Articles

Cargo containers stacked at Yantian port

21 Jul 2021

Unpacking China’s Merchandise Trade with ASEAN during the Global Pandemic

Xiaojun Li

While the global merchandise trade shrank by 5.3% as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, bilateral trade between China and ASEAN increased in the meantime by 6.7%, thanks not only to a steady increase in bilateral trade but also to the relative decline of trade between China with its other major trading partners.

21 Jul 2021

Sandboxes Amidst a Rising Tide

Kevin S.Y. Tan|Kevin Zhang

Thailand’s so-called “sandbox” schemes to jumpstart the country’s tourism sector is laudable. But they might be achieved at a cost.

COVID-19 Health Open Borders Thai Economy Thailand Tourism

19 Jul 2021

Revisit Two-Coalition System in Malaysia

Khoo Boo Teik

The recent jolts to Malaysia’s political landscape show that there is a strong basis for a return to a pluralistic and accountable two-coalition system.

Bersatu Malaysia Malaysian Politics UMNO

19 Jul 2021

Stock Market Fever in Vietnam

Nicolas Lainez|Trịnh Phan Khánh

Covid-19 pandemic or not, Vietnam is seeing a buoyant stock market, thanks to a retail investor boom and an easy monetary policy.

Technology Vietnam Vietnamese Economy

Mahathir Mohamad (R), Anwar Ibrahim (C) and Muhyiddin Yassin

16 Jul 2021

Are We Witnessing the Bankruptcy Proceedings of the Malay Agenda?

Ooi Kee Beng

After a series of power grabs, there are few ideological differences among the country’s political parties and groupings in power. If UMNO as a phenomenon has run out of gas, its raison d’etre — Malay supremacy — needs some reconsideration.

Malaysia Malaysian Politics UMNO

A screenshot from an online meeting from the School of Chemical and Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia during the Plant Design Project Competition on 4 July, 2021. (Photo School of Chemical and Energy Engineering UTM/ Facebook)

15 Jul 2021

Policymakers' View

Malaysia’s Higher Education Sector: Time to Soar to a Higher Plane

Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin

The pandemic presents a plum opportunity for extensive reforms in Malaysia’s higher education sector.

Education Malaysia Policymakers’ View

14 Jul 2021

Malaysia’s Covid-19 Response: Pressed to Be (in the) Present

Lee Hwok-Aun|Kevin Zhang

Pressed by short-term exigencies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia is planning to raise Malaysia’s debt ceiling to 65 per cent of GDP. Another round of stimulus package might be on the cards.

COVID-19 Malaysia Malaysian Economy Malaysian Politics

14 Jul 2021

ASEAN’s Covid-19 Recovery Measures: Missing Opportunities for a Green Future

Melinda Martinus|Sharon Seah

As of 28 May 2021, ASEAN countries had authorised a total of US$ 730 billion, equivalent to 7.8% of ASEAN’s total GDP, in stimulus dollars. But few ASEAN countries have prioritised green components to their Covid-19 stimulus packages.

ASEAN Climate Change COVID-19 Energy Environment

13 Jul 2021

Reopening Malaysia’s Parliament: Not a Panacea

Norshahril Saat

The Malaysian government’s decision to reconvene Parliament has been welcomed. But this in itself will not resolve the list of problems facing the country in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysia Malaysian Elections Malaysian Politics

12 Jul 2021

Complex Calculations: Vietnamese EB-5 Investments in the United States

Ivan V. Small

Many wealthy Vietnamese are making use of America’s EB-5 investment visa programme as a pathway to a green card and, eventually, a US passport. But there are many other reasons why they would consider settling Stateside.

Remittances U.S.-Vietnam Relations Vietnam Vietnamese Economy