Asia’s Gender Gap

Published on Jan 15, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Asia’s female leaders are finally beginning to emerge, succeeding at the ballot box despite being restricted in the workforce. With the economic and social costs becoming more obvious, how long can the region continue to ignore its women? In December, Park Geun-hye’s election as South Korea’s first female president was an historic victory in a traditionally male-dominated society. The country has acted to boost the number of female lawmakers by requiring the same number of male and female candidates for proportional representation in national elections. Read more from Anthony Fensom in The Diplomat. .

UMNO and a Mongolian Model

Published on Jan 13, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The plot has all the trappings of a B-grade movie: the murder of a glamorous Mongolian socialite amid allegations of high-level bribery, blackmail, betrayal and political cover-up. But these are real-life events, and they could set back the chances of Malaysia’s ruling coalition in an election that Prime Minister Najib Razak must call by midyear. Read more from Lindsay Murdoch in The Age.   .

Trafficking Rohingya

Published on Jan 13, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Members of the ethnic minority arriving from Myanmar and Bangladesh in hope of better lives enter a tangled human trafficking web in Thailand, where local officials, complicitous members of their own group and fixers make them pay dearly for their dreams. Read more in Spectrum.     .

Thailand the Centre of Illegal Ivory Trade

Published on Jan 13, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — A new report detailing the slaughter of African elephants to supply increasingly sophisticated smuggling gangs has led critics to charge that flaws in Thailand’s policy on domesticated elephants help to fuel the bloody business. Read more from Piyaporn Wongruang in Spectrum.   .

Outrage Over Another Laos Dam

Published on Jan 12, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The start-up of an expanded hydropower dam on the Nam Ngouang River in central Laos is set to impact the lives of thousands, an international environmental group said. “The Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project has displaced over 7,500 people and will affect the livelihoods of tens of thousands more people living downstream,” said Tania Lee, Lao program coordinator for the International Rivers activist group. Read more in The Nation.   .