Rendy Pahrun Wadipalapa
The background manoeuvring by various parties in Jakarta’s 2024 gubernatorial elections foreshadows similarly complex play with 2029’s presidential race in mind. For some players, today’s loss might be tomorrow’s gain.
Nuurrianti Jalli
Public reactions to Malaysia’s Central Database Hub (PADU), particularly on social media platforms like Reddit, reveal widespread concerns about data security, government transparency, and the system’s capabilities. The PADU initiative highlights the need for robust data protection measures, clear communication, and strong legal frameworks to build public trust.
Julia Tijaja|Muhammad Habib Abiyan Dzakwan
To prepare for the ratcheting up of geoeconomic tensions, ASEAN members should seek strength in numbers and look to their own community to navigate difficult terrain in the coming years.
Jayant Menon
The region is finally showing clear signs of recovery from the multi-year pandemic but 2025 portends more serious headwinds against which regional governments and businesses will have to steer.
Le Hong Hiep
Truong My Lan's death sentence for gross embezzlement sends a chilling warning, but Vietnam needs to address the banking sector’s root problems of cross-ownership and corrupt lending practices.
Dien Nguyen An Luong
Vietnam is enforcing strict censorship on TikTok to protect leaders’ reputations while exploiting the platform to amplify its narrative. Amplifying pro-leader narratives this way also carries risks.
Paul Teng
To ensure the food security of our region amidst climate change, there is no time like the present to determine how climate and digital technologies can work together to feed ASEAN.
Thomas Daniel|Joanne Lin|Don McLain Gill|John Lee|Maria Monica Wihardja|Brian Eyler
The re-election of Donald Trump as the President of the US for a second term is poised to reshape the trajectory of ASEAN-US relations, bringing significant shifts across multiple domains. In December, ASEANFocus+ sought experts’ insights on how the dynamics of this partnership are expected to evolve, in areas of geopolitics, trade, the South China Sea, technological governance, energy, and environmental cooperation.
Outlook 2025
Ian Storey
The prognosis for tensions in the South China Sea dispute this year is pretty straightforward: what has been and is will continue to be so, and perhaps even worse.
Napon Jatusripitak
A media mogul is attempting to rally protestors against the Pheu Thai-led government. The call to action, however, might not resonate beyond a small core of anti-Thaksin hardliners.