Today Around Southeast Asia
PHUKETWAN recognises the importance of Asean with the Economic Community approaching and marks what's happening around the region with a new column, Asean Today.
Brunei
9news.com.au The Sultan of Brunei has declared Sharia law in his tiny southeast Asian nation, all while being exposed by a former member of his harem for his extreme hypocrisy. A former member of the Sultan's harem, Jillian Lauren, has exposed him telling '60 Minutes' she committed several punishable crimes with him.
news.com.au Brunei has a population just over 415,000 and was ranked the fifth richest nation in the world by Forbes thanks to its large oil and gas reserves. Its citizens enjoy free health and education, most are employed in the public sector and none of them criticise the royal family - because it's not allowed.
Malaysia
wsj.com Malaysian police said they have arrested a dozen suspects linked to the Islamic State terror group allegedly plotting to attack government targets around Kuala Lumpur. The suspects, all male aged 17 to 41, intended to carry out the plan in response to a call by an unnamed senior Islamic State leader in Syria.
straitstimes.com There is an intense ''implosion'' taking place within Malaysia's ruling party Umno, former deputy Prime Minister Tun Musa Hitam said. The situation is ''unhealthy and confusing'' and there is an ''eerie sense of loss of direction in the country which can be felt across the board,''he said.
Indonesia
reuters Relatives of several convicts on death row in Indonesia made emotional last-ditch appeals for mercy, adding their voices to foreign governments and the head of the United Nations who called for the group of nine to be spared the firing squad.
independent.co.uk British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, on death row in Indonesia, has said that she accepts her fate and ''just wants to get it over with'' after hearing that the next wave of executions will take place in a matter of days.
Cambodia
AP When it comes to 700 asylum seekers detained on the remote Pacific Island nation of Nauru, Australia is hard-selling Cambodia as something unexpected: their new promised land of opportunity. Still haunted by the Vietnam War next door and the 1970s genocide that followed, Cambodia is not exactly the place that the world's refugees dream of reaching.
Burma
kachinnews.com A 103-year-old Kachin women from Mahtek village was shot and killed on March 21 along with her son by army troops operating in Kachin state's Mansi township according to a statement issued by the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a Christian humanitarian organisation that is well known for operating in difficult to reach places in Burma's conflict areas.
Philippines
afr.com The Philippines called on its Southeast Asian neighbors to unite in urging China to halt reclamation of land in the South China Sea, but the call failed to raise widespread support ahead of a regional summit.
Vietnam
10news.com A ceremony is being held at the Marine Corps Aviation Museum, T-4203 Anderson Ave. to remember the day South Vietnamese lost their native country 40 years ago. The event is being hosted by the Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation whose Chairman is Major General Bobby Butcher.
Although no fan of drug smuggling, I do not agree with death penalties in general. One has to remember that with with some regularity, people have been released after spending long stretches behind bars, were later found innocent and released. You can't release a dead person. Indonesia should be punished by immediately ceasing development aid, abolish preferential tariffs for their exports and shunning murderous little Joko and his clique.
Posted by Anonymous on April 27, 2015 07:17