There is a long history of proposals to reform the Malaysian healthcare system. Yet, no clear plan has ever been finalized, and the two-tier public/private structure, and financing mechanism of the public health sector remains unchanged. The reforms propose to create a scheme based on contributions from the public. Resistance to change comes from the private healthcare sector and private health insurers, both with their vested interests, as well as public interest groups that worry about the impact on the general public. The author argues that a financing scheme to raise funds from the public as mandatory contributions would relieve the Ministry of Health from internal budget competition with other governmental departments, but would also entail extra taxation, which is unlikely to gain popular support in a time of worsening global and local economies induced by both the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Full Text PDFThe author, a second-generation Vietnamese-American born in California’s Orange Country nineteen years after the end of the Vietnam War, learned about the personal histories of her family, and of the war through her parents who had witnessed the conflict firsthand. The author, now a student in the United States, has confronted issues of identity—personal, cultural, and historical—of straddling both worlds, of her motherland that her family departed from, and the adopted American homeland, and has discovered great resiliency in her life of diaspora.
Full Text PDFThe author reflects on the full circle in the Philippine presidency—from the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to the election of his son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., as president in May 2022. Soon after the fall of the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1986, the author began reporting on the Philippines as a correspondent for the Business Times (The Straits Times Group of Singapore, a historic, storied newspaper of Southeast Asia). Traveling to Manila and the provinces, he interviewed President Corazon Aquino, Vice-President Salvador Laurel, as well as Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos (who passed away in July 2022), and Senator Joseph Estrada, both of whom later became president, and senior officials and media persons in Manila and in the barrios. His reporting resulted in his winning the Mitsubishi-Press Foundation of Asia “Journalist of the Year Award” in June 1989.
Full Text PDFBangladesh emerged in the Cold War world as an independent, sovereign republic on December 16, 1971, under the politico-military patronage of neighboring India, which played a pivotal role in its liberation. Bangladesh and India have built a special relationship rooted in a common cultural heritage, principles and values, forged by shared aspirations and sacrifices of its people. Their relationship has suffered cyclical phases of highs and lows, largely reflecting the changing governments both in Dhaka and New Delhi. Bangladesh’s foreign policy choices have been cautious and measured. It is, at times, hesitant and finds it uncomfortable to function under a bilateral parameter as it prefers multilateral arrangements. India has been constrained to singlehandedly take the relationship forward because Bangladesh views bilateral ties through the prism of a younger brother that expects the bigger brother to do more. For its part, India has been circumspect in its reactions to various statements that emanate from Dhaka. This article examines the positive engagement between the two countries since 2007, and the pending issues such as sharing the waters of the Teesta River, and the killings on the India-Bangladesh border. Out of the box agreements are certainly required to resolve the remaining bilateral issues in a timely manner.
Full Text PDFAs the transnational terrorist outfits Al-Qaeda (AQ) and Islamic State (IS) have notable strongholds in South Asia, the author conducted this study to assess the existing condition of AQ and IS in this region and their propaganda campaigns in India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Employing a synchronic approach and content analysis, the author obtained data through targeted selection of topics and news from domestic national newspapers, books, diplomatic websites, analytical websites, online news agencies, official websites of AQ and its official Facebook and Telegram sites, as well as the pages and magazines of AQ and IS from January 2015 to July 2022. The findings show that both AQ and IS aim to persistently execute their goals by staging militant attacks in the region. Despite the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri in July 2022, AQ still has eight “inspired groups” in South Asia, while the IS has seven. Through an Islamic apocalyptic narrative known as Gazwatul Hind, AQ and its linked groups are bolstering their strongholds in South Asia in order to attack their stated targets in India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The IS-inspired groups’ geographical closeness poses a significant threat to these areas. The propaganda campaigns of both these terrorist groups also aim to exploit the unstable situation of the Rohingya refugees, and to undermine the loyalties of the population of India and Bangladesh by means of communication materials.
Full Text PDFColor plays a large role in the Bollywood film industry. The Indian audience’s obsession with fairness of the feminine skin, especially women appearing on the silver screen still remains a significant factor behind the casting of fair-skinned female actors even for roles best suited to women of color. The prejudice, however, is not just against colored women but also against men of color, especially members of the Black community, in particular those whose origins are in Africa. This paper explores the subtle racial prejudices that some Indian filmmakers hold against members of the Black population, resulting in the de-humanization of the characters on screen.
