It remains essential to work with the Indonesian government to address the haze. However, while intergovernmental cooperation remains key, there is every reason to expect corporations to do their part to stop the fires and haze or risk being taken to task. The first steps towards...
There are reasons to be frustrated and angry about the haze pollution, caused by fires in Indonesian provinces. There are also reasons to question whether real action will be taken and can be effective. The problem is driven not by natural causes, but by man-made deforestation...
SIIA Chairman Simon Tay was quoted by Channel NewsAsia on the current transboundary haze. The article was published on 14 Sep 2015 and the full text is available on Channel NewsAsia. Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Associate Professor Simon Tay said being a "tough...
Singapore Institute of International Affairs Chairman Simon Tay discusses the haze affecting parts of Southeast Asia, its cause and what's being done about it. He speaks to Bloomberg's Haslinda Amin on "First Up" on 16 September 2015. Q. It's not a new problem, it's been going on for...
It is clear that the haze from fires burning in Indonesia has returned and is worsening. On Tuesday last week (Aug 25), visibility in Palembang, the provincial capital of South Sumatra, was down to about 300m. The count of possible fire hot spots has risen...
Indra Pelani was energetic and inquisitive. After planting the fields, he often roamed the village with his camera to record life in Tebo, a district in the resource-rich Indonesian province of Jambi. Sometimes he would capture clashes between the local farming community and the plantation...
At the APEC meeting in April, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi) promised lucrative investment prospects in the region’s largest market. Yet, at the Asia-Africa Summit held in Bandung that same month, Jokowi’s tone shifted, urging emerging markets to avoid domination by foreign...
With President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo now at the helm of ASEAN's biggest nation, what does the future hold for Singapore-Indonesia ties, as well as Indonesia's relations with the rest of the region? We spoke to Dr. Dino Patti Djalal, former Indonesian Vice Foreign Minister and...
How has Singapore fared in managing its relations with its closest neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia? What lies ahead for these key relationships, both at the bilateral level, and at the multilateral level as part of ASEAN? We organised a public lecture on "Connecting Singapore and...
The recurring haze from fires in Indonesia has returned, visibly and early, even if not as thickly as in past years. The politics around the issue may also heat up following a recent comment by Indonesia’s Vice-President Jusuf Kalla. The respected political veteran last week chided...