December 13, 2018 Singapore’s leadership one step ahead by Michael Barr, Flinders University http://www.eastasiaforum.org After years of winnowing through candidates, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has anointed Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat as his successor. Back in 2016 there were six candidates for the role but one by one they were removed … Continue reading
Book Review: This is What Inequality Looks Like
December 13,2018 Book Review: This is What Inequality Looks Like by Serina Rahman 13 Dec, 2018 https://www.newmandala.org/book-review/this-is-what-inequality-looks-like/ Teo You Yenn (Ethos Books, Singapore, 2018) In an ideal world, “dignity doesn’t have an expiration date attached to economic productivity. It affirms the worth of personhood. It feels different from what we have” (p221). In This is … Continue reading
Fighting Corruption
December 13, 2018 Fighting Corruption https://www.asiasentinel.com/econ-business/curbing-asia-corrupt-governments/ Representatives of civil society organizations from nine ASEAN nations have been meeting for the past two days in Bangkok, seeking ways to fast-track implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in what has to seem like an uphill struggle. All nine countries have completed the first cycle of … Continue reading
A Second Chance for Britain
December 12, 2018 A Second Chance for Britain by Ian Buruma https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/second-brexit-referendum-for-britain-by-ian-buruma-2018-12 In 1950, the British reacted with a mixture of horror and disdain to the proposed European Coal and Steel Community, suspecting a French plot to lure a pragmatic people into some utopian foreign project. The basic arguments against “Europe” have not changed at … Continue reading
Time Person of the Year 2018–RUNNER-UP
Time Person of the Year 2018–RUNNER-UP The Guardians and the War on Truth The stout man with the gray goatee and the gentle demeanor dared to disagree with his country’s government. He told the world the truth about its brutality toward those who would speak out. And he was murdered for it. Every detail of … Continue reading
The End of Ethno-centric Elite Rule in Malaysia
December 11, 2018 The End of Ethno-centric Elite Rule in Malaysia by Ooi Kok Hin Published: 30 Nov 2018 https://newnaratif.com The May 1969 clashes…again reaffirmed the UMNO-MCA-MIC “historic bargain” as the cornerstone of the new Malaysian nation. Whether the “bargain” will continue to form the basis of Malaysian politics and society indefinitely in … Continue reading
