Why do forests fires rage every year in Indonesia? Some people benefit from the business of fire, enjoying profits and economic rents at the expense of environmental quality.
EPA/Adi Weda
Scientists and policymakers - aware of the extreme dry season of El Nino - have warned of fires in Indonesia months in advance. Why then, do fires continue to blaze and what is being done about it?
Tens of thousands protest in Malaysia, including members of the country’s indigenous Orang Asli community.
Edgar Su/REUTERS
Two million Malaysian immigrants live in countries around the world. That’s not stopping them from being involved with politics back home.
University of Cape Town scientists work in the Drug Discovery and Development Centre. More needs to be done to keep Africa’s scientists on home ground.
Epa/Nic Bothma
If the continent is to grasp the science and technology revolution, then governments should take the lead in both policy formulation and implementation.
Despite the show of people power in Malaysia’s streets, the greatest threat to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s leadership is probably from within his own party.
Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha
As Southeast Asian countries countries gear up for its ASEAN Economic Community Indonesia should look into setting up special economic zones together with bordering countries.
Diving in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat Marine Park to see these clownfish will cost you more than before – but for good reason.
Boris Bialek/Flickr
Diving in many parts of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia now costs a little more than it used to – but you might be happy to discover why.
Prime Minister Najib Razak is at the centre of a scandal over investigations into the origins of US$700 million transferred into his bank account.
Reuters/Olivia Harris
Najib Razak’s response to corruption allegations has been a crackdown on investigators and his critics on both sides of politics. Malaysians are left wondering where their nation is headed.
Australia’s proposals to recognise Indigenous people in its Constitution will likely be much less substantive than those of many other countries.
AAP/David Moir
Constitutional recognition may have very limited impact if the groups benefiting from the change lack the political weight to leverage it into greater social change.
Indonesia is forcing people with drug dependence problems to go into rehab.
joloei/www.shutterstock.com
Indonesia’s war on drugs aims to protect the country’s young generation from an alleged “national drug emergency.” But the government’s coercive approach is harming the people it wishes to protect.
Even if President Obama gets his fast-track trading authority, his Pacific trade legacy faces a long slog.
Dark road via www.shutterstock.com
The fierce debate in the US Congress that almost derailed the president’s trade agenda is likely to replay itself in many of the 11 other capitals that are party to the deal.
These Rohingya women and children, rescued by fishermen in Aceh, are among thousands in need of resettlement.
EPA
A summit in Bangkok is discussing the fate of thousands of people who were stranded at sea. Australia is represented but refuses to resettle any refugees, casting doubt on its commitment to a regional solution.
Under enormous pressure, countries in south east Asia are at last offering help to thousands of stranded migrants – but their gesture is far less meaningful than it seems.
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar travelled in this fishing boat to Sumatra, Indonesia, with officials announcing some 2000 people were rounded up or rescued after arriving in Malaysia and Indonesia over the weekend.
EPA
Australia may have ‘stopped the boats’ but the tragedy of people drowning at sea continues to our north and is getting worse. A regional solution to the refugee crisis is urgently needed.
Malaysia’s last best hope? Anwar Ibrahim.
EPA/Dennis M. Sabangan
My taxi driver laughed as the newsreader concluded the announcement that Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal against his conviction for sodomy had been refused, and that the leader of Malaysia’s fragmentary opposition…
To see off challenges to its dominance, Malaysia’s government exploits Muslim sentiment at every turn. This has been a factor in sodomy charges against opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim.
EPA/Azhar Rahim
Fuelled by the rise of Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, debate about Islam and violence has flared again in Australia. In a predictable cycle of provocation and reaction, governments launch a wide-ranging…
Thailand’s military coup in May is a sign of political malaise without an obvious cure in the absence of a new social contract.
EPA/Pongmanat Tasiri
Rather than a new dawn for democracy, political and social reform in the region has led to less representation and more contestation. This has potentially far-reaching consequences. What does the May coup…
A company in need of a reconnection with customers.
Shamshahrin Shamsudin/EPA
Malaysia Airlines was hit with two extraordinary crises this year that have rocked the confidence of customers and left the company struggling to manage the damage. Lone passengers are posting pictures…
Seeing orangutans like Big Ritchie in conservation areas can raise vital support to protect his cousins in the wild, new research shows.
Big Ritchie looks up from his pile of bananas, unperturbed by the flock of tourists taking his photo. Sprawled around him, mother orangutans* and their fluffy orange babies groom affectionately, chase…
Relatives of the missing passengers on flight MH370 march on the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.
EPA/Rolex dela Pena
“Visit Malaysia Year 2014” was expected to bolster Malaysia’s growing Chinese tourism market: Malaysia’s third-largest. Last October, commemorating four decades of close relations, Chinese president Xi…
Chinese media coverage of the missing flight MH370 is acting as a proxy for the country’s positioning as a rising diplomatic power with expansionary ambition in the Asian-Pacific. Since the flight was…