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The Rollercoaster of all Elections

ColumnsNov 06. 2020

American voters have made their choice.   But the margins are so narrow that we will only know who wins after all the mail-in ballots are counted.  Trump has already tweeted “stop the count” and legal challenges will be mounted.   In this highly controversial election, the first day of counting showed that the polls predicting a landslide win for Biden were wrong.  Most Republicans voted in person, whereas Democrats depended on the mail-in votes that would be counted late.   Stalwart Republican Senator Lindsay Graham and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell comfortably held their seats and continued to control the Senate.   The Republican right is far more entrenched than expected.

This historical record voter turnover only revealed that the United States remains deeply polarized along race, religion and ideological grounds.  Billions around the world were riveted on the screens, drawing important lessons about how electoral democracy works in theory and practice.   If Biden loses by legal challenge or recounts, the Democrats would have twice won significant majorities in terms of votes, as in 2016, but still lost the presidency because of the complex electoral college system.  Furthermore, the convoluted laws governing counting are different for each state, which means that narrow margins of victory will be subject to very contentious legal challenges over fraud and rigging.  In theory, the trinity of executive, judiciary and legislature provide the checks and balance for electoral fairness.  But if the Supreme Court, Senate and state governments are controlled by the Republicans, a Democrat President will have trouble getting executive decisions through, even with an electoral majority, as Obama and Clinton found in their presidencies. 

Most non-Americans are puzzled why after the mishandling of the pandemic that allowed more than 240,000 deaths, Trump still won over another 8% of the voters on top of his solid 40% support base.  The pollsters were wrong in not tracking how Trump showed courage by rallying his supporters to go house-to-house campaigning to gather new voters, despite the infection risks.  Trump was clearly able to mobilize his supporters’ anger to vote in person.  The Democrats never saw this tidal wave of Republicans who showed up making the record turnout a close call rather than a Blue Wave for the Democrats.

Trump instinctively understood that electoral politics have always been about gut and emotions, so his actions appealed to those who liked his blood and guts push for change from Democratic liberal policies that wanted a return to Obama style normalcy.    The benchmark model for democratic elections has now descended into banana republic-style accusations of vote fraud and election-rigging. 

Given this narrow margin, the transition to the January 2021 swearing in of the new President will be fraught with legal challenges and uncertainties.  Trump will remain in charge of the Executive for another two months and a half amidst an acceleration of coronavirus infections and rising death rates.  With the pandemic again reaching a record 100,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths per day, the damage to the economy has already been done.  

This being the likely scenario, the winning candidate will have to spend all his energies controlling the coronavirus in 2021.  Winter will not be good because the pandemic is still raging almost everywhere except in East Asia.  

We have realistically a situation where the election has only confirmed that the United States is a seriously polarized unipolar power trying to manage its leadership of a multipolarized multi-power world.  The traditional view of the US President’s power is that he has more power to conduct foreign policy than domestic policy, because of the internal checks and balances.  But weakened domestic consensus damages his foreign policy options. 

First, the pandemic shock has narrowed the economic gap between the United States and China.  With GDP declining by 4.3% this year to $20.3 trillion, China’s estimated GDP growth at 1.9% in 2020 would put her GDP at market exchange rates at $15.2 trillion, bringing the gap down to $5.1 trillion.  Different growth speeds, plus an appreciating RMB buoyed by continued trade surpluses, would narrow the gap faster than the expected 2030 parity date.

Second, as everywhere else is still struggling to control the coronavirus, the remaining growth region is East Asia, which is closely networked to the Chinese global supply chain. 

Third, US tech war against China has only served to apply more pressure for China to accelerate her R&D in technology, especially to narrow the gap in the semi-conductor chip area. 

Fourth, none of the legacy problems of US intervention in the Middle East have gone away.  Rather, the global slowdown, depressed oil prices and fractious politics can only make border conflicts and the Arab/Iranian tensions worse.  Trump wants to pull out of Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, but cannot do so without serious damage to US prestige and influence in the region.  As geopolitical analyst George Friedman correctly surmises, foreign policy for the self-appointed global policeman is often determined by other countries rather than the intentions of the President.  Accidents and unanticipated events, such as the recent Azerbajian-Armenian conflict, can easily escalate with Russia, Turkey and other regional powers involved.

