Phone Min Thant
Non-violent and non-physical forms of protests
March 20, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Gwangju, Tiananmen, Sidi Bouzid, Yangon, Bangkok, and Kyiv — these are just some places that have exemplified the efforts of ordinary people in their fight against authoritarian governments. In protests like these, citizens face off squarely against armed and equipped security forces; often we see bloodshed and casualties, and sometimes, we see change. But is the pursuit of the light at the end of the tunnel inherently violent and bloody? Absolutely no. For every large-scale protest, there are thousands of instances of non-violent expression of dissent, ranging from boycotts to sit-ins, from social media…
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Canada’s 2025 Express Entry system updates stall the government from solving its own problems
March 18, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer The government of Canada is no stranger to using immigration to exploit foreign labour and distract from the source of the country’s domestic woes. They have done it again with the new year’s changes…
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To boo, or not to boo?
March 11, 2025By: Yasmin Hassan, Staff Writer & Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Politics have become a huge topic in sports communities recently, particularly hockey, as the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off was littered with dialogue around the annexation of Canada. This stemmed…
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Suspicious coughing in the classroom
March 5, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer People like to boast about ditching class, and honestly, why not? Why would you spend two to three hours of your life — that is 180 minutes — stuck in a room with people…
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A conversation with SFU artist Casey Wei
March 4, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Last month, Casey Wei, an SFU Master of Fine Arts alum and a current PhD student in Contemporary Arts, was awarded the Philip B. Lind Emerging Prize for her work, The Zhang Clan 张家族.…
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Local Black businesses
February 26, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Whether you’re shopping for clothes or dining out with your loved ones, what better way is there to celebrate Black History Month than by supporting local Black-owned businesses? A good thing about Vancouver is…
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Trump’s anti-DEI military initiative blatantly attempts to erase Black American contributions
February 25, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer In the wake of US President Donald Trump’s personal vendettas, obsessions, and destructive thinking lies the sputtering corpse of one of his longest-standing victims: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) policy. Every aspect of DEI…
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What the SFSS presidential candidates are fighting for this election
February 23, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer, and Hannah Fraser, News Editor Every year, the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) elects student representatives to its executive committee. This year, 23 candidates are campaigning for the seven positions: SFSS president and six…
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A taste of Ethiopia in Vancouver at Fassil Ethiopian Restaurant
February 21, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Last week, I had the chance to visit Fassil Ethiopian Restaurant, home to warm meals and located not too far from the hustle and bustle of the Commercial-Broadway skytrain station. It’s named after King…
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VPL bans free expression
February 11, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer In a meeting last July, former CEO and chief librarian of the Vancouver Public Library Christina de Castell prohibited the library’s staff from wearing watermelon pins representing solidarity with Palestine. The decision came after…
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