Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 09, 2020 • 5 min read

Opinion Why Indonesian workers should be concerned about the Omnibus Bill

By Dominique Virgil and Rahma Safira • Jul 09, 2020
With Indonesia's controversial and sweeping pro-investment Omnibus Bill set to be passed this year, researchers at Amnesty International Indonesia explain why workers should be concerned about the legislation's finer details

Southeast Asia • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 07, 2020 • 4 min read

Singapore economy Singapore fights post Covid-19 crisis with eyes on Hong Kong status

By Noel Caballero/EFE-EPA • Jul 07, 2020
With Singapore heading to the polls this week and facing the prospect of its first recession in two decades, leaders in the city-state are looking to capitalise on instability in Hong Kong to become the new financial capital of Asia

Southeast Asia • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 01, 2020 • 4 min read

Covid-19 Pandemic-fuelled baby boom has many Indonesians worried

By Dessy Sagita/Agence France-Presse • Jul 01, 2020
As lockdowns cut access to contraception across Indonesia, the country's authorities are warning of a post-Covid-19 baby boom that could see at least 400,000 more births than usual by next year

Southeast Asia • STORY OF THE DAY • Jun 24, 2020 • 4 min read

Covid-19 Macaque attack: Humans try to take back Thai city from monkeys

By Stéphane Delfour and Pitcha Dangprasith/AFP • Jun 24, 2020
Residents barricaded indoors, rival gang fights and no-go zones for humans. Welcome to Lopburi, an ancient Thai city overrun by monkeys super-charged on junk food, whose population is growing out of control

Southeast Asia • Jun 16, 2020 • 4 min read
Online activism

In Thailand, activists flood online to protest Wachalearm disappearance

With the whereabouts of missing activist Wanchalearm still unknown, protestors in Thailand are turning to social media to express their grief and start hashtags as platforms like Twitter continue to adopt an increasingly significant role in the kingdom's political discourse
By Wanpen Pajai • Jun 16, 2020

Southeast Asia • Jun 15, 2020 • 2 min read

Do Forni Reopening

Phnom Penh's favourite Italian restaurant is back
By Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra • Jun 15, 2020

Southeast Asia • Jun 15, 2020 • 6 min read
Opinion

Khmer community – It is time for us to say Black Lives Matter

As Black Lives Matter protests gathers momentum globally, Deputy Director of the Cambodian American Literary Arts Association Joan Chun says the Khmer community must examine its own attitude to blackness and throw its support behind the movement
By Joan Chun • Jun 15, 2020

Southeast Asia • Jun 09, 2020 • 2 min read
Thai dissidents

Cambodia to probe Thai democracy activist’s alleged disappearance

Cambodian police have said they will investigate the alleged abduction of Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a critic of the ex-general Prayut Chan-O-Cha's Thai government, who witnesses say was dragged into a black car in Phnom Penh on June 4
By Agence France-Presse • Jun 09, 2020

Southeast Asia • Jun 04, 2020 • 5 min read
Plastic pollution

A blight on its environment, Indonesia strides towards zero plastic goal

Indonesia is among the world's most heavily plastic polluted nations. To tackle this, the National Plastic Action Partnership is the country's most radical plan to date, but can it be effectively implemented and at what human cost?
By Akshay Honmane • Jun 04, 2020

Southeast Asia • Jun 03, 2020 • 10 min read
Cambodian history

From colonial emblem to refugee camp: A brief history of Hotel Le Royal

As Phnom Penh’s landscape has changed beyond recognition in recent years, one hotel has remained a constant feature. As Le Royal traverses its 90th year, Jonathan Evans looks back over the rich but turbulent history of this iconic colonial structure
By Jonathan Evans • Jun 03, 2020

Southeast Asia • Jun 01, 2020 • 3 min read
Myanmar cuisine

‘Little Chef’ charms Myanmar with lockdown cooking classes

From boiled catfish soup to spicy fried frog, an eight-year-old in pyjamas and a chef's hat is delighting Myanmar with her culinary prowess in online classes to a nation still told to stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic
By Lapyae Ko/AFP • Jun 01, 2020

Southeast Asia • May 26, 2020 • 3 min read
Covid-19

Singapore warns of worst economic contraction since independence

With Singapore's key export sector hamstrung by the ongoing global economic downturn, it's predicted that the city-state's economy could shrink by as much as 7% this year – its worst performance for over five decades
By Agence France-Presse • May 26, 2020