In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

In Vietnam, a remarkable 95 percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have access to the internet, with social networking growing so rapidly that Vietnam is Facebook’s fastest growing market in the world, with an estimated 8.5 million users, according to a We Are Social report. No doubt, rapid economic growth in the past two decades has contributed to tremendous social transformation in Vietnam, while global integration and the communications revolution have connected young Vietnamese to outside information and views like never before. Despite these trends, a brand new survey reveals that traditional gender roles remain deeply embedded in Vietnamese society and institutions, permeating work, home, and the public arena.

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For Southeast Asia, 2012 brought both challenges and opportunities to the region – from Cambodia’s chairmanship of ASEAN and further political opening in Burma (also known as Myanmar) to tensions in the South China Sea and the adoption of the ASEAN Declaration of Human Rights (ADHR).

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For the past 30 years, Asia has been urbanizing at a faster rate than any other region in the world. In 2011, Asia was home to roughly 61 percent of the world’s population, or 4.2 billion people. More than 40 percent of them now live in urban areas. By 2025, Asia will have 21 of the world’s 37 megacities…

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When I first met Pandju Merali at his home in Seal Beach, California, in 2010, he told me a story about his life, which is recorded in his memoir, From Africa 2 America. Mr. Merali talked about what it was like growing up as a child of Indian descent in the Congo…

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This month, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was at the center of a flurry of diplomatic activity as members gathered in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh for the annual summit meeting, as well as a series of high-level “ASEAN plus” meetings…

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A buzz of excitement filled the room, with camera lights flashing and fingers fervently typing on laptops and smartphones. Students, young professionals, and seasoned journalists from around the Asia-Pacific gathered eagerly for the start of BlogFest Asia 2012 in Siem Reap…

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On September 23, a Vietnamese organization arranged simultaneous flash mobs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. A few days later, another organization helped a youth group hold a festival to promote anti-corruption among students…

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In the just-released 2012 World Risk Index, which ranks countries based on their level of vulnerability to natural disasters, 12 of the top 20 at-risk countries are in the Asia-Pacific. Vietnam, which every year endures an average of eight to 10 extreme weather events and natural disasters…

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Last month, local headlines in Vietnam announced the government’s much-welcomed decision to earmark an additional $119 million (VND2.5 trillion) to assist with loans to low-income university students in the upcoming academic year. This is certainly good news, because despite Vietnam’s strong economic growth…

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At the second APEC Women and the Economy Forum held in St. Petersburg in June, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that: “Limiting women’s economic potential is for every country like leaving money on the table.

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