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Comment by 用心涼Coooool 1 hour ago

[iCONADA Research Team] UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN): City of Literature

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), launched by UNESCO in 2004, recognizes Literature as one of its seven major creative fields. Being designated a City of Literature is not merely an international honor; it also represents a strategic opportunity for a city to transform its literary heritage and resources into a driving force for sustainable development.

For the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), this concept carries profound strategic significance. It moves beyond the traditional view of literature as a domain confined to “writing with words” and repositions literature as a core engine of the wider cultural and creative ecosystem. Its significance for the creative sector can be examined through five major dimensions:

I. Establishing Literature as a Core Intellectual Property (IP) of the Creative Economy

In the cultural and creative industries, content is always at the core, and literature is one of the most fundamental sources of original content. The City of Literature framework highlights the potential of written works as intellectual property (IP) capable of generating value across different creative sectors.

Film, Television, and Animation Adaptation:

Comment by 用心涼Coooool 1 hour ago

Novels, poetry, and drama provide some of the strongest narrative foundations for films, television series, animation, and games. The City of Literature framework encourages locally produced literary works to move toward wider markets, providing a continuous source of creative material for the screen industries.

Cross-Sectoral Derivative Design:
Literary imagery, authors' manuscripts, and memorable quotations can be integrated with visual design, fashion, lifestyle products, and traditional crafts, transforming literary content into cultural and creative products with distinctive stories and symbolic value.

Theatre and Performing Arts:
Through theatrical adaptations and immersive stage productions, literary works can extend the life cycle of the original text while expanding the market and audience base of the performing arts.

II. Promoting the Integration of the Creative Industry Value Chain

The designation and operation of a City of Literature require the city to develop a relatively comprehensive creative ecosystem. This encourages governments, cultural organizations, and private-sector actors to reassess and integrate the creative value chain from individual initiatives into a broader ecosystem.

Upstream — Developing Creators:
From writers-in-residence programs and creative-writing workshops to fair royalty arrangements and effective copyright protection, cities can activate the creative capacity at the source.

Midstream — Publishing and Independent Bookstores:
Traditional publishing faces significant transformation under the digital wave. The City of Literature concept encourages innovation in micro-publishing and independent bookstores. Bookstores are no longer merely places where books are sold; they can evolve into hybrid cultural and creative spaces that combine books with cafés, lectures, workshops, crafts, and community activities.

Comment by 用心涼Coooool 1 hour ago

Downstream — Reading Promotion and Cultural Consumption: Through international book fairs and literary festivals, such as the Edinburgh International Book Festival, reading can be transformed into an accessible and fashionable way of life, thereby stimulating consumption across the wider cultural and creative sectors.

III. Stimulating Literary Tourism and Reshaping the City Brand

The City of Literature concept opens up a new frontier for integrating tourism with cultural and creative development. Literary tourism transforms intangible literary narratives into tangible cultural and economic value.

Turning Cultural Landscapes into Creative Assets:
Writers' homes, literary landmarks, and locations appearing in literary works can become cultural districts, creative destinations, or sites of literary pilgrimage. Examples include Edinburgh's Royal Mile and Dublin's River Liffey, both of which are deeply connected to the literary identities of their respective cities.

Experiential Tourism: Cities can develop literary walks, as well as technology-enhanced experiences such as AR-based literary treasure hunts and location-based storytelling. These approaches enable visitors to encounter and engage with culture through movement and participation rather than merely observing cultural attractions.

Upgrading the City Brand:
Literature can become embedded in the cultural DNA of a city. For example, Melbourne may be associated with its rich network of independent bookstores, literary events, and reading culture. Such a literary identity can enhance a city's international profile and help attract creative talent, cultural entrepreneurs, and investment from around the world.

IV Promoting Social Inclusion and Local Cultural Identity

Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) should not be viewed merely as commercial activities; they also carry a vital mission of social inclusion and cultural transmission. The sustainable development agenda emphasized by UNESCO can be manifested in the field of literature in several ways:

Giving Voice to Minority Groups: Encourage Indigenous peoples, migrants, and marginalized communities to express themselves through writing. This enriches the diversity of a city's cultural and creative landscape.

Revitalizing Communities through Culture and Creativity: Bring literary activities into community libraries, underused spaces, or marginalized neighborhoods. Through the collection and writing of local stories, such initiatives can strengthen a sense of community and ensure that the benefits generated by cultural and creative activities reach grassroots communities.(Con't Below)

Comment by 用心涼Coooool 5 hours ago

Enhancing Cultural Soft Power: Literature is one of the most effective means of preserving mother tongues and local memories. Through international cultural exchange, distinctive local cultural symbols and narratives can be brought to the world, transforming them into cultural assets with international visibility and recognition.

