Royal Tea Parties, Data Breaches and Horny Hanoi
Before we get started, here’s a fresh one from me on Indonesia’s response to fake news and hoaxes for the Splice Newsroom.
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These ones don’t really fit anywhere, but I still think they’re important reads: China is looking forward to Trump’s truancy at the East Asia Summit, Lull in South China Sea tensions brings joint Asean-China naval drill closer and Beyond TPP: Maintaining US engagement in Asia’s emerging trade architecture.
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Thailand gave late King Bhumibol the expected extravagant send-off, with 19 million Thais estimated to have hit the streets in support. That figure is less than a third of the population and some aren’t happy there weren’t more. Protests broke out in some areas over the handling of the event. But what now? SCMP has a look at the challenges Thailand faces in the very near future and ponders just how it can overcome them. But really I’m just here for the photos, I think some of these are such stunning shots I love it.
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It’s official: the nasi lemak war is over and Malaysia won. That’s the fun news, everything else is a bit bleak this week. A massive data breach is believed to have affected just about EVERY Malaysian, with mobile phone numbers, addresses and other personal information being shopped around. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has met with telcos involved, with the ST taking a deeper look at how they’ve responded. This might’ve been an inside job, says the police. Former PM and current opposition figure Mahathir Mohamad is in big trouble after calling PM Najib Razak the descendant of ‘Bugis pirates’ if Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has his way.
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Myanmar is the region’s most awful broken record. Another week, no change and even more horrific stories from the frontlines in Bangladesh from Rohingya refugees. Which I think is why I was so happy to read this one from Frontier Myanmar: the Anti-False Buddhist Doctrine Committee isn’t taking this hardline nationalism shit anymore. Set up in direct response to heightening anti-Muslim rhetoric back in April, plans for expansion are on the cards as thousands of Burmese Buddhists sign up to fight back against violence and discrimination.
Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi has made her first ever official visit to Rakhine State. This just happened yesterday and I’m in the wrong timezone to wait around for analysis to be published out of Yangon, but Poppy McPherson tweeted some thoughts on the visit and noted residents who met ASSK had been handpicked and she visited burn out homes in the areas.
There’s politics and then there’s the reality — this harrowing account of a man watching his young child drown as a boat capsizes on its way out of Myanmar isn’t an easy read. Documentary suggests military operation against Rohingya Muslims was pre-planned. Big turnout at Myanmar pro-army rally defies Rohingya outcry. Rohingya crisis may be driving Aung San Suu Kyi closer to generals. Myanmar blames Bangladesh for delaying accord on repatriating Rohingya.
A little bit of editorialising: I’m going to not link any of these ‘institution x removes/revokes/disavows connection with ASSK’ and I regret having shared the story out of Oxford a few weeks earlier. Some people far smarter than I on Twitter have pointed out that most of these (largely UK-based) institutions are unlikely to have done the same for all sorts of gross figures in British history and I agree. Rank hypocrisy that achieves nothing.
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Cambodia has had wonderful luck in the last few months sneaking under the radar with larger stories from around the region beating out the descent into a totalitarian nightmare to the little column space afforded Southeast Asia. Al Jazeera has an update on Kem Sokha, the president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) who was arrested in September after accusations he was planning a coup against PM Hun Sen. I think next week we might have a deeper look at this one — there’s a lot of moving parts here and it’s somewhat of a blur to me and next week would be timely with the courts to decide mid-month if CNRP must be forcibly dissolved, virtually guaranteeing a romp home for Hun Sen and friends next year. While we wait for that, I can’t get enough of analysis looking at the relationship between China and Cambodia, here’s another great one on the subject from VOA.
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Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah played host to Prince Charles and Camilla after the pair stopped by Brunei as part of an 11-day trip around the region. Bolkiah’s estimated $20 billion fortune makes the Brits look like paupers and frankly, I’m jealous of the feed. The World Bank named the country the most improved in terms of ease of doing business.
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Another quiet week in Timor Leste, according to Google Alerts. If anybody has any good ideas on where to find fresh news or which journalists to follow on Twitter etc. please let me know.
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Radio Free Asia reports 14 Lao villagers who were arrested in July after clearing rubber trees on land reportedly owned by a Vietnamese firm have been unreachable since early October, with some in failing health. Xi is coming.
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Vietnam is getting hot under the collar according to this great read on Hanoi’s ‘Mattress Street’. April’s violent scuffle over land rights is in the spotlight again with National Assembly member Duong Trung Quoc calling for a better understanding of why protesters feel so passionately and better treatment. 40 activists have come together to denounce legal action against dissenters following a string of high profile arrests and jailings.
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Some Americans were impressed with the English spoken by Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong during his visit to Washington last month. Singapore reacted exactly how you expect it to. Where to next for Singapore Press Holdings? The Hollywood sexual harassment scandal has prompted the Singapore industry to look inwards. Ooh boy, here we go again. Prosecutors and police are investigating Goldman Sachs for links with Malaysia’s scandal-plagued 1MDB, Bloomberg reported today.
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Hello, Philippines! Manila is going to dominate this month (because of this) so let’s go a bit easy this week with a mixed bag. This is a very sad story about a young pregnant woman killed in a shoot-out with police, it’s very Catholic but does offer an insight in the mundane normalcy of so many of these EJK victims. Free Leila de Lima, says this op-ed. What’s next for the residents of Marawi City? ‘I was born under martial law and I could now die during martial law. Don’t we all hope to end in a better state than we began?’
President Rodrigo Duterte has been in Tokyo meeting with the newly re-elected PM Shinzo Abe, chatting all things terrorism and infrastructure investment. It’s always bloody terrorism and infrastructure! Just once I’d love a wire story about a high-level bilateral meeting where two leaders talk about which Friends character they hated the most or the best puppies to follow on Instagram. Wait, there is that whole South China Sea thing.
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A huge week for Indonesia, so let’s just do a whip-around on links instead of nice full sentences. For close watchers, yes, there is an omission here but I’ve got a few pitches in so mind your business okay. NPR is in the archipelago, so there are a lot of great reads and listens from them. My pick so far is the All Things Considered segment on stand-up comic Sakdiyah Ma’ruf. The average Jakartan spends 22 days a year in traffic. Yikes!
Everyday Indonesians need change, not more identity politics. Minister Susi Pudjiastuti blasts another 17 foreign fishing ships. Holy smokes, Anies did it! Everyone’s favourite North Jakarta luxury brothel Alexis has been forced to shut up shop by the new governor. JFK files reveal CIA considered assassinating president Sukarno. Indonesia makes arrests over deadly factory fire in Tangerang. Indonesia takes an ultra-nationalist turn against Islamic populism. Indonesia needs more female leaders, says this Jakarta Post op-ed. Indonesian nation Muhammad Ilham Syaputra has been arrested in Marawi City.
