Watching and waiting: What’s to come under Biden for Southeast Asia?
Speculative coverage abounds on what might lie in the post-Trump era, but we tried to keep our focus in this piece squarely on what we can see today in Cambodia. Tap the link to see what a Biden presidency could mean for the Kingdom.
As wetlands are filled, Phnom Penh ignores Bangkok’s flooding lessons
Globe reporter Wanpen Pajai is back with this transnational examination of urban flooding. Bangkok developers are now embarking on a costly and uncertain water management strategy, essentially rebuilding natural flood defenses filled in by new construction. Phnom Penh seems to be on track for much of the same.
The Berlin Wall lives on in Jakarta
This is an odd and fascinating bit of culture explored by Globe reporter Alexi Demetriadi. When the Berlin Wall fell, tearing asunder the Iron Curtain shielding the communist USSR, fragments of the wall itself were shipped around the globe. Today, four pieces each standing at about 3.5 metres tall and over a metre wide stand in a park in Jakarta. The wall was heavy with symbolic weight when it fell in 1989; what do its remnants mean in 2020? Click to find out.
Anakut episode 6: Beyond aid and the future of foreign money
Anakut is back with a new episode! This week, Meng and I sat down with Ear Sophal, long-time political commentator and an associate professor of diplomacy at Occidental College in the US. He’s also an author of a book about the detrimental effects of foreign aid on governance in Cambodia, which gets right to the heart of this episode. It’s a lively one, click to listen!
Bridging the gap: Reshaping tomorrow for the young Cambodian workforce
The latest piece in a collaboration we’re doing with the UN Development Programme to identify areas that can be improved for the young workers of Cambodia. Pagna Ukthaun, the head of exploration at UNDP Accelerator Labs here in Phnom Penh, brings us this detailed piece of analysis.
The fight against child malnutrition in rural Cambodia during Covid
This one is a vital piece to keep in mind as we watch the Covid-19 response going on today. As the economy suffers under the weight of pandemic, the independent, non-profit Angkor Hospital for Children has recorded a nearly 40% increase in undernourished children compared from the same time last year. An eye-opening account from Joe Patchett, a writer with Angkor Hospital.
