Across Southeast Asia, garment workers are fighting long uncertain battles to recover wages and campaigning for the severance pay they are entitled to after the factories where they worked shut down. Despite recent landmark court rulings showing progress in workers’ favour, many international brands to deny responsibility for the financial consequences that hit laid-off labourers, left without the financial means to support their families.

#southeastasia
#cambodia
#Indonesia
#garmentworkers
#labourrights

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/severance-pay-remains-a-struggle-for-southeast-asian-workers/

The alternative proteins market is growing in commercial potential and complexity. And in Southeast Asia texture is as important as taste while religious and cultural taboos shape consumer demands. In this analysis, Kelvin E.Y. Low, Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore and Juliet Tempest, a PhD candidate from Stanford University, tackle the cultural challenges, religious taboos and technological tests facing Southeast Asia’s alternative meat entrepreneurs face as they navigate the market and the region.

#southeastasia #entrepreneurs #alternativeproteins

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/taste-of-protein-southeast-asia/

With its hard exterior and soft heart, strong smell and succulent taste, the durian is a Southeast Asian paradox. In her latest book, The Durian Chronicles, Sally Tyler tackles some of the region’s most pressing challenges, using the fruit as a metaphor to compare Southeast Asia and the U.S.’s  relationship with power and democracy.  Tyler shares extracts from The Durian Chronicles and an exclusive interview with Globe’s Beatrice Siviero as they discuss the international politics, environmental relations and fight for justice that inspired her collection of essays.

#southeastasia #book #literature #culture #politics

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/the-durian-chronicles-explores-political-dissonance-as-a-link-between-the-u-s-and-southeast-asia/

Accidents on the road are a leading cause of death in Southeast Asia. The explosion in delivery services means traffic accidents are a major risk for gig workers. Micro-insurance platforms attempt to provide accessible options, but lack of transparency and limited payouts mean the solutions can only go so far. Leila Goldstein goes behind why delivery apps aren’t doing enough to protect their riders and the physical and financial costs facing Southeast Asia’s delivery drivers.

#southeastasia #economics #microinsurance #business #driver #fooddelivery #innovation #insurance

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/southeast-asias-delivery-riders-brave-dangerous-roads-with-limited-insurance-protection/

Words are the building blocks of our ideas, our exchanges, and our conduits to drive change. And for the 19th Ubud Writers Festival they can be a vital way to draw us together. The festival, which will run from 27-30 October, is held under the theme “Uniting Humanity.” To mark the event’s approach, Globe’s Stew Post spoke with festival panellist Prodita Sabarini. The media director, public communications trainer, and publisher of non-profit news publication, ‘The Conversation Indonesia,’ shared her perspectives on how, in a digitally saturated world, writers and publishers can unite in their fight against the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

#indonesia #southeastasia #ubud #misinformation #disinformation #literature #writing

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/fight-for-truth-battling-false-and-misleading-information-in-southeast-asia-and-beyond/

To tackle local extinctions, millions of snares are estimated to exist within protected areas in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. But despite ranger patrol, the ditches can restrict wildlife and act as a lucrative lure for poachers. Globe’s Anton L. Delgado teams up with the Straits Times’ Audrey Tan and Mark Cheong in the second part of a special two-part series to dig into the environmental conundrum of wildlife snares, presenting a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” conservation dilemma.

#cambodia #southeastasia #earth #wildlife #conservation #ditch #forest #snares

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/silent-forests-conservationists-attempt-a-last-ditch-effort-to-stave-off-local-extinctions-in-one-cambodian-forest/

Across Southeast Asia, one form of sexual assault persists, under-reported and deprived of necessary support and attention, due to restrictive cultural norms and vague legislation. Molika Heng, a junior researcher at independent think tank, Future Forum discusses the stigmas that are keeping victims of marital rape unprotected and why the region needs to tackle the issue head on and make marital rape a crime in all ASEAN countries. 

