Examining the Evolution of “Pendatang”
Between the 1960s and 1980s, the meaning of "pendatang" in Bahasa Malaysia shifted from a neutral "migrant" to become synonymous with danger and treac…
Tag: Checks and Balances
Understanding Disinformation
Singapore’s “fake news” bill is based upon dubious assumptions which are not supported by the science of media effects studies. Instead, researc…
Ahok (or BTP?)’s Post-Prison Agenda
Accused of defaming Islam, former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama paid the price with a two-year jail sentence. Now free, is Ahok r…
Religion, Singapore, and a Cancelled Metal Show
The Singapore debut of Swedish black metal band Watain was abruptly cancelled after a petition by Christians gathered over 17,000 signatures. The canc…
“The Land is Life”
The Lumad community in the Philippines is speaking out against ‘Cha-Cha’—Duterte’s proposed constitutional changes that would transfer power t…
The End of Ethno-centric Elite Rule in Malaysia
Consociationalism—the rule, in a plural society, by an alliance of elites from respective ethnic groups—has been Malaysia’s dominant political a…
The Rise of Ethno-centric Elite Rule in Malaysia
This is an accompanying article to the feature article on the end of Barisan Nasional’s consociationalism - the rule, in a plural society, by an all…
The UN’s Contracting Conundrum
The UN's contracts with a company belonging to one of Cambodia’s most notorious tycoons sheds light on an issue pervasive in many of the places wher…
Remembering a Revolution
It's been 30 years since the 8 August 1988 uprising that saw Aung San Suu Kyi emerge as the face of the pro-democracy movement. Today, Myanmar faces n…
A Long Road To Change
The “tsunami rakyat” that brought Malaysia its first ever change in government was built on long years of hard work by the country’s civil socie…
