covid-19



STORY OF THE DAY • May 21, 2020 • 9 min read

Opinion ‘Cambodia’s agricultural sector is in dire need of revitalisation’

By Nith Kosal • May 21, 2020
With the stalwarts of the Cambodian economy, tourism and garments, set to be decimated by the economic downturn, Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on agriculture to step in and pick up the slack. A badly neglected sector struggling to survive with outdated methods, technology and extreme weather events, how can this be done?

STORY OF THE DAY • May 21, 2020 • 2 min read

Covid-19 Robot dog on virus park patrol in Singapore

By Agence France-Presse • May 21, 2020
A yellow robot dog called Spot, which found fame online for dancing to Mark Ronson's hit song Uptown Funk, has been deployed to patrol a Singapore park and ensure people observe social distancing to stem the spread of Covid-19

STORY OF THE DAY • May 19, 2020 • 4 min read

Covid-19 In Indonesia, gravediggers are battling virus fears and stigma

By Haeril Halim/Agence France-Presse • May 19, 2020
In Indonesia, some 50 gravediggers at Pondok Ranggon cemetery – one of two earmarked for coronavirus victims in the capital Jakarta – are risking their health and confronting stigma as they work up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, for monthly wages of $290

STORY OF THE DAY • May 18, 2020 • 8 min read

Tales of the Pandemic Reflecting on face masks as Vietnam enjoys Covid-19 ‘liberation’

By Alex Sheal • May 18, 2020
Against the odds, Vietnam has become a global success story in combating Covid-19 as its started to open up once again. Hanoi resident Alex Sheal has been present for Vietnam's latest "liberation", and believes attitudes towards the humble face mask highlight the difference between his new home and the West

May 18, 2020 • 5 min read
Tales of the Pandemic

A student’s perspective: What I learned from Singapore’s schools closing

Singapore is a country famous for having among the most rigorous education systems in the world. So when all its schools were shut in recent months as the pandemic took hold, student Charmaine Sew acquired a valuable life lesson of her own
By Charmaine Sew • May 18, 2020

May 18, 2020 • 2 min read
Covid-19

Thailand’s economy contracts for first time since 2014

Thailand's economy looks set to be among the hardest hit by the global economic downturn in Southeast Asia after its first contraction in six years. 2020 economic forecasts are also predicting the kingdom's sharpest drop since the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis
By Agence France-Presse • May 18, 2020

May 15, 2020 • 7 min read
Regional cooperation

ASEAN’s Covid-19 response: United in name, divided in practice

In keeping with ASEAN's recent history of divided responses to regionally important issues, the bloc's collective efforts to combat Covid-19 have proved far from unified. But an institution in which individual members are placed above the collective, should observers have anticipated any different?
By Alexi Demetriadi • May 15, 2020

May 15, 2020 • 4 min read
Cox's Bazar

First Covid-19 case found in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi officials announced on May 15 that a first person tested positive in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. The world's largest refugee settlement and home to one million people living in overcrowded conditions, fears are that it will rapidly spread
By Shafiqul Alam and Sam Jahan/AFP • May 15, 2020

May 14, 2020 • 9 min read
Conservation

How protecting forests and their communities can prevent the next outbreak

The Covid-19 pandemic highlights how human health is intimately connected to animal and ecosystem wellbeing. As we reassess our relationship with nature, researchers say we must empower those best positioned to protect forests – local communities
By Carolyn Cowan • May 14, 2020

May 13, 2020 • 7 min read
Refugee rights

Once a safe haven, anti-Rohingya sentiment in Malaysia is growing

Malaysia, once a safe haven for thousands of Rohingya, is witnessing a shift in attitude towards the persecuted and displaced minority group from Myanmar. Fuelled by misinformation and government rhetoric, anti-Rohingya sentiment is growing online
By Andrew Haffner • May 13, 2020

May 12, 2020 • 4 min read
Social media

Facebook: The cause of and solution to Myanmar’s fake news problem?

Long closed off to the world, free engagement with the internet for Myanmar's citizens only began in the past decade. Today, media literacy remains low and fake news abounds on social media platforms like Facebook – but there are companies working to change that
By Kiana Duncan • May 12, 2020

May 11, 2020 • 10 min read
Tales of the Pandemic

My experience as Singapore’s Covid-19 case number 862

Unknowingly contracting and spreading Covid-19 to loved ones is a fear many among us carry. So when Singaporean citizen Reuben Lim tested positive in March with virtually no symptoms, the thought he had put his family at risk was a guilt he struggled to process
By Reuben Lim • May 11, 2020