Ha Hoang Hop|Lye Liang Fook
A number of reasons can account for Vietnam’s latest wave of Covid-19 outbreak. These include the more contagious Delta variant, the initial slow response of the authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, the lack of strict application of Covid-19 safety measures, and the slow pace of vaccination due to a shortage of vaccines.
Norshahril Saat
The appointment of Ismail Sabri Yaakob as Malaysia’s ninth prime minister is welcome. At best, however, his ascent represents an agglomeration of compromises between the players concerned. As the country experiences another Covid-19 surge, he will have his work cut out for him.
Jayant Menon
While the Delta variant of the coronavirus has had a significant impact on Southeast Asia economies, it is unlikely that economies will return to the troughs that they saw in 2020.
Clarissa Ai Ling Lee|Amirul Adli Rosli
The former Malaysian prime minister has become a social media juggernaut. Yet, he has also become the butt of jokes and memes online.
Wahyudi Akmaliah|Ahmad Najib Burhani
Covid-19 has forced various Muslim groups to adopt digital platforms in their religious activities. Controversy, however, abounds regarding the online version of the Friday Prayer. In Islamic law, this ritual is wajib (mandatory) for male Muslims.
Shad Saleem Faruqi
The recent heightened tensions between the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Prime Minister Muhyidddin Yassin’s Cabinet have put the spotlight on whether the Constitution allows the King to exercise discretionary powers, apart from acting on the advice of Cabinet.
Hoang Thi Ha
The Biden Administration has gone big guns on promoting its values-based democracy agenda in the Indo-Pacific. It is time for a rethink.
Ian Storey
For a country that was first off the blocks, Russia has a long way to go if it wants to catch up with China and the United States in the game of vaccine diplomacy
Quinton Temby
A social media analysis of Indonesian salafi-jihadi and opposition Islamist chat groups indicates early but significant signs of crosspollination between both communities. As continuing government crackdowns drive both the violent jihadi and Islamist opposition groups into the virtual underground, there is a risk that the resultant crosspollination of both groups could push non-violent opposition activists into violent extremism.
Khoo Boo Teik
Malaysia’s Umno has continued on its downward slide. In the culmination, this might well prove to be the revenge of Reformasi that begun as a popular revolt against the party more than two decades ago.