All in all, the global rollercoaster ride, with Donald Trump at the helm since 2016, will not end with the November 2020 elections.  If anything, amidst the pandemic, its twists and turns will not stop.  With weakened mandates, Trump would be willing to take even bigger gambits when the chips are down, whereas Biden may struggle to deal with the mess he has inherited.  All the elections have shown is that the struggle between polarized and fractured factions within nations and between nations is only just beginning. 

Many of us had hoped for a return to quieter times.  But the beginning of the 2020s has shown that we are spiralling in unpredictable directions.   Buckle down for tougher times.

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Bicentennial of the first raising of the Argentine flag in the Malvinas Islands

ColumnsNov 06. 2020H.E. Mr. Felipe Solá, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic. 

By H.E. Mr. Felipe Solá
Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic
November 6th 2020 marks an anniversary of great relevance in the protracted sovereignty dispute over the Question of the Malvinas Islands: on this date, two hundred years ago, David Jewett took possession of the Malvinas Islands, raising the Argentine flag in the Islands for the first time.

At the time of the May Revolution, the Malvinas Islands –which had been disputed between Spain, France and Great Britain in the 18th Century- were under the sovereignty of the Spanish authorities, which had an exclusive, effective and uninterrupted possession, unchallenged by Great Britain or any other foreign power. As successor State of Spain, those sovereignty rights passed on to Argentina.

The Spanish presence on the Islands came to an end on February 13 1811, when the last Governor of Malvinas during the viceroyalty times withdrew from the Islands, in the context of the conflict with Buenos Aires’ Primera Junta.

In spite of the Spanish withdrawal, the Malvinas Islands did not remain unoccupied or forgotten. A fluid circulation of goods, capitals and people continued to develop with the archipelago, thanks to its natural resources: sea lions and elephant seals, whales and wild livestock. British, North American, French and Argentine ships exploited those resources and used the islands’ and continent’s shoreline for docking, hunting and dressing stations. These activities drew the attention of Buenos Aires’ authorities, which, since 1813, had issued fishing permits, established regulations to prevent the depredation of resources and controlled the establishing of any permanent settlement in the region.

It is in that context that the raising of the national flag and the presence of David Jewett, a United States’ national at the service of the Argentine Navy, gains special relevance.

Since the outset of the independence process in Latin America in 1810, the new national governments had to fight the royalist power that opposed them from sea and land. David Jewett, as many other North American and European sailors, would join the fight at the service of the United Provinces, until 1817.

In January 1820, the Supreme Director of the United Provinces, José Rondeau, named David Jewett as ‘Army colonel at the service of the navy’, with all the attributions and prerogatives it entailed. He set sail on January 20 towards the South Atlantic in command of the frigate “La Heroína”, which was recognized by the Argentine government as a state warship.

By the end of October 1820, ten harsh months later, he reached Puerto Soledad in the Malvinas Islands, where he found vessels of different origins that called at that port temporarily as part of their hunting and fishing trips in the region.

On November 2nd, Jewett sent the other captains a circular informing them that he had been commissioned by the Government of the United Provinces to take possession of the archipelago and invited the other captains to meet him. He also pointed out that, in compliance with the rules set out by the authorities of Buenos Aires, he would seek to prevent the destruction of the Islands’ resources. On November 6th 1820, a ceremony was held where Jewett took possession of the Islands. According to witnesses like British captain James Weddell –who comments on it in his famous ‘A voyage to the South Pole (1822-1824)- and Frenchmen Louis Freycinet, colonel Jewett raised the Argentine flag, read a proclamation and fired 21 cannon shots in the name of the government of Buenos Aires, before the crews of the ships anchored at Puerto Soledad.

