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.

Nick Cheesman talks to Sara Davies about her new book on the politics of disease outbreaks in Southeast Asia

Sara Davies joins us for a coronavirus pandemic special on New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to talk about health security and political sovereignty in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Letter to coronavirus

From Timor-Leste, 'this is not a friendly letter. You’re like the black storm clouds that block us from seeing the moon.' Dadolin Murak reflects on what humanity might learn from the challenges we are facing.

Launching: Southeast Asia in the time of coronavirus

Our new series looks at coronavirus in Southeast Asia through diverse lens, and invites authors and readers to reflect and speculate on what we can learn from this crisis and all it brings.

Lessons from Brasilia: on the empty modernity of Indonesia’s new capital

Indonesian officials are raising Brasilia as a model for relocating the capital city to East Kalimantan. But Brazil's experience with Brasilia is not a positive lesson from history, but a warning.

Philippines beyond clichés series 2 #3: ‘Tambays’ are lazy

'Tambay' are often victims of structural impediments to moving forward in life, says Professor Clarence Batan.

COVID-19 gives cover for threats to freedom of information and expression in Myanmar

An ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression is impacting the access to essential information.

Reclaiming the sea from the Melaka Gateway

The Melaka Gateway is threatening the livelihood of a seaside community that is now leveraging its Portuguese–Malay roots to survive.

PAP realism in an endangered world

PAP realism means accepting the conservative position of moderating one’s political aspirations and campaigns to align with values shaped by Singapore's ruling party.

Philippines beyond clichés series 2 #2: The Philippines is a sexist society

Sexism in the Philippines is about "multiple overlapping issues of inequality based on class, religion, sexuality, ethnicity, and also geographic locations" as Dr Maria Tanyag discusses with Nicole Curato.

Co-optation in Thailand’s 2019 election

In the 2019 election, a sizeable portion of the military proxy party’s electoral candidates were “pulled” (phalang dud) from other parties.

A plague of epidemics throughout Myanmar history

For centuries a cross roads of Asia, Myanmar has also suffered the attendant waves of epidemic and endemic disease.