
Hosted by Asia Calling · EN

A very special final episode of Asia Calling. Some of our long standing reporters look back over particularly powerful moments of reporting in the region - revisiting stories that have shaped them, and rediscovering the most inspiring voices they’ve brought to the airwaves. We also have a very unique audio diary, from an Indonesian woman in central Australia, learning an Aboriginal language. And we hear from the people that have made all of this possible over the years, Asia Calling’s past editors.

A rarely heard eye witness account from the most controversial night in Indonesia’s history - and it’s far cry from what most Indonesians have come to know. We also meet India’s toilet man, who’s on a tireless quest to bring toilets and sanitation to a country where half the population defecates in the open. And later in the program, we revisit our award winning story on Sri Lanka’s elephant orphanage.

After a long time in the making, Australia has legalized same sex marriage. We take a look at the debate. While in The Philippines, another long awaited law is in the making: The country’s first mental health law, which will promise comprehensive mental health care to all Filipinos. And at the end of the show, we hear from Afghan women poets who are risking it all to put pen to paper and write about love.

A group of Turkish teachers in Pakistan have had their schools closed down, and are now being hunted by their own government. The iconic single humped camels of India’s deserts are fast disappearing. We look at some creative strategies to keep their numbers up!

We hear from Tibet’s President in exile. On how the double threat of climate change and Chinese development are putting Tibet’s ecosystem in peril Ending the shame and stigma around menstruation in India. And Indonesian women modeling bigger and better beauty standards.

Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers are in a stand off with the Australian government, living without food, water and power in a detention centre in Papua New Guinea. We hear from those men. We also take a look at a new initiative that supports Indigenous people to secure their land and use it as they see fit. And if you’ve got a few pent-up frustrations, stay tuned. Later in the show we visit a café in India where you can unleash your anger by smashing things.

South Korea is cracking down on corruption, but not everyone is happy about it. In India, an incredible Indigenous man is regenerating water supplies in drought ridden country. He’s using ancient wisdom to find solutions to one of the country’s greatest challenges. And traditional music is experiencing a resurgence in Afghanistan.

Links are being forged between The Philippines and Thailand, as campaigners look to learn from past experience and find ways to bring extrajudicial killings to an end. In India, we get a taste of the world’s largest free lunch program, which is feeding almost 100 million school kids every day. And first up, the case of an abducted publisher and bookseller from Hong Kong, one of the victims of Chinese President Xi Jingping’s crackdown on media freedoms.

Indian villagers are sitting up to their shoulders in water, in a dangerous protest against a massive dam that’s been 60 years in the making. In Timor Leste, the memory of 5 journalists murdered during Indonesian invasion, 42 years ago, continues to inspire a new generation of reporters. And later on the show, we catch up with a Buddhist nun in Korea who has made a name for herself as a celebrity chef.

After a 5 month long siege, the southern Philippines city of Marawi was finally declared liberated. But with the city in ruins, massive challenges lie ahead. And in India, a landmark court case has declared that sex with a minor, within marriage is now considered rape. Many hope the ruling is the first step to criminalizing child marriage, and marital rape altogether. Later in the show we hear from an inspiring Japanese-American legal activist.