Three days later Jewett delivered to the captains present a circular in which he gave an account of the taking of possession of the Malvinas Islands on behalf of the Supreme Government of the United Provinces of South America, and of his willingness to act with justice and hospitality towards foreigners, also requesting that this information be communicated to other vessels.

The circular had a great repercussion in the international press. On August 3, the British newspaper The Times published an article in which it presented Jewett’s act as an act of sovereignty, as did the newspaper El Argos de Buenos Ayres in November.

While news of the events that took place in the Malvinas Islands continued to spread, Jewett stayed on the Islands for several months. He exercised his authority during his stay and until February 1821, when he requested the authorities of Buenos Aires to relieve him of his command. Guillermo Robert Mason was appointed as the new commander of La Heroína.

The solemn taking of possession of the Malvinas Islands was an official and public act which demonstrated the effective exercise of Argentine sovereignty -inherited from Spain-, received wide attention and was not contested by the United Kingdom (nor did it do so in 1825, when it recognized the United Provinces of the River Plate as an independent State by means of the Treaty of friendship, trade and navigation), or any other foreign power. This significant act is a fundamental link in the long chain of measures that, beginning with the first national government and ending with the forced removal of the Argentine authorities from Puerto Soledad in January 1833, demonstrate the young Argentine State’s continued and effective occupation and exercise of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.

This usurpation, which took place in times of peace, without a declaration of war, has never been consented by Argentina. Since then, and for the following 187 years, different Argentine governments have permanently claimed for the restitution of the full exercise of sovereignty over the Islands.

The international community’s support has been fundamental in this claim. The unanimous and early pronouncement of the Latin American countries in favor of the Argentine position was followed by those of other regional groups, as the international community organized in different multilateral forums. This support allowed the United Nations to adopt different resolutions directly or indirectly related to the Malvinas Question, which comprises the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.

—

H.E. Mr. Felipe Solá

Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Argentine Republic

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The WHO needs Taiwan’s proven expertise in the battle against Covid-19

ColumnsNov 05. 2020Chen Shih-chung, Taiwan’s minister of health and welfare. 

By Chen Shih-chung
Special to The Nation

The Covid-19 pandemic has so far killed more than one million people, with over 40 million infections recorded around the globe.

The virus has had an enormous impact on global politics, employment, economics, trade and financial systems. Among countries striving to control the pandemic’s impact, Taiwan and Thailand have both performed excellently. The two countries are ranked No 1 and 4 by Bloomberg Economics on their efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19. The experiences gleaned by these countries during their fight against the virus are invaluable and worthy of sharing with the global community.

Taiwan responded to the threats swiftly by launching a specialised command system, imposing tight border controls, upping production and distribution of medical supplies, deploying home quarantine measures and IT systems, publishing transparent information, and implementing precise screening and testing. As of October 7, Taiwan had had just 523 confirmed cases and seven deaths; meanwhile, life and work have continued practically as normal for the majority of people.

The global outbreak has reminded the world that infectious diseases know no borders and do not discriminate. 

Taiwan believes nations should work together to address the threat of emerging diseases. 

For this reason, once we contained the virus and ensured sufficient medical supplies, we began to share our experience and exchange information on combating Covid-19 with global public health professionals and scholars through forums such as APEC’s High-Level Meeting on Health and the Economy, the Global Cooperation Training Framework, and other virtual bilateral meetings. 

By June this year, Taiwan had held nearly 80 online conferences, sharing the Taiwan Model with experts from governments, hospitals, universities, and think tanks in 32 countries. Taiwan has held 13 online seminars with Thai scholars and experts alone, and many related online discussions with counterparts in various fields. Taiwan and Thailand, two recognised champions in the global fight, have been working closely together to combat the virus. Connections forged between the two countries in the heat of this battle have created a deeper, broader and closer bilateral relationship.

