Tuesday night in the Philippines, American magazine The Atlantic shared the story “My Family’s Slave”.

Less than 24 hours later, the story received thousands of shares on Facebook alone.

Alex Tizon, a Filipino-American award-winning journalist, beautifully wove the story of a harrowing reality: his family had kept a slave their entire lives.

He tells the tale of Eudocia Tomas Pulido called “Lola” by his family, her life intertwined with his mother’s who inherited Lola from her father. She was the family’s dark, dirty secret, a modern-day slave in the land of the free.

The article drew mixed reactions, with some labeling him complicit to the abuse of Lola-how was it allowed to go on for so long?

Others acknowledged that the story was neither about glorification nor justification, but to give Lola the voice she was made to feel she never deserved.

Tizon was only 57 when he died of natural causes March this year.

In an editor’s note on Tizon, The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg shared that his death was all the more made painful by the irony that on the same day, March 24, they intended to tell him that Lola’s story would be the magazine’s June 2017 cover story.

“Alex did not know that we would be putting his piece on the cover of this issue; he died the day we made that decision, before we had a chance to tell him,” Goldberg wrote.

“His death, quite obviously, could have derailed publication of what turned out to be his final story, but his family, led by Melissa and his siblings, worked with us during this uniquely trying time to make publication possible.”

It was the last he would tell-in fact, it was still due for fact-checking, according to a report in The Seattle Times-in a lifetime spent on what The New York Times describes as “deeply reported articles” of people on the fringes.

Born in Manila on October 30, 1959, Tomas Alexander Tizon migrated to the United States with his family and their slave when he was five.

His mother, Leticia Asuncion and father, Francisco Tizon, had to borrow money to move the family to Los Angeles.

They also lived in Seattle and the South Bronx, and then finally settled in Oregon.

Tizon took up political science at the University of Oregon in college and then pursued a master’s degree in journalism in Stanford University.

In 1986, he joined The Seattle Times. As an investigative journalist, he focused on “exposing untold stories of marginalised communities.”

During his 17-year stint at the paper, along with two other journalists, he received the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for uncovering corruption in a housing programme intended for Native Americans which led to government reforms.

From 2003 to 2008, he was Seattle bureau chief at the Los Angeles Times.

He also lived in Manila for two years on a Knight International Journalism Fellowship where he documented government efforts to eliminate poverty in the country’s five poorest provinces.

In 2011, he began teaching journalism at the University of Oregon and also worked as a freelance writer. He contributed to US national publications such as The Atlantic.

During his life, he struggled with his identity as an Asian-American, which he detailed in the 2014 memoir “Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self”.

It is described by The New York Times as “a self-lacerating examination of the complexities, humiliations, and small victories of Asian men trying to adjust to life in America.”

One such revelation was his attempts to be whiter and taller as a child.

Colleagues, friends and family revered and loved Tizon. An introverted man, he was known to be a “deep listener” and could turn the smallest, simplest stories into an insightful reflection on humanity.

Lori Matsukawa, a KING 5 news anchor in Seattle, said, “Alex was gracious and kind…but as a reporter he was like a dog with a bone.”

She also described his contribution to Filipino-Americans, stating that “he also took pride in carrying on the legacy of Filipino-American journalists and activists in the Pacific Northwest. We all learned what was important to the Filipino-American community through Alex.”

He was survived by his wife, Melissa Quiason, two daughters, Maya and Dylan, and eight siblings.

“My Family’s Slave” was six years in the making, something he struggled with, according to his wife.

After his death, she and his siblings assisted in its publishing. Quiason said, “This was his ultimate story.”

SEOUL – He removes his own jacket, brushing off an aide who tried to take it off like a butler.

He takes questions from journalists without vetting them first.

He gets a $3 (S$4.20) lunch with employees at a Blue House cafeteria and tweets about his adopted cats and dogs who found a new home in the presidential palace.

That may seem unremarkable elsewhere, but newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s “common man” touch is being feted in a country more used to authoritarian rule by aloof leaders.

Moon has hit approval ratings not seen in South Korea for nearly a decade by standing in deliberate contrast to his disgraced and impeached predecessor, Park Geun-hye.

She was widely reviled for her disconnected style even before the damaging bribery scandal that brought her down in March.

The infatuation may be short-lived if Moon fails to deliver on key election promises that resonated with the public, such as boosting jobs and welfare, reforming powerful family-run conglomerates and easing tensions over North Korea’s fast accelerating weapons programmes.

“Naturally, Moon is having a honeymoon period,” said Daniel Tudor, an author of several books on Korean society and politics who briefly advised the Moon campaign.

“So far everything Moon has done has shown that he has emotional concern for the average person.”

Moon’s approval rating hit 75 per cent, according to polling firm Realmeter.

Park’s was at 55 per cent in her first week in 2012, before hitting an all-time low of 4 per cent in March.

‘MESSAGE’ TO PUBLIC

Moon won last week’s election with just over 40 per cent of the votes.

Much of his popularity among voters and supporters, most of whom are aged between 20 and 40, was attributed to his down-to-earth and humble demeanour – an image he has maintained since becoming the most powerful person in the country.

Photos of Moon, 64, and his advisers strolling around the grounds of the Blue House presidential office with iced coffees in their hands went viral on social media and ran on major newspapers in Moon’s first few days.

