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Southeast Asia’s digital economy continues to expand at a rapid pace, but growth is finally starting to slow as consumer demand slackens and companies begin to emphasize profits over raw revenue gains, according to a new report. The e-Conomy SEA 2024 report, jointly compiled by the tech giant Google, Singapore’s Temasek, and the venture capital […]
Sitting on the floor of a rented room in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Karim recalls the pain and grief he sustained during a bombing in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August, severely injuring him and killing his 7-year-old daughter. “She died on the spot,” he said in an interview in September. (Karim is identified only by his […]
The Arakan Army (AA) and its political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA), have embarked on the ambitious and arduous task of erecting an “inclusive administration” in the areas captured from the military regime in Rakhine State of western Myanmar. The plan has triggered speculation and divergent views about the future of the Rohingya […]
In May 2021, three months after Myanmar’s military took power in a coup, Rupa traveled around 300 miles from her home in the city of Pyin Oo Lwin to enlist in one of the country’s roughly two dozen major ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). Rupa, who has been granted a pseudonym due to the risk of […]
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday defended his bloody “war on drugs,” saying he took “full legal responsibility” for the campaign, which involved thousands of extrajudicial killings. In his testimony before the country’s Senate yesterday, the 79-year-old said he offered “no apologies, no excuses” for the campaign, during which between 12,000 and 30,000 people were […]
In Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation, the institution of marriage holds deep religious significance. Traditionally, matchmaking has been guided by Islamic principles, with families and community elders playing pivotal roles. However, the emergence of marriage apps has sparked a debate among religious scholars and community leaders about the intersection of faith and technology in matrimonial […]
Due to the ongoing China-U.S. geopolitical tensions, many Chinese big tech companies have looked to expand their digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia given its proximity and relatively affordable land and resources. Johor Bahru, the most southern district of Malaysia, borders Singapore with two links connecting to the city-state. Its close proximity and ease of access […]
Lee Hsien Yang, the youngest son of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, announced yesterday that he has been granted political asylum in the United Kingdom, on the grounds that he faces “a well-founded risk of persecution” in Singapore. The three children of Lee Kuan Yew have been estranged since 2017, when Lee Hsien […]
As global attention on Southeast Asia’s transnational crime epidemic continues to increase, the sophistication of analysis on it is rising in sync. Last week’s U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report is an exemplar of this trend, its all-star team of authors setting a new standard for publicly available intelligence on the underground banking […]
U.S. President Joe Biden was once again absent from the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which concluded last week in Vientiane, Laos. This marked the second year in a row the United States’ leader chose to skip the gathering. This year the administration sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his place, […]