Taiwan’s donations of medical equipment and anti-pandemic supplies to countries in need also continue. By June, we had donated 51 million surgical masks, 1.16 million N95 masks, 600,000 isolation gowns, and 35,000 forehead thermometers to more than 80 countries. Thailand, being one of our valuable partners in our New Southbound Policy, was at the core of our attention. Taiwanese government officials and businesses in Thailand have donated more than Bt8 million worth of medical supplies and daily necessities for local needs. Donations included necessities such as oil and rice and extended to vital medical supplies including 1.35 million surgical masks, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), oxygen concentrators, and portable ultrasound systems. The donations represent not only our care and love for our Thai friends, but also Taiwan’s unceasing commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties and share our public health experience with the world.

To ensure access to vaccines, Taiwan has joined the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX) co-led by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; and the World Health Organisation (WHO). And our government is actively assisting domestic manufacturers in hopes of accelerating the development of vaccines and bringing them to market as quickly as possible to put an end to this pandemic.

To prepare for a possible next wave of the pandemic as well as the approaching flu season, Taiwan is maintaining its strategies of encouraging citizens to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, while strengthening border quarantine measures, community-based prevention, and medical preparedness. Furthermore, we are actively collaborating with domestic and international partners to obtain vaccines and develop optimal treatments and accurate diagnostic tools, jointly safeguarding global public health security.

The Covid-19 pandemic has proven that Taiwan is an integral part of the global public health network and that the Taiwan Model can help other countries combat the crisis. To better aid the world’s recovery, the WHO needs Taiwan. We urge the WHO and related parties to acknowledge Taiwan’s longstanding contributions to global public health, disease prevention, and the human right to health, and to firmly support Taiwan’s inclusion in WHO. Taiwan’s comprehensive participation in WHO meetings, mechanisms and activities would allow us to work with the rest of the world in realising the fundamental human right to health as stipulated in the WHO Constitution.

—

Chen Shih-chung is Taiwan’s minister of health and welfare.

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Accelerating digital transformation of Thai businesses

ColumnsNov 04. 2020Benjamin Fingerle 

By Benjamin Fingerle, partner, Boston Consulting Group

Digital transformation is on the mind of all business executives and government officials in Thailand and across the globe. There is good reason for this. A recent study leveraging BCG’s Digital Acceleration Index (DAI) – a benchmarking methodology designed to assess the digital maturity of businesses with more than 8,500 participating companies across industries and geographies – reveals that companies at the forefront of digital transformation enjoy 1.8 times the annual earnings growth and 2.4 times greater growth in enterprise value than companies that are behind in the race for digital transformation.

Where is Thailand?

Digital transformation is a journey that not only encompasses the adoption of new digital technologies, but also new processes, new ways of working, new organisational structures and capabilities, and new cultural elements – fundamentally changing prevalent business models. This journey takes time, dedication and resources. Through a collaboration between the Thailand Management Association (TMA) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a survey was conducted to find out: where Thai companies are on this journey, and what would it take to accelerate digital transformation of the Thai economy?

Digital strategies in Thailand

Using DAI, we surveyed the digital maturity of 60 Thai companies representing key industries ranging from banking to oil and gas, benchmarking the results against regional and global peers. The study reveals that the majority (42 per cent) of Thai companies are still in the early stages of their digital transformation, so far pursuing only isolated digital use cases.

The study did find, however, that companies are moving towards an important inflection point. Most Thai firms score highly on the dimension of digital strategy, ie in line with international peers that integrate digital as driver of value creation in their overall business strategy rather than treating it as an “experiment” carried out in isolation. In other words, Thai companies on average may be “Digital Starters”, but they have the right digital strategies and implementation roadmaps in place to start unlocking significant value from digital once the implementation of these strategies reaches scale.

And there are shining examples of Thai companies that already do so. Particularly, but not exclusively, so in finance and healthcare — the industries identified by our study as the clear leaders in Thailand that perform well against regional and global peers. Four such exemplary companies were awarded the Thailand Digital Excellence Awards, namely Samitivej was awarded for Digital Business Model Innovation, Krungthai Bank for Tech Innovation and Artificial Intelligence, Siam Commercial Bank for Digital Culture and Talent, and Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production for Digitally Optimized Operations.