V Building International Cultural Diplomacy and Creative-Economy Trade Networks

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is, at its core, a global platform for sharing and collaboration. For the cultural and creative sectors, this means creating international channels that transcend geographical boundaries:

Global Sharing of Creative Resources: Member cities have established extensive mechanisms for cooperation, including international writers' exchange programs and literary translation grants. These initiatives enable local literary creators to connect more directly with the international stage.

A Gateway to Global Cultural Trade: Through alliances among cities within the network, the barriers to international copyright licensing and the export of cultural and creative products can be significantly reduced, helping small and medium-sized cultural and creative enterprises (SMEs) expand into overseas markets.

Conclusion

UNESCO's concept of the City of Literature liberates literature from the ivory tower of the fine arts and integrates it more fully into the economic and social fabric of the city. It demonstrates to the cultural and creative sectors that words are not merely symbols on a page; they are also a powerful productive force capable of driving publishing transformation, cross-sectoral adaptation, tourism upgrading, and social innovation.

Within this framework, literature is not merely a container of culture; it also serves as a core compass guiding cities toward sustainability, innovation, and prosperity.

[Note] The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) encompasses seven major creative fields. Each city joining the network selects one of these fields as a strategic focus for developing its cultural and creative sectors and advancing sustainable urban development:

Literature: Focuses on promoting publishing, reading, writing, literary development, and international literary exchange.

Film: Focuses on the development of the film industry, the organization of film festivals, film education, and the preservation of cinematic cultural heritage.

Music: Promotes music creation, the revitalization of the music industry, music festivals, and accessible music education.

Design: Emphasizes the integration of design thinking into urban planning, public architecture, industrial design, and everyday aesthetics.

Media Arts: Integrates digital technologies, electronic art, new-media creation, and technology-driven cultural and creative practices.

Crafts and Folk Art: Protects and transmits traditional crafts, folk arts, weaving, ceramics, and other forms of locally rooted cultural knowledge and skills.

Gastronomy: Connects food culture, traditional culinary skills, the sustainable use of local ingredients, and cultural and creative tourism.

Comment by 用心涼Coooool on August 19, 2026 at 3:16pm

[iCONADA Research Team] Shanghai-based Fudan University in Miri, Sarawak.

Sarawak is witnessing a historic breakthrough in the fields of international higher education and smart healthcare. Shanghai-based Fudan University, ranked among the world’s top 50 universities and one of China’s leading medical institutions, has officially selected Miri, Sarawak, as the site of its first overseas international campus.

This High-impact project aims to introduce a world-class medical education and research ecosystem to Sarawak, while also helping to alleviate the urgent shortage of approximately 2,000 doctors in the state. The plan has already received formal approval from Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and the Sarawak Government, and is now at the final stage of seeking approval from the central government of China.

Three-Phase Blueprint: Establishing a Presence in “Kenyalang Smart City”, Miri

According to the cooperation agreement signed by Sarawak Deputy Premier and Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Amar Dr. Sim Kui Hian, and Imasa Dinasti, Fudan University’s development in Miri will be implemented progressively in three phases:

Phase One: Establish the “Miri Branch of the Fudan Southeast Asia Institute of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine Research” and undertake the renovation of the former Miri Municipal Council building. To date, approximately 85% of the renovation work has been completed, with the first phase expected to officially commence operations early next year.

Phase Two: Upgrade and establish the “Fudan University Miri Medical School”, with a comprehensive focus on medical education, professional training and clinical research.

Phase Three: Ultimately develop the full-scale “Fudan University Miri Campus”, creating an integrated overseas campus combining education, research and smart healthcare. The main campus and the Integrated Medical Research Centre will be located in Miri’s emerging new core area, “Kenyalang Smart City.”

Comment by 用心涼Coooool on August 19, 2026 at 3:14pm

Leading with “Technology-Driven Healthcare”: Integrating Chinese and Western Medicine and the AI Doctor Experience

Sarawak Minister for Transport and Senadin State Assemblyman, Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin, said during an inspection of the construction works that the project would introduce an advanced technology-driven healthcare model.

The report highlights three major development features of the project:

Pioneering the dual-track integration of Chinese and Western medicine: Fudan University, one of only two Chinese medical institutions currently accredited by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), will combine modern Western medicine with traditional Chinese medicine, pioneering a unique dual-track model of medical education and healthcare delivery.

