Anwar verdict resets Malaysian politics – Asia Times

January 10th, 2012

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NA11Ae01.html

KUALA LUMPUR – A not-guilty verdict in a sex scandal case against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim could prove a game-changer in the run-up to elections due by 2013 but thought by many analysts to be held this year.

After months of railing against what he deemed trumped-up and politicized charges, Anwar cut an understandably cheerful and relieved dash on Monday morning when speaking to perhaps 3,000 supporters outside the Kuala Lumpur court where he was acquitted of charges of sodomizing a male party aide in 2008. Sodomy is a criminal offense punishable by 20 years in prison in Malaysia, where Muslim citizens are subject to sharia law. (more…)

---

A decommissioned inquiry on Myanmar – Asia Times

January 9th, 2012

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NA10Ae01.html 

KUALA LUMPUR – When United Nations human-rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana recommended that the UN consider the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the country’s military rulers, the proposal was widely supported by Western countries, including the United States, that maintained economic sanctions against the country.

Depending on the proposed commission’s findings, Myanmar’s former ruling generals and current governing ex-generals could some day be tried in some form of international tribunal or at the International Criminal Court. The proposed COI would determine whether or not charges should be brought against Myanmar’s rulers and would likely focus on the Myanmar army’s well-documented abuses in the ethnic minority-populated borderland regions.

The establishment of a COI seemed a remote possibility at the outset, given that UN Security Council unanimity would likely be needed to authorize it. (more…)

---

Hell and high water in Thailand – Asia Times

November 3rd, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MK04Ae01.html

BANGKOK – With floodwaters now edging closer towards the Thai capital’s heavily-sandbagged city center, the economic, political and human costs of the country’s worst floods in over five decades are fast rising.

While northern suburbs are now sitting under two-week-old stinking floodwaters, and historic towns such as Ayutthaya and its famous temple ruins flooded for more than month, the recent news focus has been on whether Bangkok’s central areas, including the business district, will likewise be inundated. (more…)

---

Logs on the railroad – Asia Times

October 21st, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MJ26Dg02.html

After China detains activists helping would-be North Korean defectors, concerns grow that escape routes for those fleeing from North Korea might be shut down, with estimates suggesting the country’s gulag’s holds some 200,000 political prisoners.

SEOUL – “I was smuggled over the Yalu River into China”, recalls *So Yeon, a woman from Chongjin, a city in the now-decrepit industrial zone of northern North Korea,

A night-time crossing, over the Yalu or Tumen rivers that mark the North Korea-China frontier,  is the usual means by which North Koreans flee their country, to what they hope will be a better life elsewhere.

Most hope to make it South Korea, by a roundabout, dangerous odyssey that usually involves a trek through China to either Mongolia or to Southeast Asia, without official papers and under constant fear of arrest and possible deportation back to North Korea (more…)

---

Myanmar buys time with dam block – Asia Times

October 3rd, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MJ04Ae01.html

BANGKOK – China has reacted coolly to Myanmar’s surprise suspension of a controversial US$3.6 billion hydropower dam project it backed in the country’s war-torn Kachin State. Hitherto cautious observers have greeted the stoppage as the first tangible reform move undertaken by the Myanmar’s six-month-old, nominally civilian government led by former general Thein Sein.

According to the government, work on the controversial Myitsone dam will be suspended “according to the desire of the people. The announcement followed an upsurge in popular opposition to the project, where certain members of the old military elite and Aung San Suu Kyi-led political opposition found rare common cause. The project threatened the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River, the cradle of Burmese civilization. (more…)

---

In Malaysia, Najib punts on reform – Asia Times

September 16th, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MI17Ae01.html

By Anil Netto and Simon Roughneen

PENANG and BANGKOK – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has thrown down the gauntlet to the country’s political opposition with a bold-sounding reform package aimed at winning back lost popular support ahead of general elections due by 2013. Analysts believe the reform vows signal a move towards early polls, with some speculating they could be called as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

The amendments, announced last night in a speech on the eve of Malaysia Day and Merdeka (independence) Day celebrations, will entail the replacement of tough security laws, such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) and Emergency Ordinance, which have historically been used and abused by authorities to squash public dissent through provisions that allow for detention without trial.