How to accelerate digital transformation?

But what does it take to accelerate the digital transformation of the Thai business landscape beyond these examples? Our study revealed a number of common shortcomings across several important dimensions of achieving digital maturity.

We found that less than one-third (32 per cent) of Thai businesses invest at least 10 per cent of their operating capital into digital. That compares to 75 per cent across the global average, and 86 per cent across Digital Champions. More specifically, the study found that just 23 per cent of Thai businesses dedicate at least 10 per cent of their people to digital roles, compared to 65 per cent and 79 per cent global average and Digital Champions respectively. This is an area in need of transformation, as talent forms the foundation of all successful implementation of digital strategies. Unified data models and process digitisation are further crucial enablers found not to receive sufficient funding today. Another area that does not yet receive the attention and funding it deserves is digital ecosystems. The concept of digital ecosystems provides companies with an efficient opportunity to partner for the benefit of scale and innovation, creating win-win-win scenarios for companies and customers alike.

Moving past inflection point

Thai companies are at the brink of harnessing substantial value from digital transformation. Decisive investments are required to make it past this important inflection point. With 80 per cent of executives anticipating the urgency for digital transformation to increase in the wake of Covid-19, we are hopeful to see companies taking the necessary steps to accelerate their digital agendas. Organisations such as Thailand Management Association and the Digital Economy Promotion Agency are keen to offer support. Ultimately, accelerated digital transformation will be crucial to boost Thailand’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.

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Rule of law: A new consensus needed to redefine Thai society 

ColumnsNov 03. 2020Anti-government protesters gather at the Tha Phra intersection in the Thonburi district of Bangkok on Monday, as they continue to put pressure on the government to resign. Photo by Tanachai Pramarnpanich. 

By The Nation Editorial
The Nation

The decision by a court to release pro-democracy protest leaders from prison kindles some hope of a resolution to the current political unrest.

The judiciary  will play an important role in restoring the rule of law, which has been considerably weakened since the 2014 military coup.

Academics have blamed the military-sponsored 2017 Constitution and related laws implemented by the former junta government and the current government for vitiating the legal and political system.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, however, continues to defend the actions of the two governments he has headed as a necessary enforcement of laws to preserve stability in the country. 

Critics counter that Prayut put the country under “Rule by law and fear”. Since the coup, the judiciary has also been widely criticised for applying double standards when judges hand down verdicts in political conflict cases. Among several cases, the most obviously controversial were the disbanding of two anti-junta political parties — Thai Raksa Chart Party and Future Forward Party. The rights of many voters were snatched away from participating in parliamentary democracy.

The cumulative oppression of these actions have forced massive numbers of people across the country to defy the government and pour their frustrations on the streets.

Bold youth-led protesters are standing up to the powers and challenging what they view as unjust laws. At this juncture, judges, prosecutors, military officers, police and those serving in the National Anti-Corruption Commission and Election Commission have to seriously introspect their roles in the past that has snowballed into the current political chaos.

At this moment, judges will play a very important role in solving the political crisis. The question is whether they will rise to the challenge.

Recently,law faculty deans from four universities openly called for lifting the state of emergency in Bangkok. They also reminded the judiciary of its role as a checks and balances executive branch power, by scrutinising whether the government was using its power to infringe on citizens’ rights. Judges must look at the protesters’ demands for fundamental changes in the legal and political system.

Indeed, for genuine participation in politics, not only judges, but everyone has a stake and has the right to participate in shaping a new era of a fair legal and political system.

It is now clear that brute force, intimidation, jailing, discrimination or even espousing traditional values cannot maintain social cohesion, peace, stability and economic prosperity. The narrow nationalistic ideology: “Nation, Religion and King” can no longer accommodate new social forces that want to embrace freedom of expression, human dignity, human rights, equality, transparency, accountability, integrity in governance and democracy.

Thailand needs to fundamentally shift from a narrow vision of nationalism to broader values that will underpin a modern and dynamic state.

