Showing 1 - 10 of 68
Sri Lanka's next test
Asia focus, Priyanka Krishnamoorthy, Published on 01/08/2022
» In a win for democracy, mass protests in Sri Lanka recently led to the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Hope for the marginalised in India
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 25/07/2022
» While the final no-confidence debate targeting Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his crew was under way at home last week, my focus was on India's presidential election. The result was widely welcomed as veteran tribal politician Draupadi Murmu made history.
China must rethink Zero Covid
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 25/04/2022
» It finally feels like the world, collectively, is moving in one direction. Toward reopening. Toward the new normal. Hong Kong, after some of the world's strictest quarantine rules kept Covid-19 at bay for almost two years, last Thursday reopened gyms, beauty parlours, theme parks and cinemas for the first time in more than four months.
Wasted Year
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 21/02/2022
» Once perceived as Asia's final frontier, Myanmar has been tested severely by dual shocks -- a surge in Covid-19 cases in 2021 and the military coup that has brought its economy close to a standstill and left its people suffering from ongoing violence.
Year of Turbulence
Asia focus, Asia Focus Team, Published on 27/12/2021
» Pandemic drags on recovery: In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, many Asian countries had enviable success, avoiding large-scale outbreaks and mass deaths. But the arrival of the more transmissible Delta variant this year and sluggish vaccine rollouts compounded by low availability sent cases surging. Combined with poor monitoring and easy movement among countries, often unofficially, Southeast Asia became a virus hotspot. The ballooning health crisis collided with churning political discontent in the case of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Economically, the new wave of infections, and attendant restrictions imposed to curb the spread, stalled recoveries. After nearly two years of strict border controls, many countries started to loosen up and live with Covid. But the rise of the Omicron variant now threatens to scuttle those tentative reopening plans and usher in a third year of economic anxiety.
Closing the loop
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 13/12/2021
» The global climate movement has grown exponentially, demanding that world leaders and governments walk the talk on environmental and societal issues to keep the rise in global temperature below 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Thai at heart
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 15/11/2021
» Born and bred in the city-state, Raymond Han is 100% Singaporean. But his bond to Thailand goes deep, spanning almost two decades. It has led him to where he is now as a top executive of Patra Porcelain, which has been making some of the country's best-known products since 1982.
China's loss can be Southeast Asia's gain
Asia focus, Keun Lee, Published on 25/10/2021
» Covid-19 has exposed the myriad weaknesses of cross-border value chains. Once the backbone of globalisation, now they are associated with vulnerability to disruption. Thanks to the pandemic, value chains are being reconfigured with a focus on resilience.
Best foot forward for sustainability
Asia focus, Minli Zhao, Published on 06/09/2021
» With the tangible effects of climate change -- record-setting temperatures, devastating floods and other ecological disasters -- clearly being felt by people around the world, consumers are increasingly making sustainability part of their everyday lives.
All eyes on the Sandbox
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 28/06/2021
» While most Japanese people are anxiously awaiting the start of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23, here in Thailand we're holding our breath as the country counts down to reopening Phuket.