In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Malaysia’s 13th general elections must be called by June 2013. After the ruling Barisan Nasional lost its two thirds majority in the 2008 elections, the big question in the minds of citizens and political parties is whether BN will recapture its majority or lose further ground to the opposition.

> More

While the Asian Century is most often used to describe the global shift of economic power to Asia, Asia’s rise is also significant in the area of development cooperation. Asian countries have emerged as game changers in the aid arena, challenging traditional notions of aid, reshaping global aid architecture…

> More

Malaysiakini, a trailblazing, online news service based in Kuala Lumpur and published in English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil with an impressive readership of 2.5 million per month, has for more than a decade found a way around the country’s strict censorship policy by publishing only online.

> More

Real GDP growth in Malaysia has slowed considerably over the past decade and domestic investment, measured as a percentage of GDP, has also decreased. These trends raise doubts about whether Malaysia can attain its goal of reaching developed nation status by the year 2020…

> More

On Monday night, April 2, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced to the nation that the country was on track to achieve its goal of high-income developed nation status by 2020. Unveiling the results of the first 2-year phase of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Najib proudly stated that the list of achievements has been “nothing short of astounding.”

> More

In the 60 years since The Asia Foundation began, the global development landscape and accompanying aid architecture has changed dramatically. Tackling the challenge of global poverty reduction seems to be on track. In the early 1980s, more than half of people in developing countries lived in extreme poverty.

> More

On the eve of Malaysia Day (Sept 16), Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak made his boldest political move to date. In a nationally televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister announced his intention to repeal the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) along with several other restrictive laws. “The time has come for us to take another step forward, not only in economics and education, but also in upholding democratic principles,” the PM said.

> More

Over the past year, The Asia Foundation in partnership with the Korea Development Institute (KDI) has convened a series of dialogues on Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation to discuss the experience and perspectives of six Asian countries…

> More

On July 25, 2011, Australia and Malaysia signed an agreement on the transfer and resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers. Over the next four years under the arrangement, Australia will send 800 unprocessed asylum seekers who land on its shores to Malaysia where they will be administered by the United Nations.

> More

On April 16, citizens of Malaysia’s largest state, Sarawak, will go to the polls for the state’s 10th elections, where 213 candidates are vying for 71 seats. Since the first state election after independence in 1969, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) has won every state election in Sarawak. Will this one be any different?

> More