Those who strongly cling to old values have to face up to the reality that the new generation thinks differently, has new values and social evolution.

Every single issue related to public affairs needs to be put on the table for a free, frank and fair debate in shaping the outcome. This can be done only if we agree to set fair rules. First, we must all agree that we need fair rules which will ensure that everyone plays by the rules, and nobody, not even the King, is above the law.

Looking forward, the only way to protect everyone’s welfare is an unremitting commitment to the rule of law.

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Between respect and provocation

ColumnsNov 01. 2020Photo credit: The Star 

By Wong Chun Wai
The Star

Calling for violence for reasons drawn from the past or present is simply wrong.

LET’S be honest – Malaysia isn’t exactly smelling like roses right now because the world is familiar with our head-turning financial scandals, corruption cases involving top leaders and endless political intrigue.

We are in the news for the wrong reasons most of the time. So, the last thing we need is for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to put us in the world news.

On Thursday, the former prime minister tweeted that Muslims have the right “to kill millions of French people” after a deadly attack in Nice, sparking widespread anger and prompting Twitter to delete his post.

Three people were killed in a church in the southern French city, with the attacker slitting the throat of at least one, in what authorities were treating as the latest terror assault to rock the country.

Shortly afterwards, Dr Mahathir launched an extraordinary outburst in a series of tweets.

Twitter initially declined to remove the comments, but finally did so following a furious reaction from the French government.

He made it into Quotidien, the most popular talk show in France, and almost all major news networks around the world. Just look it up on the Net.

Many of us, including our business associates, were bombarded with text messages to find out if Malaysia had joined the al-Qaeda Club. We had to assure them the country and people, mostly, had not gone bonkers.

Muslims around the world are outraged at the way French President Emmanuel Macron has handled the complexities of a plural society, what with its racial and religious sensitivities. He has appeared condescending in the eyes of the global Muslim population.

At the same time, Turkey has spiked the political temperature by calling for a boycott of French products. It’s likely both want to engage with their domestic audience to score points, which is what politicians do.

We wonder if Dr Mahathir is also doing likewise since his popularity has taken a dip, what with his newly formed party heading nowhere, because surely, even at his advanced age, his faculties are more intact than the younger ones.

Something has gone terribly awry when we can’t draw a line between right and wrong. Calling for violence for reasons drawn from the past or present is simply wrong.

It can’t be justified and seems far worse coming from a senior leader like Dr Mahathir, whom many of us respect and look up to, even if we disagree with his politics.

The world will not merely look at his tweet as his personal emotional response – they will only remember Malaysia as a country for it.

In his blog later, Dr Mahathir expressed disgust with attempts to “misrepresent and take out of context” what he wrote, saying they had wrongly implied that he promoted the massacre of the French.

He noted that his posting, in its entirety, called for the French to teach their people to respect other people’s feelings.

“There is nothing I can do with FB and Twitter’s decision to remove my posting. To my mind, since they are the purveyor of freedom of speech, they must at least allow me to explain and defend my position, ” he said.

Now, there will be many who say Dr Mahathir merely wants to get the attention of the Muslim audience at home.

Wisma Putra took the right approach by summoning a senior official from the French Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to convey Malaysia’s disdain over the disparaging attitude towards Islam, including the publication of caricatures depicting Prophet Muhammad.

In a statement, Wisma Putra said it had summoned the chargé d’affaires of the French Embassy in Kuala Lumpur as Malaysia sought to express concern over the “growing hostilities, hate speech and defamation of Islam”.

“During the meeting, the ministry reiterated Malaysia’s position to strongly condemn any inflammatory rhetoric and provocative acts that seek to defame Islam as the world has recently witnessed in the forms of populist speeches and publication of profane caricatures depicting the Holy Prophet Muhammad, ” it added.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the country “strongly condemns” inflammatory rhetoric and provocative acts that defame Islam.

France has painted itself into a tight corner. To be fair, it has also opened its doors to people from its ex-colonies in Arab and African nations.