“AI Doctor” smart healthcare system: An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Medical Experience Centre will be established on the first floor of the research institute. It will introduce an AI healthcare system developed by Fudan University. Once operational, members of the public will be able to experience first-hand how AI can assist in early and precision diagnosis.

Tropical rainforest-based drug discovery and development: The campus will establish an Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Innovation Drug Research and Development Centre. Leveraging the rich biodiversity of Sarawak’s tropical rainforests in areas such as Baram, Belaga and Kapit, the centre will explore ways to transform indigenous medicinal herbs into innovative pharmaceutical products capable of generating multi-billion-ringgit global business opportunities.

Outlook: Strategic Higher Education Cooperation under the Malaysia-China “Golden 50 Years”

Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg emphasised that Fudan University’s establishment in Miri is fully aligned with Sarawak’s long-term strategy to advance technology, the green economy and artificial intelligence research.

This strategic partnership will not only create opportunities for Sarawak’s young people to pursue world-class medical education locally, without having to leave the state, but will also gradually strengthen Sarawak’s autonomy in healthcare and education.

At a time when Malaysia and China are entering a new “Golden 50 Years” of bilateral diplomatic relations, the partnership is also expected to become a new model for strategic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in higher education and smart healthcare.

Comment by 用心涼Coooool on August 15, 2026 at 9:17pm

[iCONADA Research Team] Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory(ANT)～～In the context of Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the social world is not made of abstract "structures," but of dynamic, relational webs woven by both human actors (decision maker, public, content creators) and non-human actants (algorithms, social media platforms, oil pipelines, religious institutions).

ANT has historically been notoriously difficult to map because tracking the sheer volume of micro-interactions between humans and non-humans requires massive empirical labor. Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can serve as the ultimate methodological toolkit to operationalize, track, and build ANT networks.

iCONADA hereby proposes that how AI can assist in building and visualizing Actor-Network Theory, specifically applied to analyzing political realities like the ones we discussed thus far:

1.Mapping Non-Human Actants: Tracing the Digital "Allies"
In ANT, a non-human entity (like an algorithm) is not just a passive tool; it is an active participant that modifies human behavior.

Algorithmic Auditing: AI can reverse-engineer and audit how social media algorithms (the non-human actants) accelerate the "post-truth phenomenon." By analyzing recommender systems, AI can map how specific political rhetoric (e.g., the "Barbarians are coming" narrative) is selected, amplified, and fed into Chinese-language echo chambers.

Network Translation: AI can track how a digital actant "translates" (Latour's term for transforming meaning) a complex political debate into a 15-second emotional soundbite on TikTok, showing exactly where a factual "Matter of Fact" mutates into an emotional "post-truth" artifact.

2.Large-Scale Trace Ethnography (Following the Actors)

Latour’s primary methodological command is: "Follow the actors themselves." In the digital era, actors leave millions of digital footprints that are impossible for human ethnographers to trace manually.

Comment by 用心涼Coooool on August 15, 2026 at 5:39pm

Cross-Platform Deep Scraping & NLP: AI can deploy Natural Language Processing (NLP) to crawl and analyze millions of interactions across distinct linguistic and cultural spheres simultaneously. It can track how a "Middle Eastern political strategy" deployed by Malay leaders translates into grassroots sermons, and contrast it in real-time with how it is re-interpreted inside Chinese-language WhatsApp groups or Xiaohongshu.

Semantic Vector Mapping: AI can analyze text not just for keywords, but for relational distance. It can map how words like "unity," "threat," or "secularism" change their relational meaning depending on which nodes of the network they pass through.

3.Visualizing Dynamic and Fluid Networks (No More Static Charts)

Traditional sociology relies on static categories (e.g., "The Chinese Community," "The Malay Elite"). ANT rejects this, arguing that these groups only exist if they are constantly being performed and re-knitted.

Graph Neural Networks (GNNs): AI can use GNNs to build real-time, 3D interactive knowledge graphs of political ecosystems. These graphs do not show fixed demographics, but fluid connections. Users can see how human political figures are connected to funding networks, media platforms, and religious institutions.

Weighting Network Alliances: AI can dynamically adjust the "thickness" of lines between nodes based on interaction frequency, sentiment intensity, and transaction flows, showing exactly which alliances are holding a political narrative together at any given second.

4.Simulating "Crash Tests" (Predicting Network Durability)
Latour noted that reality eventually hits back against post-truth illusions through "crash tests" (like extreme climate events or economic crises) that shatter digital bubbles.

Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) powered by LLMs: AI can simulate thousands of autonomous "agents" (representing different segments of the Malaysian electorate, media nodes, and economic variables). Researchers can run simulations to see how the current "post-truth/fear-mongering" network would react when hit by a real-world material crisis (e.g., an economic recession or a subsidy rationalisation).

Vulnerability Identification: The AI can pinpoint which specific node or non-human actant (e.g., a specific piece of legislation or an independent media outlet) is the "weakest link" or the most critical anchor keeping the network stable.

Bridging to iCONADA's Cultural Critique: AI as a Tool for "Down to Earth" Politics

If the contemporary crisis of the Malaysian Chinese community is a "structural ignorance"born of digital self-enclosure, AI can be the tool that breaks the bubble. Instead of using AI to generate more clickbait, progressive leaders can use AI to build ANT dashboards.

By using AI to map the actual socio-economic anxieties, institutional connections, and Middle Eastern geopolitical influences affecting the Malay majority, the minority community can move away from abstract, online emotional fear.

They can use AI to achieve what Latour called "landing on the
Terrestrial"—gaining a precise, empirical, and scientific blueprint of the ground realities of the nation. It allows modern leaders to see the world as Tan Cheng Lock and Tunku Abdul Rahman did: not as a battle of online caricatures, but as a complex, material network of interlocking interests that must be pragmatically negotiated and built together.

Please Help explore how an political movement today could practically design an AI-driven ANT framework to map out a new, cross-ethnic political consensus?

Comment by 用心涼Coooool on August 3, 2026 at 12:32am

The Case Against Travel By Agnes Callard

It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best.

What is the most uninformative statement that people are inclined to make? My nominee would be “I love to travel.” This tells you very little about a person, because nearly everyone likes to travel; and yet people say it, because, for some reason, they pride themselves both on having travelled and on the fact that they look forward to doing so.

The opposition team is small but articulate. G. K. Chesterton wrote that “travel narrows the mind.” Ralph Waldo Emerson called travel “a fool’s paradise.” Socrates and Immanuel Kant—arguably the two greatest philosophers of all time—voted with their feet, rarely leaving their respective home towns of Athens and Königsberg. But the greatest hater of travel, ever, was the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, whose wonderful “Book of Disquiet” crackles with outrage:

I abhor new ways of life and unfamiliar places. . . . The idea of travelling nauseates me. . . . Ah, let those who don’t exist travel! . . . Travel is for those who cannot feel. . . . Only extreme poverty of the imagination justifies having to move around to feel.

(June 24, 2023 The New Yorker)

Comment by 用心涼Coooool on July 29, 2026 at 6:42pm

If you are inclined to dismiss this as contrarian posturing, try shifting the object of your thought from your own travel to that of others. At home or abroad, one tends to avoid “touristy” activities. “Tourism” is what we call travelling when other people are doing it. And, although people like to talk about their travels, few of us like to listen to them. Such talk resembles academic writing and reports of dreams: forms of communication driven more by the needs of the producer than the consumer.

One common argument for travel is that it lifts us into an enlightened state, educating us about the world and connecting us to its denizens. Even Samuel Johnson, a skeptic—“What I gained by being in France was, learning to be better satisfied with my own country,” he once said—conceded that travel had a certain cachet. Advising his beloved Boswell, Johnson recommended a trip to China, for the sake of Boswell’s children: “There would be a lustre reflected upon them. . . . They would be at all times regarded as the children of a man who had gone to view the wall of China.”

Travel gets branded as an achievement: see interesting places, have interesting experiences, become interesting people. Is that what it really is?

Pessoa, Emerson, and Chesterton believed that travel, far from putting us in touch with humanity, divorced us from it. Travel turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best. Call this the traveller’s delusion.

To explore it, let’s start with what we mean by “travel.” Socrates went abroad when he was called to fight in the Peloponnesian War; even so, he was no traveller. Emerson is explicit about steering his critique away from a person who travels when his “necessities” or “duties” demand it. He has no objection to traversing great distances “for the purpose of art, of study, and benevolence.” One sign that you have a reason to be somewhere is that you have nothing to prove, and therefore no drive to collect souvenirs, photos, or stories to prove it. Let’s define “tourism” as the kind of travel that aims at the interesting—and, if Emerson and company are right, misses.

“A tourist is a temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing a change.” This definition is taken from the opening of “Hosts and Guests,” the classic academic volume on the anthropology of tourism. The last phrase is crucial: touristic travel exists for the sake of change. But what, exactly, gets changed? Here is a telling observation from the concluding chapter of the same book: “Tourists are less likely to borrow from their hosts than their hosts are from them, thus precipitating a chain of change in the host community.”

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