101 East

- Season 6

(2011)

As most abortion is illegal in Thailand, 101 East takes on Thailand's taboo subject and asks if the country's abortion laws are out of step with reality.

With more than 600,000 orphans in Cambodia, 101 East looks at the booming business behind the country's orphanages.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's love of film is well-documented, but few outsiders know that he is revered as a genius of cinema by his own people. 101 East presents a rare insight into the beating heart of North Korea's film industry.

Is East Timor ready for a future without the foreign influence of the UN and other international forces?

Indonesia has long been proud of its diverse ethnicity, cultures and spiritual beliefs. But attacks on minority groups like the Ahmadiyah sect and on Christian churches have critics claiming that religious tolerance is on the decline.

A study estimates that more than 170 million Chinese suffer from a mental disorder.

101 East investigates why family planning remains a highly controversial issue in the Philippines.

Can Jhalanath Khanal overcome a bitterly divided parliament to address the needs of his people?

As many Bangladeshi children work in risky and dangerous jobs, 101 East looks at government plans to eradicate child labour.

Increasing numbers of Filipino women are willing to risk their lives to smuggle drugs.

Asks, what is the future of microcredit in India? Can it improve people's lives, or is it driving the poor into new cycles of unending debt?

India is famous for its love of cricket but with recent corruption and match-fixing scandals, is the national game losing its shine?

Singapore is renowned as an Asian powerhouse, boasting a clean government, a thriving economy and social cohesion. 101 East asks if Singapore is ready for a political change.

A new rare earth refinery in Malaysia will generate billions of dollars, but could it cause an environmental disaster?

The global appetite for fresh fish is growing, but at what cost is aquaculture booming across Asia? 101 East investigates.

Thailand is bracing for new elections, but will they bring peace and stability or fresh political violence and protests? 101 East investigates.

Parts of Asia are awash with a highly addictive drug - methamphetamine - better known by street names such as ya ba, shabu, ice or speed. 101 East investigates Asia's speed trap.

An ancient temple on the border between Thailand and Cambodia is at the heart of a deadly territorial dispute, creating some of the fiercest fighting in southeast Asia for years.

The tiny, isolated islands of the Pacific are in crisis; battling weak government, corruption and faltering economies. They face a health crisis - obesity. Today the Pacific is home to eight of the 10 fattest countries on earth.

China has for centuries raised dogs, cats and other animals for food and for use in traditional medicines. But now animal rights activism is flourishing with increasing numbers of people seeing animals as pets, not protein.

A flourishing mail order bride industry in Asia is leading to sex trafficking and domestic violence, even murder. 101 East investigates the dramatic increase in the trend in South Korea,.

Natural resources are powering Australia's economy to record highs, but is there a dark side to the country's mining boom?

For more than 60 years, Karen rebels have been fighting a civil war against the government of Myanmar.

Australia, one of the world's biggest polluters, has unveiled a radical move to tackle climate change, but will it work?

Can the country that is already battling poverty and pollution avoid a population explosion?

Despite Japan's recent disaster, Indonesia is powering ahead with nuclear energy, building its first power plant.

With weak law enforcement, can foreigners adopting children from Nepal be sure that they are really orphans?

Looks at Taiwan's controversial plans to create legal red light districts throughout the country.

India is richer than ever before. But its growth is a mix of dynamism and dysfunction, as can be seen in the city of Gurgaon. How can Indian cities keep up with the nation's dramatic economic boom?

Is 'Tiger parenting' the key to Asian academic success and what happens when the pressure becomes too much?

India's pesticide industry is worth billions of dollars, but has it caused major health problems in some communities?

The Philippines is one of the last countries where divorce is banned, but is that about to change?

With a final report on the civil war due, we ask if Sri Lanka's ethnic communities are more divided than ever.

Conservationists are in a desperate and uphill battle to save India's tigers from extinction.

Recent monsoon floods in Pakistan have left hundreds dead and million of others homeless, with flood-related diseases on the rise. How can this nation rise above the humanitarian crisis?

Hong Kong's health and education services are being stretched to the limit from demand by mainland China, which Hong Kong residents say is an "invasion".

Filipinos celebrated when South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries announced plans in 2005 to build ships in their country. But after six years, the workers are fighting back against a deadly safety record.

101 East looks back at the stories and events that changed and shaped Asia in the year of 2011.