Contemporary Issues in Southeast Asia

1. Contemporary Issues in Southeast Asia

5. Asia – July 2004

6. SE Asia – January 2004

8. Contemporary Issues in SE Asia Southeast Asia has a number of current issues, many of which fall into the following 5 broad categories: 1. Globalization - Economics 2. Democracy & Human Rights 3. Ethnic and Religious Tensions 4. Powerful Outside Interests 5. Natural Hazards 6. Global Environmental Change

9. Contemporary Issues in SE Asia Southeast Asia has a number of current issues, many of which fall into the following 5 broad categories: 1. Globalization - Economics

10. Issues in SE Asia – Global Trade Globalization is reaching all parts of the world and it is now moving throughout SE Asia. Define Globalization

12. Issues in SE Asia – Global Trade Globalization is reaching all parts of the world and it is now moving throughout SE Asia. Trade globalization is a type of economic globalization and a measure (economic indicator) of economic integration. On a global scale, it represents the proportion of all world production that is used for imports and exports between countries. Trade is only one aspect of Globalization, but this aspect is having profound influences in SE Asia.

13. Issues in SE Asia – Global Trade Globalization homogenizes the Earth. Global Trade diminishes diverse local industries and food crops in favor of the economic efficiency of global production and trade. Each country produces few products (food types), but over produces in order to export what they are good at creating and importing what they need. This form of production and trade has been promoted by the United States and other global powers along with global financial institutions such as the World Bank.

14. Issues in SE Asia – Global Trade Globalization has been able to reduce poverty in many areas, but has created other problems such as inequality, pollution, corruption, etc.

15. Issues in SE Asia – Global Trade One aspect of globalization is the rise in the West’s values—its mindset and expectations and aspirations— democracy, consumerism, etc. Drives global consumerism. It’s a material culture where manufacturing races to the bottom (lowest costs) to create a maximum profit. Often most of the labor is done in developing countries and most of the profits go to developed nations.

16. Issues in SE Asia – Global Trade Concerning Globalization, SE Asia has: Cheap Labor Natural resources, such as timber Location between East Asia and South Asia / Africa

18. Pacific Rim Free Trade It is a mammoth project: 12 countries are negotiating to form an unprecedented free trade zone – the much-vaunted Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). After Japan joined the talks in July, the proposed agreement could encompass 800 million people in Asia and the Pacific region – home to almost 40% of global GDP and a quarter of world merchandise trade. Four Asean member states – Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Brunei – are in sitting down with the US, Chile, New Zealand, Canada, Peru, Australia, Mexico and Japan.

20. Pacific Rim Free Trade Iondonesia’s economy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7b5beLuB7c

21. Pacific Rim Free Trade There are winners and losers with globalizations. Usually corporations and corrupt government officials do well. Global trade provides important economic earnings for different SE Asian countries. For example: Cambodia’s garment industry is the country’s key foreign exchange earner – worth more than $5 billion this year (2012) alone, mostly in exports to the U.S. and the European Union. The sector is also Cambodia’s biggest formal employer, with 400,000 workers.

22. Pacific Rim Free Trade In November 2013 there were major garment worker protests in Cambodia. Garment workers are angry that the government this week decided to boost the monthly minimum wage by just $15 – from $80 to $95. Many had expected it would double to $160. The new minimum wage is due to come into effect in April 2014.

25. Pacific Rim Free Trade In November 2013 there were major garment worker protests in Cambodia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c-30Vu_-70 • Eric StanAn immediate raise in garment worker’s wages to $160 per month, like Sam Rainsy is proposing now, is completely irresponsible because of the immediate catastrophic effects it will have. All the factories will close and move to other countries where the labor is cheaper, like Bangladesh ($67), Burma ($53), or Vietnam ($78). This is a fact. Many of the companies in Cambodia now have already done this in the past. The garment industry in Cambodia makes up 80% of Cambodia’s total exports, which in 2012 was $4.61 billion USD.

27. Pacific Rim Free Trade Not only are workers protesting trade issues, but so are many of the indigenous people of SEAsia.

29. Contemporary Issues in SE Asia Southeast Asia has a number of current issues, many of which fall into the following 5 broad categories: 1. Globalization - Economics 2. Democracy & Human Rights

30. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Democratization has been problematic across much of Southeast Asia, and the region’s governments generally possess lackluster human rights records, with most violations occurring around issues of press freedom and political dissent.

31. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Countries like Vietnam, Laos (both communist), and Cambodia have largely foregone any efforts to democratize, whereas Indonesia has taken huge strides in democratization since 1998, as has Malaysia since 1986.

32. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Despite a long history of political oppression against the Buddhist-inspired opposition, military-ruled Burma (Myanmar) has embarked on measured democratization since 2008. Thailand has the most longstanding democracy in the region, though it too has experienced brief interludes of military intervention in politics as recently as 2006.

33. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights The politics of Brunei take place in a framework of an absolute monarchy, whereby the Sultan of Brunei is both head of state and head of government. His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji HassanalBolkiahMu'izzaddinWaddaulah, is the head of state with full executive authority.

34. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Democracy is facing a serious challenge in South-east Asia. As popular sovereignty gains traction and ordinary voters really start to have a say in who governs, the traditional power alignments and ordering of societies are fracturing.

35. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Faced with unpredictable outcomes at the ballot box that threaten their interests, usually conservative forces are resisting electoral change and challenging the legal basis of the democratic process. In some cases they are doing this by harnessing popular protest and threatening violence, as is the case in Thailand. And when the establishment wins, the opposition cries foul and seeks to overturn the result, again using the power of the mob.

36. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights As a result, after a long period of struggle to establish democratic representation as the basis of government in the region, the electoral process is turning into a flashpoint for violence and conflict. Sound familiar – Arab Spring -

42. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Polar world – 2 sides

43. Pacific Rim Free Trade In Thailand, 14 years of turbulent democracy ended with a military coup in 2006. Elections eventually resumed, but after anti-government protesters camped in Bangkok's commercial center for months in 2013 demanding new elections, the government finally broke up the demonstrations and began shooting and arresting protesters.

44. Pacific Rim Free Trade The two sides in Thailand’s political struggle are hurtling towards what could be the most damaging confrontation yet to hit a country whose reputation for democratic and economic leadership in southeast Asia is crumbling. The opposition is boycotting elections called for February 2 and is intensifying efforts to not only overthrow the government, but also suspend the rule of parliament.

45. Pacific Rim Free Trade At a time when autocratic regimes are tightening their grip in neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam, both sides in Thailand have chipped away at the credibility of one of the few relatively free countries in a region of growing financial power.

46. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Indonesia is the world's third-largest democracy and one of its newest. But while Indonesia is consolidating its democratic institutions and slowly making progress against endemic corruption, democracy elsewhere in Southeast Asia is in distress.

47. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Elites hold tight to the reins of power across a diverse swath of Southeast Asia. The Philippians have families which hold onto power. Both Laos and Vietnam are legally one-party states, while Cambodia and Singapore, despite elections, are effectively so.

48. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Malaysia holds competitive elections, but the media and freedom of assembly are so restricted the opposition cannot win at the national level. Malaysia's predominant political party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), has held power since Malaysia's independence in 1957. In recent years there have been large political protests in Malaysia, protesting a corrupt political system.

49. Bersih (clean) Political protest in Malaysia, 2011, Protesters wanted cleaner elections.

50. SE Asia and Democracy & Human Rights Perhaps to prevent another Bersih, the Malaysian Parliament has approved the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill which gives police and government authorities broad powers to control and even ban street assemblies and protests.