Category Archives: east asia

The story of Prita Mulyasari

By admin | January 6, 2010

Prita Mulyasari is a 32-year-old mother of two from Indonesia who was recently acquitted of defamation charges filed by the management of a private hospital. The defamation suit was a reaction to an e-mail complaint sent by Prita to her friends and relatives about the bad service she received at Omni International Hospital in Tangerang. […]

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Politics and immorality in Southeast Asia

By admin | December 28, 2009

“Immoral” rock concerts were banned in Malaysia. An “immoral” gay group was disqualified from participating in the Philippine elections. Immorality was blamed for the natural disasters that hit Indonesia this year. It seems public authorities are playing the morality card to uphold the dominant social order in many Southeast Asian countries. To protect the morals […]

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Will Malaysia and Singapore fight over water?

By admin | December 2, 2009

Due to its size and location, Singapore sources about half of its water supply from its neighbor Malaysia. It has two major water agreements with Malaysia. The 1961 agreement provides for the selling of 350 million gallons of raw water daily at 3 Malaysian cents per 1,000 gallons. In return, Singapore had agreed to provide […]

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Thailand-Cambodia squabble embarrasses ASEAN

By admin | November 23, 2009

Myanmar’s ruling junta may be the ultimate bad boy in Southeast Asia, but the stubborn attitude of the junta is not always the primordial cause of friction in the region. If achieving unity within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is almost impossible, Myanmar should not get all the blame. Also worthy of disgust and […]

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