The photos were no accident. Moon himself discussed such photo opportunities with his closest aides, to try to “send a message” that he will continue to communicate with the public, a spokesman for Moon said.

Sensitive to the influence-peddling scandal that brought down Park, Moon has also made a conscious decision to sideline some of his closest friends and advisers.

Yang Jung-chul, one of Moon’s closest aides and an instrumental member of his campaign, wrote in a memo to friends and journalists this week that his dream came true when Moon got elected, and it was now time to leave.

“Let me have the right to be forgotten,” Yang wrote.

UNSCRIPTED

Other moments are unscripted.

A short clip showing Moon refusing help from an aide with his jacket, which he casually hung on the back of his chair, was a hit on social media – along with pictures of his good-looking bodyguard and some of his cabinet appointments.

Photos of a younger Moon in his days as a special forces soldier wearing a beret and fatigues have been retweeted thousands of times.

He has moved his pets into his official residence, much to the delight of netizens.

“Tori”, a rescue dog, will soon join South Korea’s “First Cat”, who moved into the Blue House this weekend, the Moon spokesman said.

Park left her nine pet dogs behind when she left the Blue House in March after the Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary impeachment motion against her, drawing criticism from South Korean animal rights activists.

“All Korean presidents end up hated,” Tudor said, referring to the fact that nearly all former presidents, or their family members and key aides, have been embroiled in scandals at the close of their terms or after leaving office.

“Moon might at least have a fair chance to buck that trend.”

As Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, is expected to be formally engaged to a former classmate at her university, a debate on the idea of enabling female members of the Imperial family to establish their own Imperial branches while retaining their Imperial status after marriage will likely attract attention again.

Ruling and opposition parties are discussing a bill to establish a special measures law to realise the abdication of the Emperor.

Some Diet members want to add the creation of female Imperial branches to the discussion, aiming to put it in a Diet resolution accompanying the enactment of the special measures law. A great question is to what extent they will be able to do so.

Article 12 of the Imperial House Law states, “In case a female of the Imperial family marries a person other than the Emperor or the members of the Imperial family, she shall lose the status of the Imperial family member.”

Currently, among the 14 female Imperial family members, there are seven in their 30s or younger, including Princess Aiko, 15, the daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako. There is a possibility the seven could leave the Imperial family after marriage.

Female Imperial family members are covering the activities of the males, whose numbers are declining.

Princess Mako acts as the patron of the Japan Kogei Association and the honorary patron of the Japan Tennis Association. She is also earnestly working on promoting international friendships by using her experience of studying abroad.

Shinji Yamashita, 60, a former Imperial Household Agency employee who is an expert on the Imperial family, is concerned about a further decrease in the number of female Imperial family members. “Female Imperial family members, the same as the males, play an important role in making the presence of the Imperial family felt by the public,” he said.

A government advisory panel tasked with discussing measures to ease the Emperor’s burden of official duties said in its final report to the prime minister, which was compiled in April, “It is necessary to start discussions swiftly on measures against the decreasing number of the Imperial family members.”

One of the ideas as a measure to stem the decreasing number is the creation of female Imperial branches.

In October 2012, when the then Democratic Party of Japan (now the Democratic Party, or DP) was in power, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made public “points of discussion” regarding future Imperial family systems that stated the necessity of creating female Imperial branches.

However, with the second Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe starting in December 2012, the discussion was sent back to the drawing board. The DP, now the largest opposition party, is also asking that the debate on the Emperor’s abdication also include discussion of the creation of female Imperial branches.

In March, the chiefs and deputy chiefs of both chambers of the Diet coordinated the opinions of each party and parliamentary group and compiled proposals put forward from the Diet to the prime minister.

The proposals include aiming to ask the government to discuss the creation of female Imperial branches for a more stable Imperial succession and put it in the Diet resolution accompanying the enactment of the special measures law.

Female Imperial family members, the same as the males, play an important role in making the presence of the Imperial family felt by the public

Shinji Yamashita

The government plans to approve at a Cabinet meeting on Friday a bill to establish the special measures law to realise the abdication of the Emperor. Ruling and opposition parties intend to reach a consensus on the Diet resolution before starting deliberations on the bill. It is likely that they will begin to discuss the Diet resolution in a full-fledged manner immediately after the Diet approval of the bill.

“Keeping in mind the decreasing number of Imperial family members, we should draw a conclusion in a timely fashion about how female Imperial branches should be,” Hiroshi Ogushi, the chairman of the DP’s Policy Research Committee, told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday. “We’d like to urge each party to promote discussions of ways of incorporating the creation of female Imperial branches into the Diet resolution.”

However, there is a deep-rooted, cautious view about creating female Imperial branches within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party because it could lead to female Imperial family members and their descendants being granted the right to ascend the throne.

Abe also contributed a story to a monthly magazine in 2012, when the LDP to which Abe belongs was an opposition party, to the effect that “Approving female Imperial branches could undermine the tradition of Imperial succession that has continued to the 125th Emperor.”

‘Wait calmly’

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference on Wednesday, “We want to wait calmly for an official announcement” of the engagement of Princess Mako.

Asked about the decreasing number of Imperial family members, he said, “We will seriously consider proposals compiled by the chiefs and deputy chiefs of both chambers of the Diet [that called on the government to consider the creation of female Imperial branches], and continue to promote discussions on steady Imperial succession.”