Jasmine Revolution and Social Stability in China   

The ‘Jasmine Revolution’ (JR) that began in Tunisia and spread like a prairie fire to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria, Jordan and  Oman etc. middle east dictatorial regimes has also made its reverberations felt in China and made the authorities jittery and nervous. The organizers of the JR are primarily overseas Chinese inciting the Chinese people to follow the JR suit in China, and demand freedom and democracy, political reforms and an end to the one party rule. (South Asia Analysis Group)

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Dismantling the Divide: Burma Takes One Tiny Step in the Right Direction   

For the past 22 years, Burma has been a country without politics. During this period, the country’s military rulers have exercised the powers of the state without the slightest claims to political legitimacy, while its citizens have largely stayed away from politics altogether, knowing that all who entered this sphere of public life did so at their peril. (The Jakarta Globe)

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Can Malaysia graduate?   

Malaysia is one of the developing world’s great success stories. Few countries outside of East Asia can match its development record. Since its independence over 53 years ago per capita incomes have risen more than eight-fold, and absolute poverty has been all but eliminated. (East Asia Forum)

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No Room For Complacency   

UNFPA's State of World Population 2010 and UNDP's Human Development Report 2010 were recently released and there is good and bad news for Asia. The good news is that women are giving birth to fewer children, babies born in most countries survive to celebrate their first birthday and indeed can expect to live longer than any time in history, and contraceptive use is as comparable to the developed world. With a young population, and thus a large number in the productive compared to the dependent ages, Asia is in an ideal position to reap the demographic dividend. And its economic boom is its crowning glory. But there is bad news too. Asia's averages are misleading, and conveniently cover up the inequities that persist within countries, between regions, between rich and poor, and between men and women. (The Times of India)

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Challenges facing the 1Malaysia concept   

It was 20 months ago that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak formally announced his 1Malaysia concept. We are now in a position to examine the challenges facing the idea, to reflect upon its achievements and to look ahead. (New Straits Times)

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A different road forward   

Painful adjustments needed to sustain advancement in the face of anemic innovation, slow tech upgrades and social tensions. China's per-capita income, at $3,800, has surpassed the threshold for a middle-income country. But even as economists and strategists busily extrapolate its future growth path to predict when it will catch up to the United States, the mood in China became somber and subdued in 2010. Indeed, Premier Wen Jiabao sees China's growth as "unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and ultimately unsustainable". (China Daily)

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China shown empty chair but Chinese show...

The Communist Party believes in achieving high growth rates through a market economy while relying on one party political institution to ensure social justice and peace. Political scientists are likely to point out that the system put in place by the Party has resulted in rising inequality in Chinese society and also social unrest. There is also rise in corruption not only in the Party but in the country as well. These have also triggered loss of human rights of the people. (The Brunei Times)

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