Asian Correspondent Media News

As the New York Times implies: Does Thailand expel journalists like China?

By Saksith Saiyasombut The New York Times/International Herald Tribune wrote a blog post on Wednesday that compares two recent developments in China and Thailand, while it may or may not (unintentionally) mislead readers in the first lines: China’s expulsion of the correspondent for Al Jazeera — a move seen as reprehensible

Police beat reporters at land eviction in Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Police and security guards beat two Vietnamese state radio reporters who were watching them evict farmers from their land to make way for a privately built housing development, state media reported Tuesday. A video posted on YouTube showed police and guards beating and kicking two men

Al-Jazeera says China has expelled reporter

BEIJING (AP) — Al-Jazeera’s sole English-language reporter in China has been expelled, the pan-Arab news network said Tuesday. It’s the first time since 1998 that Beijing has kicked out an accredited foreign journalist. Melissa Chan’s expulsion is seen as a hardening of China’s attitude toward international media it views as

Analysis: Searching for press freedom in Burma

Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was sworn in to military-dominated parliament Wednesday, taking public office for the first time since starting her great challenges against military-backed regimes more than two decades ago. But, it seems just a first step of a a long journey to true democracy journey.

Live, breathe and eat hospitality

Pierre van Heerden is an IHS student, sharing his experiences of student life in the hospitality industry…

For my first blog post, I would like to give more information about me, and where I come from. The one thing that I hate is following a blogger and not knowing how that person got to that position to actually write about that topic.

Passion for hospitality

I have always had a passion for the Hospitality Industry (although I will add that I never knew it would be such intensive hard labour, but I still do love it!)

If you go into this industry and you don’t have a passion for it, I can almost guarantee that you will not enjoy it to the extent that I do – I live, breathe and eat hospitality.

Coming closer to the end of my High School career, I started looking around for possible institutes to study at. When The International Hotel School crossed my path, I knew immediately that this is where I wanted to be.

I entered their Bursary Competition, not with the intent to win, but to get an idea of what IHS is about, and to start making friends in the industry. I unfortunately did not win the bursary, but when I registered at The International Hotel School, I never realised what doors it would open for me.

First year of hospitality studies

Within the first year of my studies, my outlook on life changed; I realised you need to work your limbs off to get what you want, and you need truckloads of dedication and patience. I am not here to soft-soap everything; I am a realist and will always be one. That is probably why I got the opportunities that I have.

The opportunities started rolling in; my first year was 2010, so of course at that time South Africa was obsessed with the FIFA World Cup. I had the opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands, and killed my feet. We worked an average 16 hours every second day!

Rachell Allen and Pierre

In my second year, The Good Food and Wine Show crossed my path. Two students were placed with each Chef who appeared in the Chefs in Action Theatre. Casey and myself were placed with Rachel Allen.

We didn’t know what to expect, and were so nervous that we would make a fool of ourselves. Luckily this didn’t happen and Rachel was so friendly and appreciative.

An offer you can’t refuse

During the progress of the show, Rachel started asking about what we wanted to do after we graduate. I told her that I am going to work until I’m in a position one day to be able to train or fund training for people that are not fortunate enough to supply that themselves. She immediately replied with, “Aaah that is nice, you should come work in Ireland with me…”

I was shocked and thought she was just being nice.

So I drove all my friends insane obsessing about this opportunity – none of them believed that it would become a reality.

So the time to find a job for my 6 month Experiential Learning came creeping closer, and I decided I was going to email Ballymaloe Cookery School (this is where Rachel invited me to come work, and her mother-in-law, Darina Allen, is the owner of this School) and see if Rachel was serious.

Within a couple of hours after emailing, a dear lady named Pam came back to me and said Rachel speaks very fondly about me and IHS, and I can most certainly come over and work there. My next post will be more about the actual planning and negotiating on getting there!

One final though: self-motivation is very important in my life, and should be in yours as well.