In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Over the last several months, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and The Asia Foundation have held dialogues on Asian approaches to development cooperation. The idea for the dialogues, which brings together development experts from Korea, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, grew out of concern over the absence of perspectives…

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In November 2011, Korea will host the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4). The HLF mechanism was established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to take stock of donors’ progress on their commitments to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

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The Malaysian state of Sabah on the northern point of Borneo, though resource-rich, has the highest poverty rate in the country. Official figures claim 16 percent, but unofficial sources put the poverty rate as high as 24 percent. Interestingly, the face of the poor in Sabah is quite unlike that of the rest of Malaysia. [...]

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Last week, the Malaysian Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development reported three more incidents of “baby dumping” in a 24-hour period, bringing the total to 60 abandoned babies this year. Many of these children have been found in dumpsters and toilets. In hopes of deterring such incidents, Malaysia’s Cabinet has recently requested that the [...]

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More Malaysians may soon request one sugar instead of two in their teh tarik and opt for the bus rather than the car for their commute to work. On July 18, 2010, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s announced cuts to subsidies on items such as sugar and fuel. This is the first step in the [...]

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Last Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, The Asia Foundation gathered together distinguished guests and partners to celebrate the initiatives and relationships that the Foundation has fostered in Malaysia since 1954. The event was attended by Malaysian leaders from the private, government, and civil society sectors and staff from the Foundation’s San Francisco, Washington, and Malaysia offices. [...]

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The Economist last week featured a telling pie chart on Malaysia’s 12th general election results. It revealed, without analysis, that Malaysia’s Barisan National (BN) coalition has the electorate in Sabah and Sarawak to thank for saving its narrow majority in parliament. While the BN was toppled in key states like Penang and Selangor, there was [...]

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