Will the legacy of one the most influential figures in the kingdom endure?

August seemed to be the month of independence for much of Asia, including Malaysia. However, most of the region is now grappling with nationhood and pluralism.

The people's determination is driving the country's coffee industry, making the communist republic the world's second-largest coffee producer.

It’s estimated that some 10-12% of Myanmar’s population live or work overseas – a statistic comparable with the Philippines.

THE West Bank. Gaza. Xinjiang. Modern-day concentration camps. Is the 12.5 million strong, majority Muslim, northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) next?

INDUSTRY can be both magnificent and awful.INDUSTRY can be both magnificent and awful.

IN 1936, when the French first launched the “Transindochinois” railway service linking Hanoi with Saigon, there were gala celebrations, sports competitions and commemorative stamps galore – all presided over by the debonair Governor-General and the Vietnamese Emperor, Bao Dai.

NEARLY four years ago, the south Indian city of Chennai (capital of Tamil Nadu) was under water. The worst floods in living history – the result of cyclones from the Bay of Bengal – had reduced this manufacturing and services powerhouse of eleven million to a standstill as brackish water lapped at the wheels of the planes parked at the Anna International Airport. The human tragedy was substantial, with over 500 deaths and some 1.8 million people displaced.

Bantar Gebang is the apocalypse: the end of the world will probably look like it.

HISTORIANS deal with the past. As the architects of our collective memory; they record, document and preserve. History can never be objective because like any form of storytelling, there’s always a writer or narrator who selects, edits and crafts the source material. Biases are therefore to be expected. The best we can do is to be aware of their existence.

MANILA, Jakarta and Bangkok: Southeast Asian cities are vast, rambunctious and extremely competitive, verging on the cutthroat.

“OUR freedom and our rights are fast-disappearing. This wasn’t like the ‘Occupy’ movement back in 2014. Back then, the general public weren’t so convinced. This time, it’s very different. Many people feel they have no choice; that they have to demonstrate in order to preserve our current way of life and our autonomy.”