Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand

It’s an unmistakable trend. Countries that used to be considered as vegetarian obstacle courses are now becoming veg-friendly. Korea is a case in point, as  described in the following article (in English) from a Korean newspaper . . .

More information is now available on the 2010 IVU World Vegetarian Congress - to be held in Indonesia, in Jakarta, the country’s largest city and capital, from 1-6 October, and in Bali, the country’s most famous tourist destination from 7-9 October.

The 4th Asian Vegetarian Congress, organised by the Asian Vegetarian Union and the Indonesia Vegetarian Society, will be held on Batam Island, Indonesia, near Singapore from 6-10 Nov. People from everyone in the world are warmly welcome to enjoy delicious Indonesian vegetarian food.
Among those who have agreed to speak are 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, R.K. Pachauri, well-known vegetarian crusader Maneka Gandhi, and IVU Regional Coordinators for India and for Asia-Pacific, Shankar Narayan and Susianto Tseng.

Where: Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center, China
Who: Xiamen Municipal Government, Xiamen General Chamber of Commerce, Xiamen International Chamber of Commerce, Xiamen Jinhongxin Exhibition Co., Ltd.
With: Vegetarian materials, vegetarian food, organic food, natural food, healthy food, vegetarian snacks: fruits, vegetarian books, vegetarian restaurants, and other vegetarian products - Plus: International Vegetarian Forum, a million signatures for vegetarianism, food tasting, cooking competition.

  Petitions circulating on the internet urging governments to adopt Meatless Mondays. . .

Joe Goh is a local vegetarian activist in Singapore, where he heads the Singapore Vegetarian Meetup Group.