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As GE14 draws near…or, why hold elections?

Closer scrutiny of Malaysian elections since the era of Najib Razak's father can sharpen the contrasts over winning—and losing—legitimacy.

Can our cities survive climate catastrophe? Ancient Asia may hold the key

The fall of great premodern Southeast Asian settlements offers hints about what climate change has in store for today's megacities.

A ‘Malay Malaysia’, but in what sense Islamic?

The Najib government needs to win new legitimacy at GE14 if it's to juggle Malay, Islamic, and royal claims, amid a restive East Malaysia.

Documentation, Restoration, and Repatriation? Reflections on a dance film screening for the ‘Bali 1928’ project

Nien Yuan Cheng reflects on the film screening and lecture, "Gender, Crossdressing and Androgyny in Balinese Dance", conducted by ethnomusicologist Edward Herbst under the aegis of the Bali 1928 repatriation project.

‘Aku nak Islam lama balik’: a look at one kampung in Sabah

Dina Zaman on how the religious tensions of Peninsular Malaysia are being imported to Sabah.

Southeast Asia’s middle classes and the spectre of authoritarianism

Geopolitics is a factor in the resilience of authoritarianism in the region. Often ignored, though, is the enduring pull of anti-democratic politics for the middle class.

Cambodia haunted by mistakes of interventions past

What we see today in Cambodia is a direct outcome of the events of 1997, and the world’s feeble response then.

Funding an opposition’s manifesto is all about politics

Pakatan Harapan's policy promises will sound great to many voters, but how would a PH government pay for them?

The twilight of 1Malaysia, the dawn of another

GE14 is more than just a barometer of electoral sentiment. Whoever wins, Malaysia will be a different country afterwards.

Civil society and the media after Hun Sen’s crackdown

A discussion about how civil society organisations and the media are adapting to growing authoritarianism in Cambodia.

The Sufi poet and the peculiar whale (part one)

Hamzah of Barus was the foremost Malay poet of the 16th century, whose work draws deeply from Sufi imagery and philosophy.

Jokowi shares the blame for MD3 debacle

The MD3 saga lays bare not only the DPR's attempt to shield itself from public accountability, but the dysfunctionality of governance under Jokowi.