Indonesian Street Vendors Imagine Democracy (Video Interview with Dr. Sheri L. Gibbings)
Memo #109 – Today, talk of democracy and what constitutes a public good is common in Indonesia among people from all walks of life. In her brief interview, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Sheri L. Gibbings discusses a group of street vendors in Yogyakarta City who have taken up the cause of democracy and transparency.
Singapore’s Divisive Seventh Presidential Election
Memo #101 – Singapore’s recent presidential election (PE) was unusual as it was a highly politicized contest for an apolitical post. Unlike the previous two uncontested PE, this PE saw four candidates vying to be the country’s largely ceremonial, highly paid head of state. While three presidential hopefuls were former People’s Action Party (PAP) members, one was an opposition candidate in the general election (GE) held four months ago. On August 27, 2011, the government favoured candidate, former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Tony Tan was elected the seventh president by a razor thin margin.
Thailand Post-election Analysis: Crisis and Opportunity
Memo #97 – The highest voter turnout in history shows Thai voters still view elections as the most legitimate way to transfer power. 75 per cent of eligible voters participated in last week’s election. Pheu Thai took 40 per cent of the vote, gained 265 out of 500 seats, and together with five other parties will form a 300-seat coalition government – an impressive result for a party whose predecessors were ousted by a coup d’état in 2006, twice dissolved, and had their politicians banned from politics for five years.
Never-married Women in Southeast Asia
Memo #96 – In Southeast Asia the proportion of women who remain single past their childbearing years has been increasing. The figure tends to be higher among women who have tertiary education. There are significant implications when the number of never-married women becomes large: in Southeast Asia, women who do not marry tend not to have children and this will affect fertility levels. Also, what social identity will these women take in the absence of the wife-mother role?
The Indonesian Model: Learning from a Muslim Majority Democracy
Memo #86 – With the old autocracies of the Middle East falling and new regimes yet to emerge, policy makers are grasping for models that can inform analysis. U.S. President Obama has proposed the ‘Indonesian model.’ The logic is straightforward: Indonesia is a majority Muslim country that has transitioned from a military dominated autocracy to a democracy.
The Shifting Role of Law in Myanmar
Memo #84 – A Myanmar court on March 29, 2011 granted bail to Australian businessman Ross Dunkley accused of assaulting and unlawfully confining a sex worker. Dunkley said he would fight the charges. “I just can’t believe there is a case,” Agence France Press quoted him as saying. “There is no witness, there is no evidence. “
Ten Years after Indonesia’s ‘Big Bang’
Memo #83 – 2011 marks a decade since the implementation of Indonesia’s democratic decentralization project (the ‘Big Bang’), the largest of its kind in the world. With the exception of Jakarta and three other provinces with special autonomy arrangements, most state powers and responsibilities were devolved to sub-provincial governments. Ten years ago, there was a nationwide reordering of the structures and processes of government and we can now evaluate the success of these policies.
Turn of Tide: Singapore’s Watershed Election 2011
Memo #82 – On May 7, 2011, 2.06 million Singaporeans cast their votes and returned the People’s Action Party (PAP) to power. Most parties would be happy with the PAP’s 60.1 per cent vote and 81 out of 87 seats. But the result was the party’s worst performance since 1963, a far cry from its 75 per cent vote share during its heydays in the 2001 general election (see Figure 1). Singaporeans were disaffected and voted two cabinet ministers and a candidate slated to be speaker of the House out of office. In an election post-mortem, both minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew and senior minister Goh Chok Tong resigned from the cabinet.
Thai-Cambodian Border Clashes – What is Fuelling them?
Memo #80 – Since the end of April 2011, fighting between the Thai and Cambodian armies along their disputed border killed 18 people, injured over 120, and displaced nearly 100,000 villagers. Since hostilities began in July 2008, border clashes have now left at least 28 dead and some 150 injured. The conflict is centred around three ancient temples built by Khmer kings nearly a thousand years ago. But most analysts contend that territory is not the driving concern, rather it is fuelled by domestic politics in both countries.
Understanding Indonesian Migration via Labour Brokers
Memo #78 – Are brokers crucial to international migration in Asia? Yes, based on the results of a recent workshop at the National University of Singapore. Brokers’ importance is increasing due to new bilateral agreements and market deregulation. But a full analysis of Asian migration also depends on understanding the social relationship between brokers and migrants, and the way migrants come to trust an emerging class of informal brokers.