Commentaries | FULCRUM

State of Southeast Asia Survey: Hopes Brighten Over US Amid Covid-19 Gloom

Artists perform on stage at the end of the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit

Covid-19 is the biggest challenge facing Southeast Asia even as regional confidence in the new Biden Administration grows, according to the latest State of Southeast Asia Survey published by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.

Agent Orange: Vietnam’s ‘Struggle for Justice’ Continues

A Vietnamese soldier stands next to a hazardous warning sign by a runway at Bien Hoa air base, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, as US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis visits the former US air base on 17 October, 2018. (Photo: Thomas WATKINS/ AFP)

Agent Orange remains a barrier to closer Vietnam-US relations. To lower this barrier, the Biden administration should treat Vietnamese victims the same as American ones.

Southeast Asia and America: Biding for Biden

Filipino fishermen aboard their boat sails past US coastguard ship Bertholf during a joint exercise between Philippine and US coastguards joint near Scarborough shoal in the South China Sea on 14 May, 2019. (Photo: Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

Some Asian states have gushed over the new Biden Administration’s return to foreign policy normalcy. However, the last “normal” American administration had a mixed bag of outcomes in the region.

Work Cut Out for Vietnam’s New Prime Minister

Pham Minh Chinh (C), then Politburo member and Head of the Central Organizing Committee of the Vietnam Communist Party, chats with a deleguate prior to the opening of the second annual session of the National Assembly in Hanoi, October 2017. Pham has been elected as the new Prime Minister during the CPV’s recent 13th National Congress in Hanoi. (Photo: Hoang Dinh NAM / AFP)

Rising star Pham Minh Chinh has to steer the country to the ranks of high income developed economies by 2045.

Cosmopolitanism and Multiculturalism: Reviving Bangsa Malaysia

A participant paints her face with a heart-shaped rendition of the Malaysian flag during the country's National Day celebration parade in Putrajaya on 31 August, 2019. (Photo: Mohd RASFAN / AFP)

Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s concept of a Bangsa Malaysia has been given a fillip by Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz, president of ABIM, which represents the aspirations of Malaysia’s Muslim youth. It should be given some serious consideration.

Assimilating Southeast Asian Migrants into South Korea: Expanding the Meaning of Being “Korean”

A group of tourists from China pose for a selfie

Services to assimilate the Vietnamese diaspora into South Korea’s culture have helped to make connections with migrants from other countries, as well as diversify Korean society.

Ditching Malaysia’s Bumiputera System: Three Utopian Scenarios To Consider

Workers push boxes of vegetables for sale at a wholesale market in Kuala Lumpur on 15 June, 2020, as sectors of the economy are being reopened following restrictions to halt the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. (Photo: Mohd RASFAN/ AFP)

A cold hard look at ways of departing from Malaysia’s long-held Bumiputera system throws up three scenarios, one of which is persuasive.

The Coup in Myanmar: ASEAN Is Not Without Options

Medical staff make a three finger salute with red ribbons on their uniforms at the Yangon General Hospital in Yangon on February 3, 2021 as calls for a civil disobedience gather pace following a military coup detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Photo: STR/ AFP)

If ASEAN is serious about upholding the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, there are ways to help guide Myanmar back toward the path of democratisation.