Asia

Extreme weather events made worse by climate change are wreaking havoc on cities worldwide. Al Lim evaluates Singapore’s climate resilience through the lens of the recent MRT flooding incidents, and explores how Singapore can strengthen social resilience as a community.

To secure Singapore’s economic future, look to Southeast Asia. In the past fifty years, Singapore has been the economic success story of the region. The tables are now starting to turn. ASEAN countries are now some of the fastest growing countries in the world, and Brendan Chia argues that Southeast Asia holds the key to Singapore’s own economic growth.

President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem undoubtedly complicates the picture; is the Holy City a red-line issue which the Saudis will feel compelled to publicly object to? As guardians of the two holiest sites in Islam, there has historically been an expectation that the Saudis would repudiate such a move. But, in these new times, will the royals bite their tongues, calculating that the Kingdom’s deepening links with the Jewish state are more important than demanding that East Jerusalem be reserved as the future capital of a Palestinian state?

Despite over two and a half years of war, the average American seems oblivious to the United States’ role in fueling the conflict in Yemen. The US government (beginning with the Obama administration and continuing with Trump) has continued to fully support the Saudi-led coalition through the sale of weapons, mid-air refueling, targeting intelligence, and other logistical support.

In 2016, at least 63,000 children either starved to death or died of preventable diseases such as cholera. Another 50,000 are estimated to have died this year, bringing the total to over 113,000 children.

It is of the utmost importance now, if only in spirit, to confront the individuals and institutions responsible for the pain felt by the millions who have done nothing wrong.

Jia Hui Lin writes that rideshare drivers need better social protection. She presents her findings from 68 interviews with Singaporean Uber and Grab drivers, and argues that drivers need more flexible savings options.

A panel at the Arab Conference at Harvard explored the past, present, and future of the Gaza Strip.

On this week’s episode of the Middle East Weekly we discuss Thomas Friedman’s recent controversial column “Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last” and the attack on al-Rawda Mosque in Egypt’s North Sinai Governorate on November 24, 2017.

The recent MRT collision has once more raised eyebrows and, as PM Lee acknowledged, “hurt public confidence a lot”. Azfer A. Khan writes that a rise in public distrust is precipitated by poor communication, which has projected an image (whether true or not) of a secretive, misleading, and bureaucratic government structure.

By HALA AL-HARIRI “In this room, the honorable Bchara El Khoury, President of the Republic of Lebanon, was arrested from November 11 until November 22, 1943.” This is written on a plaque on the wall of The Rashaya Citadel, also known as the Citadel of Independence. Another plaque says the same for the honorable Prime Minister Riad […]

On this week’s episode of the Middle East Weekly, we discuss Sa’ad Hariri’s resignation from his post as Prime Minister of Lebanon; the earthquake that struck the Iran-Iraq border; and a coalition deal that allowed IS fighters to leave Raqqa.