A united geopolitical voice would give the Association of Southeast Asian Nations a bigger global role, says Simon Tay, the chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its ten member states join in the establishment of...
The haze law passed by Singapore last month to punish polluters who cause the haze could have been put to its first test if the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) had stayed above 100 for a few more hours early this week. Many of us in Singapore...
The sale of Islamic State (IS) flags in Singapore may simply be an isolated incident. But it is a reminder that the conflict in Iraq and Syria has real implications for our region. There are IS supporters in Southeast Asia with the long-term goal of...
Will Indonesia’s ratification of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze help our fight against the long-standing public health and environmental crisis? The SIIA deputy director Chua Chin Wei tackled the question in this interview with Lianhe Zaobao. Q: What will the next steps be for Indonesia following...
Indonesia's ratification of the ASEAN haze agreement is an important milestone, said the SIIA deputy director and fellow Chua Chin Wei. It demonstrates the Indonesian administration's readiness to coordinate its haze fighting efforts with fellow ASEAN members after a 12-year stalemate due to concerns over...
SINGAPORE: Legal experts in Singapore say Indonesia's ratification of the haze pact is a step forward for both Indonesia and ASEAN, but it is the implementation on the ground that will determine if the agreement has teeth. Indonesia's Parliament on Tuesday (16 Sep) voted to ratify...
The decision to scrap Myanmar’s by-elections at the end of this year came as a surprise to the country’s political parties, who had been gearing up to contest the 35 empty seats in Parliament. However, there is nothing political behind the election commission’s decision to cancel...
The crisis in Ukraine has raised the possibility of Russia cutting off its natural gas supply to the European Union (EU) to retaliate against Western sanctions. But will Russia really do that at the expense of its gas income? If it does, will it be...
SINGAPORE — Twelve years after signing the regional haze pact, Indonesia’s Parliament gave its unanimous approval yesterday to ratify the pact, offering a glimmer of hope that more would be done to ensure fewer haze episodes for Singapore and other neighbouring countries. In doing so, Indonesia...
COUNTRIES IN Asean, including Thailand, should not seek to choose between the majors powers or to be neutral, but should be close to both the United States and China, a Singaporean academic said yesterday. "I don't think it's in Thailand's interests to be too close to...