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10 HOT OR NOT

COVID-19 POSSIBLY
AFFECTING THE TOKYO
OLYMPICS
HOT

or THE IMPRESSIVE T20 DEBUT OF THE WOMEN’S

NOT NATIONAL CRICKET TEAM

Thailand’s very own Women’s National Cricket Team, led by Sornnarin Tippoch, qualified recently for
the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, a watershed moment for the team since their formation 13 years ago.
Finishing in the top two during the qualifiers, the team proved formidable opponents against the West
Indies during their T20 debut, despite the West Indies taking the victory in the end; underlining the need
for women’s sports to be given more of the spotlight. On the other hand, however, the world’s eyes are all
on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which may likely be affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, despite Japan’s USD
30 billion investment.

PARASITE (2019) WINNING
THE BEST PICTURE ACADEMY
AWARDS

Despite the Academy Awards’ unsurprising lack of diversity this
year, it was a triumph for film fans everywhere when Parasite
(2019) won the Best Picture Oscar, the first non-English language
film in history to win the coveted award. Director Bong Joon-Ho
made a powerful directive to general audiences to give more
THE NASA foreign language films a chance, urging them to “overcome the
INTERN WHO 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles.” President Trump, however, once
DISCOVERED A again proved his ignorance steeped in racism by questioning
NEW PLANET Parasite’s win, claiming, “We got enough problems with South
ON HIS THIRD Korea…was [the movie] good? I don’t know,” proving that the
DAY world still has a long way to go towards full inclusivity.
TRUMP’S IGNORANT
AND RACIST CRITICISM
OF THE FILM
THE BILLIONS
BEING SPENT
ON SPACE
FORCE
EQUAL RIGHTS IN INDIA’S
Never underestimate the youth! 17-year-old high school
student Wolf Cukier discovered a new planet three days ARMED FORCES
into his two-month internship at NASA after taking note 11th February marked the International Day of Women in
of an anomaly that blocked the light of two stars. NASA Science, which aims to call attention to the gender imbalance
recently confirmed that the discovery was a planet 6.9 times in STEM-related fields. According to UNESCO, less than 30
the size of Earth, now called TOI 1338 b despite its strange percent of researchers are women, only 30 percent of women
similarity to the fictional Star Wars planet Tatooine. This is select STEM-related fields in higher education, and only 12
a clear example of space exploration’s exciting potential percent of onscreen characters with STEM jobs are women.
for discovery, in direct contrast to the U.S. Department This long-standing bias and underrepresentation have steered
of Defense’s proposal to spend USD 15 billion on a Space women away from science-related fields, and have left
Force military branch, yet more gratuitous spending on the us with questions about how much untapped talent goes
military-industrial complex.
wasted as a result. In contrast, last month India’s Supreme
Court ruled in favour of equal rights in the armed forces. This
GENDER landmark decision means that women will now be eligible for
INEQUALITY the same promotions, ranks, benefits and pensions as their
IN STEM male counterparts. As India continues to struggle with the
inequality crisis, this is a big step in the right direction and
we hope more follow in the near future.

THAILAND’S STUDENT
PROTESTS

Last month, a series of riots broke out in the North East of Delhi that saw 46 people killed and hundreds more injured. According
to reports, clashes between pro-Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and anti-CAA demonstrators spiralled into chaos where mobs
vandalised homes, storefronts, and places of worship. Since the establishment of the CAA there has been nothing but conflict
across India, and yet, despite the bloodshed we are no closer to any resolution. In contrast, over the past weeks, universities
across Thailand have been host to peaceful demonstrations by students looking to vent their frustrations, choosing to say no
THE DELHI to dictatorship in favour of freedom of expression. Brought together by the power of social media, these students are able to
RIOTS
make their point clear without the need for violence, and for that, we’re proud.

MAS AL A LITE ISSUE 114 MAR CH 2 02 0 Disclaimer: all images belong to their respective owners.