For years, the Islamic Renaissance Front has sought to bring progressive Islam to the front and centre in Malaysia. With a leadership change and increasing state repression, the group has its work cut out for it.
Author Archives: williamchoong
Fighting Covid-19 in Vietnam: Striking a Delicate Balance Between Public Safety and Privacy
The relative success of Vietnam’s Covid-19 contact tracing app has sparked concerns about the privacy of users. Currently, however, app users are wont to give the government the benefit of the doubt.
Yang Jiechi’s Singapore Visit: Seeking Strategic Space
China appears to have embarked on a new round of charm offensive. Yang Jiechi, who is a Politburo Member and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, is visiting Singapore and South Korea this week. While Singapore looks forward to consolidating its ties with China, it seeks to do the same with other key players in the region.
Thailand’s Political Unrest: Referendum on the Cards?
The Phuea Thai Party is leading a bid to draft a new Constitution, in the wake of student protests calling on the government to stop harassment of critics and dissolve the Senate. Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-ocha can seize the initiative and call for a referendum. Given mounting calls for a “revolution,” not merely reforms, General Prayut does not have the luxury of time.
Thai Student Protests: Conjuring Up the Ghosts of 1932
That calls for replacement of Thailand’s military-imposed constitution have touched on the political role of the monarchy is no surprise. Growing signs of support for constitutional change in provincial Thailand may be a more telling development.
Global Value Chains in ASEAN: With Pandemic Comes Opportunity
The ensuing Sino-US trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the moving of global value chains out of China into other regional states such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN countries should not squander the historic opportunity to grab a bigger market share in such chains.
Malaysia: Mass Unemployment Averted, But Potential Hazards Ahead
Malaysia’s labour market has seen a slightly rosier outlook in June. But broad indicators – under-utilisation of employment insurance and large companies under strain – signal that the country is not out of the woods yet.
RIMPAC Exercise Set to Sail, Minus the Mai Tais
Despite fears that it might be cancelled due to the coronavirus, the multilateral RIMPAC maritime exercise will kick off today off the coast of Hawaii. The two-week exercise, which will run to 31 August, will see a smaller contingent from Southeast Asia due to operational restrictions surrounding the pandemic.
The Race for Global Value Chains: Return to RCEP, India?
Both India and ASEAN are vying for places in shifting global value chains (GVC) affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. India is behind the grouping in GVC participation. One way for New Delhi to play catch-up is to rethink its withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Finding ASEAN’s Voice Amid the Din of Geopolitics
The re-emergence of the “neutrality” term in a recent ASEAN statement shows the underlying tensions between a fallback position based on neutrality and autonomy, as opposed to a more forward “principled neutrality” position based on international law.