In 2013, Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor were at the apex of their power and popularity. Celebrating the recent win of Najib’s first general election,  the then-Malaysian prime minister and his wife bathed in public welcome and fine luxury. Yet, within a decade the couple have experienced a dramatic downfall, tainted by exploitation and cumulating in convictions of bribery and corruption. Jarni Blakkarly explores the former first lady’s fall from grace and how she may become a ‘sacrificial lamb’ to save her husband.

#Malaysia #politics #rosmahmansor #najibrazak #corruption

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/malaysias-former-first-lady-could-face-prison-on-corruption-charges/

With its hard exterior and soft heart, strong smell and succulent taste, the durian is a Southeast Asian paradox. In her latest book, The Durian Chronicles, Sally Tyler tackles some of the region’s most pressing challenges, using the fruit as a metaphor to compare Southeast Asia and the U.S.’s  relationship with power and democracy.  Tyler shares extracts from The Durian Chronicles and an exclusive interview with Globe’s Beatrice Siviero as they discuss the international politics, environmental relations and fight for justice that inspired her collection of essays.

#southeastasia #book #literature #culture #politics

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/the-durian-chronicles-explores-political-dissonance-as-a-link-between-the-u-s-and-southeast-asia/

Since the attempted military coup that tore through Myanmar on 1 February 2021, countless women and young girls are living in informal settlements, increasingly vulnerable to sexual violence and abuse and left with limited access to law enforcement or support. Maggi Quadrini, a human rights specialist for community-based organisations along the Thailand-Myanmar border, discusses the increase in conflict-related sexual violence since the attempted coup and the risks facing women and young girls at the hands of the military junta.

#myanmar #women #sexualassault #military #whatishappeninginmyanmar

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/as-the-crisis-in-myanmar-continues-no-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence/

“I don’t know a lot about feminism,” said Miho, “But I know that women should have access to freedom.” The Phnom Penh sex toy entrepreneur is riding the pulse of a growing underground market for the products sweeping Cambodia. Daniel Zak delves into the Kingdom’s underground sex toy trade and how, despite vague laws and cultural taboos, a wave of innovative entrepreneurs is bringing conversations over female sexuality, sexual pleasure and sexual harrassment into the open.

#cambodia #entrepreneurs #women #innovation #sex #sexualhealth #sexeducation

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/sex-toys-a-new-pillar-of-freedom-in-cambodia-resisting-centuries-of-sexual-repression/

On 6 October, tragedy struck the peaceful Young Children’s Development Center in Uthai Sawan, Nong Bua Lamphu, in northeast Thailand. Armed with firearms and a knife, a former police officer stormed the nursery, ending the lives of 24 children before turning on himself and his family at home. Globe’s Beatrice Siviero was on the ground to report on the painful aftermath of the kingdom’s worst killing of this kind and how the country’s high rate of civilian gun possession provides a grim backdrop to the event.

#thailand #school #violence #masskilling

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/shattered-by-one-of-thailands-worst-mass-killings-the-country-grapples-with-a-collective-trauma/

Following the Myanmar military’s violent “clearance operations”, which targeted thousands of Rohingya people in 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled from the country to neighbouring Bangladesh. The refugee camps there are now home to over 920,000 Rohingya people, where they live a fear-filled and uncertain temporary existence. Tanbirul Miraj Ripon, a reporter and photojournalist focused on Bangladesh politics, discusses the risks refugees face within the camps, as limited security fails to protect them from insurgent groups.

#myanmar #rohingya #refugees #myanmarcoup #bangladesh #rakhine

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/for-rohingya-living-in-bangladesh-refugee-camps-nowhere-is-safe/

Vietnam's influence in ASEAN has been rising. Since the establishment of membership, the country’s main interest has shifted from seeking economic development to bridging relations with external major powers like India and Russia. But in the face of growing geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea, it has faced potential challenges to the effectiveness of its regional strategies. In this analysis, Hien Phan, a doctoral researcher in ASEAN security and politics at the University of New South Wales, discusses Vietnam's ASEAN policy and its prospects amid the U.S. - China rivalry.

