Dear You is capturing hearts and wallets across SE Asia. Now that it is successful the soft-powers that be cannot help themselves. Douglas Montgomery's Straits Times op-ed examines why Dear You, a US$2 million Teochew-language film, became China's biggest soft-power success in years — precisely because Beijing wasn't visibly involved. Drawing on cases from Wolf Warrior 2 to Ne Zha 2, he argues the qualities that make stories travel — ambiguity, criticism, emotional honesty — are the same ones...

Global Connects to participate with Filosophia's Tetsu Fujimura at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo

By Douglas Montgomery / The Straits Times / April 1, 2026 New Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro's strategy set to sail. Global Connects Media CEO Op-Ed in the Straits Times out of Singapore. https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/disneys-next-act-isnt-streaming-its-floating