Phone Min Thant

a white building with a white awning that reads “Fassil restaurant Ethiopian cuisine” in green.
4 min 0 2289

A taste of Ethiopia in Vancouver at Fassil Ethiopian Restaurant

Peak Web February 21, 2025

By: 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 Fassil (Emperor Fasiladas), who founded Gondar, a city in Ethiopia, after “tiring of the pattern of migration that had characterized the lifestyle of so many of his forefathers.”  As soon as I entered, I was greeted by a neat interior gracefully filled with paintings ranging from everyday Ethiopian landscapes to portraits. There were only two staff on the floor on…

Continue reading Read more
the outside of a VPL
4 min 0 1386

VPL bans free expression

Peak Web February 11, 2025

By: 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…

Continue reading Read more
A group photo of the SFU kendo club wearing their uniform.
7 min 0 1271

Club Profile: SFU kendo and iaido Club

Peak Web February 3, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Editor’s note: The writer of this piece is a member of the SFU kendo club. Were you born too late to be a samurai and too early to experience lightsabers? Well, what if I…

Continue reading Read more
Two members of SFU’s kendo team, dressed in uniforms and wielding shinai, engage in combat with one-another.
5 min 0 1207

Reflections from the 2025 Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate Kendo Tournament

Peak Web February 3, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Editor’s note: The writer of this piece is a member of the SFU kendo club. Scraping ice from the windshield of our cars was not how I thought the tournament morning would start. I…

Continue reading Read more
This is a photo of an SFU football player holding his helmet to the side of his body, with the photo facing from the back.
4 min 0 1290

SFU confirms discontinuation of its football program

Peak Web February 3, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer On January 15, SFU officially confirmed the discontinuation of its football program in the 2025 Athletics and Recreation Strategy. This decision followed the discontinuation of the program in 2023.  When SFU initially announced the…

Continue reading Read more
An East-Asian woman shown twice in two different costumes: to the left is a golden set of battle armour and a royal headdress, while the right is a burgundy dress with silver web-like designs near the torso. In the background are golden dragon-like scales.
4 min 0 1548

Book Nook: Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow series

Peak Web January 30, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Content warning: brief mentions of murder and war.  Those familiar with Chinese history are probably no stranger to Empress Wu Zetian, the only legitimate empress of The Middle Kingdom. But, did you know there…

Continue reading Read more
Illustration of several broken SFU facilities covered in caution tape. The image features broken glass, a fire alarm, and elevator buttons, indicating that the fifth floor of the Bennett Library is closed.
5 min 0 1578

Quiz: Which broken SFU facility are you?

Peak Web January 20, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Welcome to Simon Fraser University. You are yet another facility students pay dearly for, only to find out that you are still recovering from the damages of your first year. Take this quiz to…

Continue reading Read more
Illustration of a person sitting inside a box holding a phone. Speech bubbles surround the person representing an echo chamber.
7 min 0 1551

A practical guide to combating internet echo chambers

Peak Web January 20, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Social media is a wonderful place. It’s a convenient location where views that reflect your own converge; a little bubble of like-minded users, if you will. But, have you ever wondered why everyone seems…

Continue reading Read more
This is a photo of the impeached South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.
4 min 0 880

Controlling the military is key to consolidating democracy in South Korea

Peak Web January 15, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Content warning: brief mention of sexual harrassment and suicide. When I found myself waking up to the news of martial law in South Korea last month, my first thoughts were, “Not the military again.”…

Continue reading Read more
An illustration of a girl, stars and astrological signs strewn in her hair.
4 min 0 819

Horoscopes January 13–19

Peak Web January 13, 2025

By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Aries March 21–April 19  This week, you will wake up all motivated to go to the one required lower division course you have ignored for two whole years. Then, as you wash your face,…

Continue reading Read more