More than 350 people, comprised of 200 fishermen from the states of Penang and Perak, and representatives from various organisations, marched to Malaysia’s Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, last week, to protest against the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project and the sand mining project in Perak.The PSR project involves the materialisation of three artificial islands with a total land area of 4,500 acres which will be sold to fund an RM49 billion (US$11.9 billion) megaproject, the Penang Transpo

Almost 20 million children missed out on potentially life-saving vaccinations last year, the United Nations (UN) said Monday, as surging measles cases highlighted "dangerous" gaps in efforts to shield kids from preventable illness.Last year, 19.4 million children were "not fully vaccinated", the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UNICEF children's agency said in an annual report – up from 18.7 million in 2017 and about 18.5 million the year before.This all pointe

The recent nomination of five protected areas to join the ASEAN Heritage Parks network marks another milestone in the region’s efforts to conserve its rich but highly threatened biodiversity – and sheds more light on this valuable network of nature reserves and marine parks.Managed by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), ASEAN Heritage Parks are defined as “protected areas of high conservation importance which preserve complete spectrums of representative ecosystems of the ASEAN region.”A

“Traffickers target youths who have bad reputations or low moral character more than youths who don’t understand.” This is what Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Director General U Win Naing Tun was quoted as saying recently when talking about human trafficking. Most human trafficking in Myanmar involves the selling of women as brides to China.Naing Tun’s words seem, at least at first glance, to have a tinge of victim-blaming in them.

At least one person has been found dead and hundreds were evacuated after a major 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the remote Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, an official said.The shallow quake struck about 165 kilometres (100 miles) south-southwest of the town of Ternate in North Maluku province at 6:28 pm (0928 GMT), according to the United States (US) Geological Survey.In South Halmahera district, the closest area to the epicentre, around 160 houses collapsed when the shallow ear

At least 10 people have died and thousands of shanty homes have been destroyed by monsoon rains in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh's southeast, officials said Sunday.Bangladesh's meteorological department said the Cox's Bazar district – home to nearly one million Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar – has seen at least 58.5 centimetres (nearly two feet) of rain since 2 July. An International Organisation for Migration (IOM) sp

ASEAN’s Strategic Plan for Culture 2016-2025 is to facilitate intercultural dialogue among the peoples of ASEAN through the engagement of various stakeholders to raise awareness and appreciation for the culture and arts sector.

A recent report has pitted the Philippines as one of the most dangerous countries in the world, positioning it next to the likes of conflict-ridden Syria and Yemen.The report, entitled “Fact Sheet: Civilians in Conflict” by Sam Jones and Melissa Pavlik from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), placed India as the most dangerous country, with 1,385 violent events that targeted civilians.

The youth have often been pitted as Cambodia’s greatest asset especially in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) World Factbook, 30.8 percent of Cambodia’s population is made up of people between the ages of zero to 14 years, 17.8 percent is made up of those between 15 to 24 years, and 41.1 percent is made up of those between the ages of 25 to 54 years.

The populations in many ASEAN countries are ageing fast. Singapore’s population of 65-year-olds is expected to reach 26.6 percent in 2035, while the ageing population of Thailand is expected to reach 22.8 percent. By 2050, Thailand’s old-age dependency ratio will rise to more than 50 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).The latest government statistic shows that Vietnam has 11.3 million old people, where 1.8 million are over the age of 80.