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/marital-rape-must-be-a-crime-across-asean/

#maritalrape #sexualassault #rape #violence #Southeastasia

As ASEAN prepares to kick off its 2022 summit and Cambodia prepares to hand over the gavel of its chairmanship, one issue is at the forefront of experts' and analysts’ minds as they reflect back on the year and the issues that should be top of the summit’s agenda. The issue of human trafficking, fuelled by a multi-billion dollar cyberscams industry, has been deemed an “embarrassment” to Prime Minister Hun Sen and his government. But ASEAN experts are split on how high a priority it should be for the bloc’s leaders as they descend on Phnom Penh for the upcoming discussions. Globe’s Andrew Haffner explores the excesses of the scams industry in Cambodia, heavily reliant on forced labour and peddled human beings, and the impact it has had on the Kingdom’s regional and international reputation.

#southeastasia #cambodia #cyberscams #aseansummit #aseansummit2022 #humantrafficking #humanrights

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/chinese-cyber-scam-cartels-cause-enormous-reputational-damage-to-cambodia/

As global leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, gather in Phnom Penh for the critical ASEAN summit, a range of pressing issues will fill the agenda while host Cambodia prepares to hand over the gavel of the chairmanship to Indonesia. These include the continuing conflict in Eastern Europe, growing geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, sparked by the military coup that ravaged the country in February 2021. Globe’s Nasa Dip spoke to experts about how ASEAN has addressed the crisis, the successes, and challenges that have faced Cambodia throughout its chairmanship, and the issues that pass onto the next chair.

#ASEAN2022 #ASEANSummit #cambodia #southeastasia #myanmar #whatshappeninginginmyanmar #humanitarian

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/as-the-asean-summit-2022-begins-analysts-say-regional-leaders-must-do-more-to-solve-the-myanmar-crisis/

As the climate crisis becomes increasingly urgent, the gender divide it creates becomes more evident. Women express greater levels of climate anxiety than their male counterparts, and - pigeon-holed into roles that take the greatest hit from the climate crisis - they are left more financially at risk. As one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change, for Southeast Asia’s women, these risks are amplified. Melinda Martinus and Beatrice Riingen from the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute look into how gender equality is critical to socioeconomic development and why Southeast Asia needs to step up its game to future-proof their women from climate distress.

#southeastasia #earth #analysis #climatechange #genderequality #genderinequality #women

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/southeast-asias-women-climate-concerns/

The sleepy UNESCO heritage town of Laos’ Luang Prabang is gearing up to host one of the region’s most acclaimed film festivals. From 8 - 11 December, the Blue Chair Film Festival, formerly known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival, will showcase works from regional filmmakers who have overcome strict government control to share their stories on screen. Globe’s Beatrice Siviero speaks to filmmakers and those behind the festival, overcoming censorship to shine a light on their countries’ critical social issues.

#laos #southeastasia #culture #censorship #festival #film #filmmaker #bluechairfilmfestival

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/blue-chair-film-festival-a-force-for-good-in-laos/

In September, more than 2,100 hours of digitised footage sharing snapshots from across Southeast Asia’s social movements was launched into the digital world. Arkib Filem Rakyat, one of the few film archives dedicated to social issues in Southeast Asia, showcases honest and important footage from the region’s grassroots activists, both past and present. Jack Brook, writing for the Globe, speaks to those behind the project and its launch and to its filmmakers about how they are overcoming government hurdles to document their countries’ stories and social struggles.

#malaysia #southeastasia #socialissues #film #life #humanrights #culture #politics #archive

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/activists-establish-malaysia-first-human-rights-film-archive/

As global populations increase, the demand for energy is set to skyrocket. And finite resources and climate concerns are causing governments and companies to shift away from reliance on fossil fuels towards more sustainable energy sources such as hydropower. But, as Qayyimah Al-Zelzy, a Volunteer Research Associate at the Global Awareness & Impact Alliance (GAIA) Brunei, points out, expanding sustainable energy projects can come at high costs to indigenous communities. Her analysis goes behind the urgent need to shift towards less environmentally damaging energy, to discuss the impact of this energy transition on Southeast Asia’s vulnerable populations.

