French Probe Upsets Malay Poll?

Published on Jul 8, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Since coming to power in April 2009, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak has used the threat of an early election to keep his political opponents at bay. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had to fight-off another charge of sodomyand at the same time work the electorate amid the constant prospect that the next poll was just around the corner. It was crafty politics, early elections are unprecedented in Malaysia but the game is changing. Najib’s timeline for a poll is starting to run short and he must call an election by the first half of next year. More importantly a court case is about to get under way in France over alleged kickbacks involving Malaysia’s acquisition of....

Violence Mounts in Papua

Published on Jul 6, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Calls are mounting on Australia to use whatever influence it can muster and urge Indonesia to end the violence in its troubled West Papua province. Jakarta’s heavy hand threatened to overshadow a visit by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who is holding talks with his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard in Darwin this week. About 10 people have been killed, many more injured, including a German tourist, in the past six weeks. Read more in The Diplomat. .

Vietnam’s Trade With China

Published on Jul 1, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — As much as their official media tend to extol grand friendship between a pair of great nations, Vietnam and China have a long and tumultuous history as neighbours. More recent friendly manoeuvres between Vietnam and America are understood to comprise a kind of diplomatic bulwark against a certain unmentioned giant to the north. Vietnam’s relationship with China is complicated on a number of fronts, not least of which is trade. Read more in The Economist. .

Suu Kyi & State

Published on Jun 30, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Khin Khin, an 8-year-old donning traditional Burmese clothes, jumped up and down hysterically at the front of the Royal Festival Hall in London last week. She’s never set foot in Burma before, and only speaks a few words of her family’s native language. But she understands the importance of the lady about to take the stage. “I love her so much, I am so excited to see her,” she says, ignoring her mother’s request that she sit down. Read more in The Diplomat. .

Dance Wars

Published on Jun 29, 2012 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — It’s on again. Malaysia and Indonesia are squaring-off over another cultural dispute amid violent protests outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta, where eggs were thrown, flags burned and the use of a drum beat challenged. Two men were arrested and a flurry of communiqués exchanged between the two countries with Malaysia claiming the Tor-tor folk dance and the Gordang Sambilan beat as part of its heritage, a move unwelcomed by Indonesians from northern Sumatra where both dance and beat originate. Read more in The Diplomat. .