The clash of online opinions surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reveals support for pro-Russia, pro-Putin narratives in Southeast Asia. Untangling why such rhetoric is attractive points to deep dissatisfaction with the existing liberal international order. Southeast Asia can play a part in helping the world avoid worse alternatives.
Category Archives: Commentaries
Sustaining Malaysia’s FDI Rebound: Promotion is Good, Facilitation Better
A better way forward is to continue to enhance investment facilitation measures, making it easier for investors to establish and expand their operations, and conduct their day-to-day business in host countries. In this regard, boosting post-investment, after-care services will grow in importance.
The New FPI: Don’t Buy the Same Horse Twice
The neo-FPI, the latest reincarnation of the Islamic Defenders Front, has sought to make a clean break from its controversial predecessor. Indonesians should take it with a dollop of salt.
Local Matters in the 2022 Philippine Elections
With most eyes on the national posts in the May 2022 Philippine elections, it is easy to overlook important governance issues at the local level. A new Supreme Court ruling will allocate more fiscal resources to but also demand more responsibilities from local governments. Yet lingering structural and political challenges prevent them from efficiently delivering basic services, initiating local development, and empowering the people.
Indonesia’s New Food Agency: No Fast Food Solutions
Indonesia’s food policy management has received a potential boost as it has set up a new National Food Agency (NFA), but vast challenges lie ahead as NFA’s leader figures out how to feed the world’s fourth most populous country in the face of growing external shocks to its food supplies.
Liberation Technology? The Digital Era and Indigenous Survival in West Kalimantan
The survival of the Sungai Utik people and their customary forest needs deliberate imagining in this digital era. The community must think carefully about the future they want for themselves and their forest and seize opportunities to use digital technologies to their advantage.
The ‘Malay Protector’ Debate: Spirited But Short on Substance
Half of all Malaysians and 81 per cent of Malays deem ‘Malay special rights and privileges’ a ‘core feature’ of Malaysian society. Many Malays are anxious about ‘fair competition’, but perhaps encouragingly from the perspective of reform, there are indications of openness to change.
ASEAN’s Consumers on the Move: Tertiary Education
ASEAN’s growing consumer market for tertiary education is an encouraging trend that has potential upsides for future regional development. ASEAN’s demand for university qualifications will create opportunities for foreign and local institutions to set up more regional branches.
Restoring Public Trust in Indonesia’s Political Parties
Indonesia’s political parties are the least trusted political institutions in the country. The combination of elite politics and the entrenched presence of business and other vested interests at the highest levels of government make it challenging for political parties to act as guardians of Indonesian democracy.
Nahdlatul Ulama’s Traditionalist Campaign Shaping Mainstream Indonesian Islamic Discourse
Since 2014, it has appeared as though the traditionalists in Nahdlatul Ulama have won the upper hand in influencing the Islamic discourse in Indonesia, having pushed back against hardline and conservative elements. However, the conservatives remain a critical opposition, and sharp ideological differences will keep tensions simmering.