#southeastasia #earth #analysis #energy #indigenous #sustainability #indigenousrights

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/sustainable-energy-projects-are-driving-out-southeast-asias-indigenous-populations/

On 25 November, press and public servants looked on as Anwar Ibrahim signed documents on his first day as Malaysia’s new Prime Minister. But while his pose exuded a calm air of authority, his success came at the end of a tightly fought election, resulting in the country’s first ever hung parliament. In this opinion piece, Stephanie Wild discusses how behind this result lies a country still torn by ethnic and societal divisions and how the recent election brought these internal tensions to the surface.

#malaysia #opinion #election #ethnic #politics #minorities #southeastasia

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/malaysian-elections-a-powder-keg-of-ethnic-tension-and-societal-cracks/

As the end of 2022 approaches, Southeast Asia Globe takes time to reflect back on the events that have shaped the region still reeling from the heat of the pandemic at the start of the year. The last twelve months have seen global conflict and foundations for new partnerships and alliances. Southeast Asian nations have sworn in new governments and seen the continuation of old geopolitical tensions and human rights atrocities. The region has weathered natural disasters and the urgent call for environmental action and celebrated the conservation projects and discoveries that bring both new information and hope. We chart the major events in the region, and the Globe stories that have reported them in new depths and previously unexplored angles.

#southeastasia #review #2022roundup #life #culture #economy #environment #politics #trade

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/end-of-year-2022/

Southeast Asia is stagnating when it comes to tackling corruption, according the latest Transparency International report.

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/transparency-international-corruption-rankings-2022/

#corruption #southeastasia #moneylaundering #government

Indonesia ended 2022 centre-stage of ASEAN’s political events, as it concluded a successful hosting of the G20 summit in November by taking up the gavel of ASEAN chairmanship. As the country officially assumes the chairmanship, Raafi Seiff discuss how Indonesia can sustain its influence in the bloc, especially in the face of rising inflation, political instability and human rights issues.
#southeastasia #indonesia #asean #internationalrelations

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/indonesia-chairmanship-asean-matter-again/

German Federal President Frank Walter Steinmeier’s Southeast Asian visit this week comes at a critical political and social juncture. The same month as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Steinmeier will travel to meet key figures in Malaysia and Cambodia at a time when Berlin is looking towards a reevaluation of its international relations, including Southeast Asia. In this analysis, Chhengpor Aun discusses this “turning point” for Germany and the EU and what the visit could mean for the next phase of Germany’s relations with Southeast Asia.

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/german-president-steinmeier-southeastasia-visit/

#diplomacy #politics #germany #EU #asean #southeastasia

In case you missed it over the weekend, in our Story of the Day, we got into an explainer on last week’s election in Timor-Leste. Independence-era hero Xanana Gusmão won a popular victory on the 21 May ballot after returning to politics a decade after resigning as prime minister. Gusmão, who was also Timor-Leste’s first president, is now likely set to be the country’s next head of state. Globe’s Beatrice Siviero explores the history behind Gusmão’s comeback as the leader of the Alliance for Change and Progress coalition, the potential challenges he might face and what it means for a popular symbol of national unity and stability to step back into his old role, in a very new way.

#timorleste #elections #easttimor #democracy #government #xananagusmao #southeastasia #politics

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/with-timor-leste-election-win-xanana-gusmao-is-back-on-top/

“Life was so difficult because we were so poor...he quit school in grade seven, and I quit school in grade six.”

Housing experts say improving informal settlements is a key to social and economic development. But in fast-urbanising Southeast Asia, finding holistic solutions for the marginalised is easier said than done.

Read today's story by Beatrice Siviero and learn about those pushed to the margins.

#SoutheastAsia #UrbanPoverty #InclusiveDevelopment #BeatriceSiviero

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/as-regional-cities-expand-urban-poor-risk-being-left-behind/