In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Sitting at the back of the classroom, with one eye on her mobile phone, Shanti looks like a typical Indonesian high school student. But Shanti is not here to learn; instead, she’s a tutor herself. In a makeshift classroom constructed from two old shipping containers stacked on top of each other, Shanti tutors first grade students at the Master Community Learning Center in Depok, on the outskirts of Jakarta. “It’s a great experience,” the 17-year-old says. “I can contribute to the education of Indonesian children as well as help relieve some of the pressure on the learning center.”

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Last week, In Asia‘s editor, Alma Freeman, sat down with leading Chinese economist, Cheng Siwei, in San Francisco at the start of a series of high-level presentations he delivered across the United States on China’s economic growth and challenges ahead.

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Francia came to Tala Leprosarium from her hometown of Camarines Sur in Bicol region as a leprosy patient when she was 17 years old. Before she contracted leprosy, she had worked as a domestic helper. When I met Francia at Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, a former leprosarium and grantee of The Asia Foundation’s…

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To mark Indonesia’s National Literacy Day on October 21, The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program distributed 3,250 books to almost 50 Community Learning Centers across Jakarta. Located in low-income neighborhoods, these government-supported centers…

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In this new video, Nepal Country Representative George Varughese describes The Asia Foundation’s approach to community mediation in Nepal, and includes footage of mediators and disputants engaged in an actual mediation session…

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Internal conflicts are a widespread and enduring problem for Asia – Afghanistan, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar, among others. Ten of the 18 countries in South and Southeast Asia have protracted internal conflicts, and in a few, there are several. These internal conflicts last a very long time…

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On September 20, former president and head of Afghanistan’s peace process, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, received an urgent call while in Dubai: Taliban leaders were ready to talk peace, he was told, and he rushed back to his home in Kabul.

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For the last several days, the water level in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River has been rising in virtual synch with the escalating worry that grips a city bisected by this great river and whose neighborhoods are crisscrossed by dozens of canals, or klongs.

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Newsweek/The Daily Beast, in its September 18 issue, ranked the Philippines as the “best place in Asia for women.” The Philippines ranked 17th worldwide, among 165 countries, the only Asian country to make the top 20. Data across five categories – justice, health, education, economics, and politics – were analyzed…

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For many first- and second-generation people of Sri Lankan heritage, Sri Lanka casts a curious spell. It may be a result of being fed a steady diet of their parents’ nostalgia pie. Other children of recent immigrants from Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America, and Africa might experience the same emotional tug, but if you’ve grown [...]

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