ISEAS Perspective provides analysis of specific current events and their significance for the Southeast Asian region. This will be published occasionally, and is aimed at keeping decision-makers in both the public and private sectors informed; as well as scholars, laymen and the interested public. This series undergoes a peer-review process.
2022/5 “Tackling the Challenges of Financial Inclusion and Illegal Lending in Indonesia” by Irni Rahmayani Johan
2022 NO. 5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Financial inclusion can help poor or disadvantaged groups to improve their standard of living, for example, simply through access to banking services. The Indonesian government aims to achieve a 90% financial inclusion target by 2024. The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected people’s income which has intensified the urgent demand for quick access to […]
2022/4 “Vietnam’s Labour Reforms: Drivers and Implications” by Joe Buckley
2022 No. 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vietnam has a single state-led union federation, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL). However, the 2019 Labour Code legalised worker organisations (WOs) not affiliated to the VGCL. This is the first time the country has allowed any formal freedom of association. WOs are enterprise-level organisations only. They are not unions and are […]
2022/3 ““Reform, Not Abolition”: The “Thai Youth Movement” and Its Demands for Reform of the Monarchy” by Anusorn Unno
2022 No. 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY While the Thai monarchy is a highly-revered institution, the personal lives of royal family members have long been topics of comment in private settings. This comment was politicised and went public after the 19 September 2006 coup, in which the monarchy was thought to be implicated. Comment on the monarchy is strongest among […]
2022/2 “Malaysia on the Cusp of a New Political Order” by Liew Chin Tong
2022 No. 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY[1] The discourse on Malaysia’s political history has been in flux for some time. This paper revisits the series of political, economic and social ideas that have sustained previous eras, which the author terms “political orders”, and explores what is to come. The history of contemporary Malaysia can be split into four such orders: […]
2022/1 ““We are Independent Trolls”: The Efficacy of Royalist Digital Activism in Thailand” by Janjira Sombatpoonsiri
2022 No. 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Alongside protracted political conflicts offline, Thailand has witnessed information warfare between pro- and anti-establishment forces. This struggle has been asymmetrical in terms of institutional resources and bureaucratic networks. Pro-establishment forces tap into and consolidate the residual infrastructures of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC). Its psychological Information Operations (IOs), which can be traced […]
2021/170 “Stuck in Second Gear: Indonesia’s Strategic Dilemma in the Indo-Pacific” by Evan A. Laksmana
2021 No. 170
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Indonesia has important interests to defend in the Indo-Pacific, from navigating great power politics, and securing its maritime domain and resources, to reviving ASEAN centrality. The Indonesian foreign policy establishment has focused its diplomatic resources on implementing the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Jakarta’s strategic resources and political leadership are heavily directed inwards, leaving little […]
2021/169 “Calculating the Carbon Footprint and Minimum Greenhouse Gas Production of SMEs in Southeast Asia” by Michael T Schaper and Ryan Wong Yee Yang
2021 No. 169
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Few attempts have been made to gauge the overall level of greenhouse gas emissions produced by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), even though they account for more than 90% of all firms globally and in ASEAN. There are currently estimated to be more than 71 million SMEs in Southeast Asia today, employing almost […]
2021/168 “The Nature of Recent Chinese Migration to Thailand” by Aranya Siriphon and Fanzura Banu
2021 No. 168
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Xin yimin (lit: new migrants) refers to the new wave of skilled and urban migrants from China. Since the 2000s, many have been moving into Southeast Asia. In Thailand, their number has doubled in the last two decades. Unlike previous overseas Chinese migrants who largely aimed to settle permanently in a destination, the […]
2021/167 “The Profound Impact of the BERSIH Movement since 2007” by Khoo Boo Teik
2021 No. 167
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, best known by its Malay acronym, BERSIH, organized five massive rallies in Kuala Lumpur between November 2007 and November 2016. While BERSIH failed to achieve its original goal to reform the electoral system, the movement made a significant impact on the Malaysian political milieu. BERSIH’s deeper […]
2021/166 ““Adapting to Nature”: A Preliminary Assessment of Vietnam’s Mekong Water Diplomacy since 2017” by Truong-Minh Vu and Tram Nguyen
2021 No. 166
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Adopted in November 2017, the Vietnamese Government’s Resolution 120 on “Climate Resilience and Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta Region” has provided a long-term strategic vision and outlined the direction for Vietnam’s water diplomacy to address problems threatening its Mekong Delta. After four years of implementing the Resolution, Vietnam has achieved some positive […]