Najib also promised to update a media code that requires publications to apply for permits every year, a regulation has created a culture of self-censorship among Malaysian journalists, and bring laws governing public assemblies in line with international norms. (more…)

---

Potent mix for Timor-Leste – Asia Times

August 30th, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MH31Ae01.html

DILI – Land, corruption and poverty are all on the table as Timor-Leste gets into political mode ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2012, with one controversial figure already throwing his hat into the ring.

Convicted of arming gunmen during Timor-Leste’s 2006 crisis, which threatened to destabilize the then four-year-old state, Rogerio Lobato told Asia Times Online that he will run for president, contesting a largely-ceremonial position now held by a fellow former Timorese exile activist, Jose Ramos-Horta. (more…)

---

To be a slave in Thailand – Asia Times

August 11th, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MH12Ae01.html

SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand – Rolling up his right shirt sleeve to show a scarred forearm, Than Zaw Oo recalls the beatings he endured onboard the Thai fishing boat where

he says he was held as indentured labor – in other words, a slave – for almost three years.

“They beat me many times, sometimes a few times a week,” he says. “In the end, I just ran away after the captain accused me of stealing mobile phones.” Like many others who have worked at the low end of Thailand’s fishing sector, Than Zaw Oo is an immigrant worker. An ethnic Burman from Myanmar’s southern Mon State, he was first lured to sea on a false promise and misguided hope of escaping the economic depression in his home country.

“The broker told me I could earn 20,000 baht (US$666) but only had to work onboard for four months,” he says, referring to the Myanmar agents who, often for an extortionate fee, offer to find jobs for their desperate compatriots who cross into Thailand seeking work. Anywhere between two to three million Myanmar migrants are currently working in Thailand, along with several hundred thousands of Cambodians and Laos. (more…)

---

More fuel for Malaysia’s fire – Asia Times

July 27th, 2011

United States diplomatic cables suggest Malaysia’s ruling party has been focused for years on avoiding overthrow by “people power”, throwing a spotlight on

Teargas fired during July 9 protest in Kuala Lumpur (Photo: Simon Roughneen)

controversial anti-riot methods seen in the crackdown on the opposition-backed Bersih 2.0 protests. Perhaps more damaging are allegations the party orchestrated religious controversies to foment sectarian divisions and increase its support among Malay voters.

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MG28Ae01.html

BANGKOK – Recently-released United States diplomatic cables from 2008-2010 shed light on Malaysia’s political scene in the aftermath of a controversial crackdown on an opposition-backed electoral reform demonstration in Kuala Lumpur where over 1,600 people were arrested, including opposition politicians.

On July 9, Malaysia’s police fired teargas and water-cannon at thousands of protesters who defied a ban on the rally, which was organized by Bersih 2.0, a coalition of non-governmental organizations that says it wants changes to how Malaysia stages elections, including the mandatory use of indelible ink to prevent voters from casting multiple ballots. (more…)

---

War trumps investment in Myanmar – Asia Times

July 25th, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MG26Ae01.html

BANGKOK – Myanmar’s longest-standing ethnic minority militia, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), has forced a halt to the construction of a key roadway link to the US$8 billion Dawei port and industrial estate mega-project. The blockage comes amid recently intensified fighting between government forces and insurgent groups in areas scheduled for massive foreign investment initiatives.

The Thai-financed Dawei project aims to jump-start Myanmar’s moribund industrial sector through better integration with Thailand’s more developed economy and infrastructure. It also aims to leverage into fast growing trade and investment enabled by the recently enacted China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreement and to which Thailand has major regional hub ambitions. (more…)

---