France has the highest number of Muslim immigrants at over 5.6 million people, or 8.8% of the country’s population. Let’s not also forget that they chose a secular country like France, instead of a Middle Eastern or African nation with similar cultural and religious leanings.

But like many things with people, it’s never easy to give up one’s roots, especially race, religion and culture. If integration is tough, assimilation is near impossible. Never mind that almost all the immigrants speak French.

When an economy shrinks, immigrants will always be the first to face a backlash. They are always the bogeymen, and this happens to immigrants of other races, too.

In France, the economic disparity between whites and immigrants has grown wider, leading to frustrations.

As the Muslim numbers increase, with Islam as the fastest growing religion in Europe, the congregation finds itself in need of more places of worship, but councils are always concerned about approving the building of more mosques.

So, the result is street prayers, but for local French, they find this unacceptable, and as a recent viral video has shown, some of them have taken to provocation by singing loudly to drown out the prayers. The police have done nothing to quell this behaviour.

Such a video, as it goes viral, would surely anger Muslims around the world. As a non-Muslim, I find such confrontations highly disturbing and wonder why the French police allow this. If democracy and freedom of expression are enshrined in that society, why does this continue to happen?

We can argue steadfastly about rights and all, but wisdom is seriously lacking, especially when caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad are allowed to proliferate.

So, Malaysia needs to distance itself from Dr Mahathir. His views don’t mirror our sentiments.

Even Turkey has swiftly joined the wave of condemnations on the brutal murders of three people by a suspected extremist in France’s coastal city of Nice, despite being in the midst of an escalating row between Ankara and Paris over a broad range of issues spanning the Eastern Mediterranean to the role of Islam.

The assailant is said to have charged at the victims with a knife in the Notre-Dame Basilica in the heart of the city on the French Riviera.

Two of the victims were female, one a 70-year-old who was “virtually beheaded” as she was praying, the BBC reported. The suspect, who has not yet been identified, was shot and detained soon after.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “It is clear that those who commit such a violent act in a holy place have no respect for any humanitarian, religious or moral values.”

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: “Terror has no religion, language or colour. We will fight with determination and solidarity against all forms of terrorism and extremism.”

Indeed, there is no religion that encourages any form of violence. If there are ignorant people who want to behead others, in the name of God, then we should thwart that by keeping ourselves level-headed instead.

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Volunteerism building solidarity and solutions transcending borders 

ColumnsOct 30. 2020Friends from Thailand (FFT) volunteer Sompong Woragool helps farmers in Tuane, Mozambique, catch and raise rabbits in traditional cages.  

By Gita Sabharwal, 

Pattarat Hongtong, Shalina Miah
Special to The Nation

“Initially, some people didn’t believe I could do anything. I was only 28 years old at that time, but I said, ‘join me and we will learn together’,” said Suphawit Pharom, a volunteer with the Friends from Thailand (FFT) volunteer programme on his experiences in Mozambique.

FFT volunteer Phuttiphum Arsanok helps farmers in Djakotomey, a town in Benin, adapt local materials to make equipment for organic fertilizers. 

Since 2003, more than 160 people have volunteered through the programme, which places them for one or two years in countries across Asia and Africa, where they use their expertise to contribute to Thailand’s development cooperation projects.

FFT volunteers Sompong Woragool and Piched Khammeekan help students in Tuane, Mozambique, transport banana trees to their school garden.

The programme aims to promote partnerships at the local level, providing technical advice in its main development areas, including agriculture, public health, technology, education, carpentry, eco-tourism, local products development and community development based on the sufficiency economy philosophy, while highlighting the people-to-people aspect of Thailand’s development cooperation.

FFT volunteer Nisanart Yeamkhong supports the Covid-19 data entry and processing team at the Royal Centre for Disease Control in Bhutan as part of her work to set up a quality management system in the laboratory. 

