South East Asia and Oceania

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit began on Wednesday Oct. 9 in Vientiane, Laos with a major focus placed on tackling a critical issue within the region: the worsening civil war in Myanmar.

Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of Australia, has recently urged Australian citizens in Lebanon to leave while they still can. An estimated 15,000 Australians remain in Lebanon after Israel initiated a ground operation in Hezbollah.

On Tuesday, Sep. 24, 2024, Thailand’s landmark marriage equality bill was approved by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, making the nation the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

On Sept. 18, Indonesia’s Central Bank (Bank Indonesia) announced a decrease in their interest rate from 25 basis points (0.25%) to 6%, in a move that came as a surprise to most experts.

In 2022, New Zealand was lauded for passing the world's first generational smoking ban. In a surprising turn of events, New Zealand has backtracked its course on the ban, announcing a disappointing reversal that has drawn criticism from public health officials.

This past Monday, the Nepali government announced a ban on TikTok, the video-sharing app that has accrued over 1 billion users globally. Officials pointed to the prevalent hate content on the app as the main justification for the ban.

On Friday, Nov. 3, a powerful earthquake struck Nepal, a small landlocked nation that lies along the south of the Himalayas. The earthquake is to have caused 150 casualties plus hundreds of injuries, with the possibility that these numbers may rise as aftershocks continue to rumble through the region.

A Chinese Coast Guard vessel collided with a Philippine boat on a resupply mission on Oct. 22, 2023, this past Sunday morning. Following the collision, both sides have swapped accusations of blame, heightening tensions in the already-disputed South China Sea.

In the midst of the worldwide polarization over the Israel-Palestine conflict, Southeast Asia has not been immune to its impact. Malaysia and Indonesia, two predominantly Muslim nations, have voiced strong support of the Palestinian cause. In contrast, several other countries in the region have maintained relatively vague or pro-Israel stances on the issue.

This past Monday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated the country’s first high-speed railway in Jakarta, Indonesia, marking a new phase in the region’s transportation system.

Malcolm Turnbull, the former prime minister of Australia, is leading the charge to curb Rupert Murdoch’s monopoly of influence.

In their March report, the Indonesian super-app provider, GoTo, said that its 2022 net loss widened by 56% to 40.4 trillion rupiah ($2.6 billion) as the company continues to struggle to turn a profit.

Big Western chipmakers are increasingly turning towards Singapore as a production hub, both to meet growing demands and to diversify their supply chain risks.

On Feb. 25 last week, the Philippines marked the 37th anniversary of the People’s Power Revolution.

In early December, The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifted interest rates for the eighth consecutive month, taking its benchmark to 3.1%.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the famed Nobel laureate who had been placed under house arrest for most of the last three decades, had just won a landslide victory in the country’s first openly contested elections in 15 years.

Amidst the ongoing political tug of war between the US and China, Biden has to establish what ASEAN centrality means.

President Joe Biden met with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders on Nov. 12, marking the 45th year of U.S.-ASEAN cooperation and raising issues of U.S. support in the region amidst increasing intervention from China.

These are but some of the common ways scammers operate. Protected by the anonymity of the internet, there has been a significant rise in individuals falling for these scams all across Asia.

Amid a worsening monsoon season and anticipated flooding, Malaysia is preparing to head to the polls.

Japanese megabank Sumitomo Mitsui and U.S. tech giant Microsoft are teaming up to provide financial services to digital platforms in Southeast Asia.

The Indonesian capital of Jakarta is sinking and it is sinking fast. Parts of the megacity could be entirely submerged by 2050, with 95% of North Jakarta estimated to sink. In addition to this, Jakarta has been continuously plagued by traffic congestion, air pollution and land subsidence – all of which contribute to increasingly damaging floods in the region.

Singapore is known for many things: the filming location for Crazy Rich Asians, the country where selling chewing gum is illegal, and the place with the world’s best airport. But Formula 1 (F1) fans may know it for a different reason: with humid temperatures, sharp turns, and narrow roads, the Marina Bay City Circuit has captured the hearts of F1 fans. Just two weeks ago, on Oct. 2, a rainy race caused six drivers to crash out, and fan favorite Max Verstappen to narrowly miss the championship title.