Books published by ISEAS

Examines the current state of governance of non-traditional security challenges confronting the ASEAN region. The book takes an issue-specific approach to investigating how ASEAN states and societies govern many of the pressing non-traditional security issues, such as climate change, food security, and environmental protection.

The Malaysian National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) was set up in 1997. Since then, it has accumulated a massive debt amounting to RM40 billion in principal plus RM13 billion in interest. All these are guaranteed by the Malaysian government. It is now the biggest provider of student loans in the country and continues to play a very important role in catalysing socio-economic mobility, especially among the ethnic Malays which is the majority community in the country. However, the business model employed by PTPTN is irrational and unsustainable. It borrows from the financial market at, on average, 4 to 5 per cent, and lends to students at 1 per cent. No serious effort has been made to revamp this model, and all public discussions around it have been driven by political populism. The biggest challenge is the low repayment rate. This problem has been ignored because Malaysian politicians of all colours have wanted to maintain popularity. Collecting debt is certainly not popular. PTPTN, under a new leadership since mid-2018, gathered and developed ideas on how to reform their organization. These ideas have been presented to various levels of government, including to the Cabinet in early 2020. PTPTN must be reformed to avoid its debt from inflating further. Whether the Malaysian government has the much-needed political will to push through the reforms is a question yet to be answered.

There is greater recognition in Washington of the importance of Southeast Asia. Located in the middle of Indo-Pacific, it will be a contested zone between China and the US and its allies. The US will step up its public diplomacy to better promote its own narrative in Southeast Asia.

Examines the 2018 Malaysian elections from three angles: campaign dynamics; important trends among major interest groups; and local-level dynamics and developments in key states. This analytical work is complemented by personal narratives from a selection of GE-14 participants.

In 2002, ASEAN made history when two of its founder members - Indonesia and Malaysia - amicably settled a dispute over the ownership of the two Bornean islands of Sipadan and Ligitan. This book covers in detail the historical roots of the issue as well as the law dimension pertaining to the process of legal proceedings and the ICJ deliberations.

Explores the challenges facing progressive voices in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore today. It examines their discourses, which delve into how multiculturalism and secularism are the way forward for the diverse societies of these three countries.

Analyses the rise of the settlement system in the heartland of the Minangkabau region in the highlands of West Sumatra. The book provides the first attempt to place the archaeological remains and the landscape of Tanah Datar, a fertile plain in the highlands of West Sumatra, in a cultural historic synthesis.

China's policy towards its diaspora is primarily governed by its national interests and foreign policy imperatives. In general, since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese government has treated the diaspora as an asset, rather than a liability.

Advances the question as to what Asia is, and as to whether there existed one or many Asia(s). The book seeks to explore Asian societies as interconnected formations through trajectories/networks of circulation of people, ideas, and objects in the longue duree.

The United States launched a new Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy in late 2017 after reluctantly concluding that its patient effort to engage and socialize China to the rules-based order since 1972 had failed.

Explores the politics of Myanmar under the reformist president Thein Sein. The book is not about the successes of the Thein Sein administration. Rather, it examines the reasons behind the lost opportunities in the transition to democracy. It draws on the author's experiences as a member of Thein Sein's cabinet.

Examines the establishment of the domestic intelligence service known as the Malayan Security Service (MSS), the colourful and controversial career of Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley, and the little-known rivalry between MI5 in London and MSS in Singapore, which led to the demise of the MSS and Dalley's retirement.

Presents an overview the Myanmar's contemporary media landscape, providing a critical assessment of the sector during the complex and controversial political transition. Moving beyond the focus on journalism and freedom of the press, this volume also explores developments in fiction, filmmaking, social movement media and social media.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for about 97-99% of total enterprises and 60-80% of total employment in ASEAN countries. This volume contains selected ASEAN country studies on the participation of SMEs in regional economic integration based on primary microdata.

Now in its forty-sixth edition, Southeast Asian Affairs offers an indispensable guide to this fascinating region. Lively, analytical, authoritative, and accessible, there is nothing comparable in quality or range to this series."" - Hal Hill, H.W. Arndt Professor of Southeast Asian Economies, Australian National University

Explores the complex historical and contemporary dimensions of Indonesia's religious, ethnic, LGBT and disability minorities from a range of perspectives, including historical, legal, political, cultural, discursive and social. The book addresses fundamental questions about Indonesia's tolerance and acceptance of difference.

Malaysia established the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) to facilitate the development of e-commerce and the country's small and medium enterprises' (SMEs') exports. The data revealed thus far indicates an increasing number of SMEs coming on board the DFTZ e-commerce platforms.