#vietnam #china #asean #politics #usa #internationalrelations #southchinasea

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/asean-is-vietnams-platform-to-diversify-relationships-with-major-powers/

Accidents on the road are a leading cause of death in Southeast Asia. The explosion in delivery services means traffic accidents are a major risk for gig workers. Micro-insurance platforms attempt to provide accessible options, but lack of transparency and limited payouts mean the solutions can only go so far. Leila Goldstein goes behind why delivery apps aren’t doing enough to protect their riders and the physical and financial costs facing Southeast Asia’s delivery drivers.

#southeastasia #economics #microinsurance #business #driver #fooddelivery #innovation #insurance

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/southeast-asias-delivery-riders-brave-dangerous-roads-with-limited-insurance-protection/

Jatuporn “New” Sae-Ung’s three-year prison sentence in September for wearing a Thai traditional dress and performing a mock fashion walk at a political protest in Bangkok has brought the Kingdom’s severe lèse-majesté crackdowns back into the spotlight. In a country with some of the harshest royal defamation laws in the world, Thai courts deemed Jatuporn’s actions to be a parody of Queen Suthida. In this opinion piece, Sulakshana Lamubol, program manager at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, discusses the impact of barring criticism of high authority and the problems with enforced respect of public institutions.

#thailand #ideology #opinion #lesemajeste #royal #defamation #law #whatishappeninginthailand

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/thailand-is-using-royal-defamation-laws-to-silence-its-people-but-it-wont-succeed/

Words are the building blocks of our ideas, our exchanges, and our conduits to drive change. And for the 19th Ubud Writers Festival they can be a vital way to draw us together. The festival, which will run from 27-30 October, is held under the theme “Uniting Humanity.” To mark the event’s approach, Globe’s Stew Post spoke with festival panellist Prodita Sabarini. The media director, public communications trainer, and publisher of non-profit news publication, ‘The Conversation Indonesia,’ shared her perspectives on how, in a digitally saturated world, writers and publishers can unite in their fight against the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

#indonesia #southeastasia #ubud #misinformation #disinformation #literature #writing

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/fight-for-truth-battling-false-and-misleading-information-in-southeast-asia-and-beyond/

In Laos, young girls are learning the rituals and duties of married life. The pandemic and economic crisis have devastated the country’s economy and local livelihoods, pressuring families into sending their daughters into child marriage as a desperate attempt to relieve the financial burden. Globe’s Beatrice Siviero explores how the economic landscape has bred a desperate and dangerous ground for young girls and how the country is working towards an effective cross-sector and holistic approach to tackling child marriage.

#laos #power #children #childmarriage #childprotection #humanrights #economiccrisis #pandemic

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/as-laos-inches-closer-to-economic-default-underage-girls-face-a-higher-risk-of-child-marriage/

Karen politician Porlajee “Billy" Rakchongcharoen led a determined mission to defend community rights to ancestral land within his local Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand’s Petchaburi province. That was until 2014, when he was arrested by park officials and then disappeared. His remains were found in a sunken oil drum five years later. Billy’s fate is a chilling example of the Kingdom’s many enforced disappearances, an act defined as a state-sanctioned abduction and often murder. In this opinion piece, Pornpen Kongkachankiet, director at the Cross Cultural Foundation, looks at Thailand’s spate of enforced disappearances and the actions governments need to take to serve greater justice.

#thailand #justice #opinion #activism #enforceddisappearances #humanrights #whatshappeninginthailand

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/killers-of-prominent-land-rights-activist-charged-after-seven-years-but-a-culture-of-impunity-still-thrives-in-thailand/

Sometimes issues arise in the region so important and unique that it takes our reporters across multiple countries, spans multiple articles and brings together efforts from multiple publications. As the world looks back warily at the worst of the pandemic and the rising heat of climate change fuels the urgency of environmental action, our health and that of our surroundings are critical examples. Globe’s Anton L. Delgado was on the trail of Southeast Asia’s wildlife trade in Vietnam and Cambodia and shares the first part of ‘Silent Forests”, a two-part collaboration with The Straits Times, covering how Southeast Asia’s wildlife consumption affects human and forest health.

