• OPINION

  Why we need to care about Myanmar

  Oped, Johanna Son, Published on 03/02/2024

  » Myanmar is entering its fourth year since the Feb 1, 2021 military coup. Its multiple crises continue -- a mix of economic difficulties and a humanitarian catastrophe -- at a time when armed conflict, including anti-junta resistance, has now spread to most of its regions.

• OPINION

  Dangers of seeing haze as 'seasonal'

  Oped, Johanna Son, Published on 14/10/2023

  » At the start of 2023, mainland Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Laos hunkered down under a persistent haze. Heading toward the yearend, it is the turn of the maritime Asean countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore -- to be on alert during haze season.

• OPINION

  What China dams mean for Mekong

  Oped, Johanna Son, Published on 08/07/2023

  » The worries and woes about the impacts of China's dams along the Mekong River have been simmering since their construction more than two decades ago.

• OPINION

  When the environment gets sidelined

  Oped, Johanna Son, Published on 23/07/2022

  » Myanmar's human, social and natural capital have been "rapidly diminishing" after the 2021 military coup, explains Win Myo Thu, a respected environmental campaigner who, for over three decades, has been working with local communities for better access to land, forest, water, food and a clean environment.

• OPINION

  Myanmar's crises: A recipe for disaster

  Oped, Published on 23/06/2022

  » 'The military exploits [natural resources] as they like, and we do what we like," says Myint, who lives in Khamti township in north-western Sagaing region -- one of the sites with the most clashes between the Myanmar military and resistance forces. "Everyone knows that one day there'll be no more resources and this will harm the environment. But in these difficulties, to find daily income we have no choice."

• OPINION

  Stingray tale harks to Mekong risks

  Oped, Johanna Son, Published on 15/06/2022

  » Before she helped to release a 181-kilogramme giant stingray back into the Mekong River in May, Chea Seila had only seen parts of the pancaked-shape fish before -- sliced and being sold at local markets in Cambodia.

• OPINION

  Exiles take the war in Myanmar abroad

  News, Johanna Son, Published on 28/02/2022

  » An ousted legislator from Myanmar, doing kitchen work in a restaurant in the United States, sends half of his salary to the forces battling the military that seized power in his country. From "home" in a Southeast Asian country, a Myanmar national says nightly prayers for his country at a makeshift altar.

• OPINION

  Decarbonisation, the SE Asian way

  Oped, Johanna Son, Published on 29/09/2021

  » Carbon neutrality is a shared planetary destination, but Southeast Asian countries are laying out their own road maps -- including what some may call detours of sorts -- to getting there in the next three to four decades.

• OPINION

  Six months post-coup: 'We only have ourselves'

  Oped, Published on 31/07/2021

  » You pause before picking up a call from an unknown phone number. You're ready to change plans in a second if explosions occur in your area or soldiers show up. When going out, you may delete the Facebook app from your phone, lest you get stopped by soldiers wanting to check your posts. If you have Covid-19 symptoms, you look for an antigen test kit before trying to get an RT-PCR test or go to hospital.

• OPINION

  In Mekong region, drug trade thrives

  Oped, Johanna Son, Published on 15/07/2021

  » An example of a resilient business model in hard times? Indeed, except that this describes how the synthetic drug industry has been expanding in East and Southeast Asia, home to the Mekong region which is the manufacturing and trafficking hub that supplies illicit drugs that reach not just the wider Asia but the globe.

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