the life of Francis “Charles” Sangalang, a 27-year-old Filipino migrant worker who worked for Qatar Star Alliance as a tea boy. My interview with Charles was conducted in April 2013, during which time he was considering suicide. Our interview discussed his previous attempts at suicide and his current struggle against depression and suicidal impulses. 

Part I: The Blade

The first time I slit my wrist I didn’t feel much pain. I looked down to make sure I did it right, that I didn’t suddenly change my mind the last time. Rest assured, the blood was real. I took the knife to my wrist again, this time pressing deeper. Still no pain. But now blood was everywhere. A third time, I pressed down and slid it across. It finally hurt.

Shisha restrictions cancelled at Souq Waqif, smoking permitted at all tables outdoors

Qatar ranks among worst nations in the world for gender equality.

Two women look out from the Pearl-Qatar at the Doha skyline.

Annual study shows the small Gulf nation is one of the worst countries in the world, but best countries in the Middle East, to be a woman.

Dhow boats, Qatari tradition, and the lives in between.

An Indian man caught in between international tourism and Gulf heritage. 

Georgetown professor launches new book, “Qatar: Small State, Big Politics.”

Mehran Kamrava speaks at the launch for his new book, “Qatar, Small State, Big Politics.”

Gerd Nonneman, Dean of Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar, introduces Mehran Kamrava and his new book, “Qatar, Small State, Big Politics.”

GSFS-Q Dean Gerd Nonneman introduces speaker Mehran Kamrava.

Mehran Kamrava signs a copy of his new book, “Qatar: Small State, Big Politics.”

A man takes a picture of his friend as he gets his book signed by Mehran Kamrava.

Qatar does not wield hard or soft power in terms of militarism or ideology, rather it wields a unique power that is indefinable, rooted in its hyperactive international diplomacy, its careful self-positioning between opposing camps such as the United States and Iran, and its paradoxical domestic security apparatus, said Mehran Kamrava, a Middle Eastern Studies professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar.

Speaking Monday, September 23, during his book launch at SFS-Q, he described the small Gulf nation as nascent but highly consequential.

Pick-up football at HBKU student center

An everyday pick-up game of football at Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s student center.