#cambodia #vietnam #earth #wildlife #health #zoonoticdiseases

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/silent-forests-post-pandemic-wildlife-consumption-threatens-human-and-forest-health/

To tackle local extinctions, millions of snares are estimated to exist within protected areas in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. But despite ranger patrol, the ditches can restrict wildlife and act as a lucrative lure for poachers. Globe’s Anton L. Delgado teams up with the Straits Times’ Audrey Tan and Mark Cheong in the second part of a special two-part series to dig into the environmental conundrum of wildlife snares, presenting a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” conservation dilemma.

#cambodia #southeastasia #earth #wildlife #conservation #ditch #forest #snares

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/silent-forests-conservationists-attempt-a-last-ditch-effort-to-stave-off-local-extinctions-in-one-cambodian-forest/

As Singapore unveils its highest skyscraper today, said to be one of “Asia’s most sustainable buildings” it follows a recent trend of taking sustainable design and infrastructure to new heights. Across Southeast Asia, artisans and architects are incorporating environmental action into both their interior and exterior design. Globe’s Amanda Oon looks into the region’s rise in sustainable design and infrastructure, navigating government guidelines and accessibility.

#indonesia #singapore #art #culture #sustainabledesign #recycling #sustainability #infrastructure

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/find-sustainable-design/

Bangkok has recently experienced some of its worst flooding in two decades. Heavy downpours deluge the Thai capital every monsoon season but as the city endlessly urbanises, less permeable land is available, and risks rise along with the water. Wanpen Pajai explores the canal housing settlements which are tackling the issue, but being met with mixed reactions.

#thailand #bangkok #flooding #canal #community #urbandevelopment #floods

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/bangkok-looks-to-decrease-flooding-through-canal-housing-settlements-but-local-residents-have-mixed-reactions/

Over a year after the February coup that ravaged the country, the foundations of a new national identity for Myanmar are rising. But its success hinges on the failure of the repressive regime the junta has created. In this analysis, Wayland J. Blue, a graduate student in the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego, explores how the growth of the country’s emerging national identity could lead to a more stable and prosperous Myanmar.

#myanmar #ideology #analysis #politics #myanmarcoup #whatshappeninginmyanmar

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/myanmars-emerging-national-identity-could-change-everything/

Across ASEAN, China’s prowess is growing. The East Asian superpower’s financial and military strengths have proved an asset in building bonds with Laos and Cambodia, but as China moves closer to these countries, Vietnam is arguably left vulnerable and isolated. In this analysis, Tuyen Tran, a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University and non-resident Fellow at Pacific Forum, explores Vietnam’s strained relations with China and how it can reassess its regional diplomatic relations.

#laos #cambodia #vietnam #china #asean #power #analysis #diplomacy #internationalrelations #politics

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/vietnam-sits-at-a-crossroad-as-china-expands-power-and-influence/

The military coup in Myanmar completely destroyed one of the most promising art scenes in Southeast Asia, just as it was gaining ground and international acclaim. Numerous artists have ended up in prison. Some have fled. Yet they still use their work as powerful tools to shed light on the political turmoil back home. Naima Morelli, journalist and arts writer specialising in the Southeast Asia and MENA regions, explores how Myanmar’s burgeoning art scene was hit by unrest at a critical juncture.

#myanmar #culture #art #life #junta #militarycoup #politics #whatshappeninginmyanmar

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/how-a-burgeoning-myanmar-art-scene-came-to-sudden-unrest/

Thailand is gearing up to host this year’s annual gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, taking place from 18 - 19 November. Under the theme of “Open. Connect. Balance,” the Kingdom is looking to build its bilateral relations and bank on its plans for economic integration. Globe columnist Mark S. Cogan discusses how, in spite of ongoing political turbulence and unprecedented global events, Thailand is still set on making gains from its leadership post in 2022.

#thailand #apec #asiapacific #analysis #politics #economy #internationalrelations #pandemic

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/what-thailand-wants-from-apec/