Trump and Putin test ties in Baltic showdown
16 July 2018
The future of the stateless
15 July 2018
Financing ASEAN's infrastructure demand
15 July 2018
Brit diver describes unprecedented Thai cave rescue
15 July 2018
We need a food revolution
15 July 2018Geopolitics
Geopolitics
Trump and Putin test ties in Baltic showdown
After months of anticipation, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet Monday to put to the test the United States (US) president's ambition to forge a personal bond with the Kremlin chief.If Trump's instinct is right and he finds common ground with Putin, then the pair's Helsinki Summit may take the…
The future of the stateless
The global community stood transfixed as the story of the Moo Pa football team and their coach who found themselves trapped in a Chiang Rai cave complex in Northern Thailand unfolded. The world was with them every step of the way as an international group of rescuers weighed the options, prepared…
Brit diver describes unprecedented Thai cave rescue
The British diver who found 12 Thai boys and their coach trapped alive in a flooded cave has described his "massive relief" as he counted them one by one, sparking a rescue bid unprecedented in its daring and complexity. The young "Wild Boars" and their 25-year-old football coach Ekkapol Chantawong…
We need a food revolution
In 1984, I gathered the most successful musicians of the time to form a “supergroup” called Band Aid to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. The next year, an even larger grouping was formed for Live Aid, a major benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative that continues to this…
Energy
Energy
Will we see nuclear energy in Southeast Asia?
In the past decade Asia has emerged as a booming market for nuclear energy. According to the World Nuclear Association, over half of the world’s nuclear plants under construction…
Rising oil raises energy costs
As crude prices hover around US$75 a barrel, power producers are feeling the pinch and passing on the cost to customers. Malaysia’s utility company, Tenaga Nasional (TNB) imposed…
Indonesia's geothermal potential
Many are unaware of this, but Southeast Asia is home to 25 percent of the world’s geothermal generation capacity. Most, if not all of this geothermal capacity is located in the…
Markets
Market
Southeast Asia's growth could be trade war's next casualty
For Southeast Asia’s biggest economies, 2018 wasn’t supposed to be like this.If a widening trade war wasn’t enough to contend with, a global wave of policy tightening, strong oil prices and domestic…
Financing ASEAN's infrastructure demand
In Southeast Asia of late, the spotlight has been on the many ambitious infrastructure projects happening across the region. In the Philippines, President Duterte’s “Build!, Build!, Build!”…
Can an ageing ASEAN stay competitive?
Across Asia, demographic trends are indicating a growing ageing population with the 65 and above age category projected to more than double, reaching close to 2.5 times the current figures by 2050.…
ASEAN’s exotic fruits are money spinners
With a few exceptions, most minor tropical fruits like rambutans, mangosteens, lychees, longans and durians remain a secret only known to the people who live in the areas where they are grown. Unlike…
Manufacturing is driving the region forward
The manufacturing sector has been one of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) key economic growth drivers. Already, the region is a global manufacturing hub and is estimated to grow at…
Technology
Technology
Singapore's oldest telco has plans for millennials
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. was around back when the telegraph was still cool. Now the 139-year-old company is experimenting with video games as a way to raise its…
What makes smart cities tick?
Rapid urbanisation is fuelling growth in Southeast Asia. The region’s urban areas are currently home to one third of its population and contributes to more than two…
The state of music streaming in Southeast Asia
Ever since the advent of the internet and the proliferation of smartphones, traditional media such as television and radio no longer have the same kind of mainstream…
Environment
Environment
China’s solid waste ban clogs Southeast Asia
China has been the world's largest importer of recyclable materials since the 1980s. In 2017, China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced an import ban of 24 types of solid waste (later updated to 32 types) including unsorted wastepaper, textiles and plastics. The secondary raw material harvested from the imported waste is expected to be replaced by domestic resources. The import ban is to be implemented in two tiers, with the first 16 types of waste banned by the end of 2018, and the…
Indonesia’s plastic waste problem
Indonesia has a major plastic waste problem on its hands. At the moment, the country is second only to China when it comes to dumping plastic waste into the world’s oceans. According to a Study by the University of Georgia, an estimated 3.22 million metric tons of plastic waste is tossed annually into the ocean surrounding Indonesia, while another 8.82 million metric tons of China’s plastic waste also makes its way into the ocean. The crisis of plastic waste isn’t just limited to the ocean, but…
E-waste chokes Southeast Asia
A police raid on the Wai Mei Dat Thai Recycling factory, 100km east of Bangkok last month revealed a shocking find. The 40-acre complex was laden with huge piles of electronic waste – keyboards, motherboards, electrical wires, computer screens and smartphone batteries, just to name a few. The high-level operation found that undocumented immigrant workers from Lao PDR and Myanmar were used to recycle or discard the e-waste at the site. Some of the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) would…
Environment under threat in Thailand
In April, thousands of green ribbon-wearing protestors took to the streets of Bangkok, as well as the northern city of Chiang Mai and other towns around Thailand, in one of the largest civil rallies the ASEAN member state has seen since General Prayut Chan-o-cha's military junta wrested control of the nation from a caretaker government led by former Prime Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan in 2014.At first glance, these demonstrators – who staged their protests despite a ban on public…
Real Estate
Real Estate
Singapore sticks a pin before property bubble forms
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has introduced strong measures to dampen “euphoria” in the property market.
Singapore tightens property curbs
The property stocks index dropped 1.4 percent and is set for the lowest close in 15 months.
Ho Chi Minh City: Property paradise for ASEAN
Ho Chi Minh City’s real estate landscape showcases a real estate market in near-perfect balance.
Singapore sustains comeback in home sales with gains in December
Singapore sustained a comeback in home sales in December.
Property tax reforms in Myanmar could kickstart infrastructure development
Myanmar has a notoriously low residential property taxes rate, accounting for just 7.5% of GDP, compared to the 13-14% its neighbours, Laos and…
Events
Home Event
32nd ASEAN Summit
Event Location
Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore
262 views
4th International Sustainable Energy Summit (ISES) 2018
Event Location
Pullman Hotels and Resorts, Kuching, Sarawak
182 views
ASEAN-EU Business Summit 2018
Event Date
03/02/2018
Event Location
The Grand Hyatt Singapore
312 views