Archives

The Singapore Bureau: lessons from Asia’s first early warning system for epidemic diseases

History lessons on epidemic disease monitoring systems from the League of Nations' Singapore Bureau.

The Royalists Marketplace: the supply and demand for dissent in Thailand

The Facebook group "Royalists Marketplace", a platform for discussion on all things monarchy, is a microcosm of burgeoning criticism against Thailand's new king.

Philippines beyond clichés season 2 # 5: participatory governance is a hoax   

Dr Teresa Melgar draws on her comparative research in Brazil and the Philippines to help us understand the potential of engaging citizens fully in political processes.

Myanmar military increases coronavirus risk and threatens peace in ethnic minority communities

Military interventions are preventing essential medical aid and health workers from reaching people.

Tourlong Thailand

Peera Songkünnatham on the military's troubled response to COVID-19, and the King's absence

Exhibition review: Mythlines and Memories: new batiks by Dias Prabu

The artists' imagery evokes the collective ethical and moral challenges of our times through the lens of epochs past, writes Greg Doyle.

Can Indonesia’s fight against COVID-19 overcome troubled central-regional coordination?

The success of large-scale social restrictions is heavily reliant on effective coordination.

Philippines beyond clichés series 2, episode #4: Populist voters are deluded

Wataru Kusaka's extensive ethnographic work leads him to emphasise the importance of recognising populist voters as concrete individuals, rather than abstract others,

Without social safety nets, Indonesia risks political instability over COVID-19

Economic disasters have a history of bringing down governments in Indonesia; COVID-19 impacts hardest on the disadvantaged in an already fragile system.

Men in White: the Singapore musical

The 'zing' of a hip-hop based musical might be just the thing to interest young audiences in Singapore's own founding fathers, argues Peter Coclanis.

Cambodia’s Hun Sen regime introduces repressive emergency laws under cover of COVID-19

Fears of escalating repressions are growing as the state of emergency laws are used to arrest opposition affiliates and a journalist.

From the field: COVID-19 responses in Central Java

While reports of central government mismanagement are widespread, local and regional officials are implementing sound strategies that account for limited resourcing.