The programme represents global best practices on volunteering described in the recently launched publication “South-South Volunteering as a Driving Force for Development: Experiences from Asia and the Pacific” by United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Beyond the programme’s mission to “cultivate friendship and better understanding between the people of Thailand and those of our development partners”, the FFT programme also ensures the projects’ alignment with Thailand’s 20-year National Strategy. Indeed, it also encourages a new look at development cooperation through the lens of volunteerism, itself being an innovative, yet not widely-known approach.

“I think cooperation is the right thing to do and volunteerism is one way where everyone can do their part in making the world a better and happier place,” said Phuttiphum Arsanok, another FFT volunteer in Benin, about his volunteer experience.

Volunteering is often one of the first experiences of civic engagement for young people. It is also a way to build skills for future employability and act upon issues that matter to youth, such as climate change, peace, gender equality and economic empowerment. One billion people globally are active volunteers, and around one in three young people report that they are volunteering – nearly 600 million youth worldwide.

The prime minister of Thailand, in his keynote address on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the UN Global Compact and the 75th anniversary of the UN, said Thailand is committed to increasing participation of all sectors in sustainable national development, especially by engaging the civil society, academia, and the general public in the form of volunteer work. Thai people are generous, and this is proven by the fact that there are more than 10 million registered and non-registered volunteers. Volunteerism provides space for the public to participate in the development process and can also play a role in localising government policies at the community level and helping the voices of the people be heard during the policy development process.

The FFT Programme is also an opportunity to develop the skills of young people through their experiences, demonstrating volunteerism’s value as a two-way learning process. During their assignments, volunteers develop skills, increase their understanding of development, and gain international experience in line with national priorities. Through the programme, Thai youth, aged 22-35, who have at least a bachelor’s degree, have been recruited and prepared to work abroad as FFT volunteers.

As part of the response to Covid-19 pandemic, more than 1 million village health volunteers came forward in their communities, in addition to more than 15,000 public health volunteers in Bangkok. Volunteer movements like Covid Relief Bangkok, used demographic data analysis to identify the most vulnerable communities and coordinated efforts to support through donations and psycho-social support, while Covid Thailand Aid, provided aid and care packages to elderly citizens. Beyond Thailand, FFT volunteers also played a role in assisting their host countries in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. Two such volunteers in Bhutan work with their Bhutanese counterparts to contribute to the national effort in containing the virus. This kind of volunteering is a manifestation of common humanity and collective strength speaking to a whole-of-society approach.

The pandemic has exposed the fragility of societies and existing ever-growing challenges, such as widespread inequality, worrying levels of ecosystem damage, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, and high levels of vulnerability to climate-induced disasters. The response in Thailand, however, points to the possibility of a very different future based on solidarity, reciprocity and community, as well as innovative development pathways at the local level. Volunteerism builds social capital that needs consistent investment. The FFT programme is one example but the challenges we face call for more initiatives to expand with proper support ecosystems and partnerships.

However, gaps remain in the way volunteering is seen as isolated from development discourse and efforts. Imagine the development dividends if volunteers were included and owned development initiatives on the ground together with communities. Imagine providing opportunities for the elderly, minorities, indigenous people, and persons with disabilities to engage in volunteering as part of building social cohesion in their neighbourhoods.

We need to show our gratitude to those who step up and volunteer to rise to the challenges and uncertainties of our time beyond the annual National Volunteer Day on October 21 and International Volunteer Day celebrated on December 5. To build sustainable social capital through volunteering, we need more citizens engaged and a broader space created for bold solutions to help society to flourish and build the belonging that transcends borders. 

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Gita Sabharwal is UN Resident Coordinator Thailand; Pattarat Hongtong, Director-General, Thailand International Cooperation Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Shalina Miah is regional manager for Asia-Pacific, United Nations Volunteers.

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Angkhana faults failure to deliver justice in Tak Bai tragedy 16 years later

ColumnsOct 26. 2020Angkhana Neelapaijit 

Angkhana Neelapaijit, former commissioner at the Office of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, on Sunday said the 2004 Tak Bai tragedy in Narathiwat province, which took 85 lives, still haunts locals.

“Sixteen years later, the incident of the authorities cracking down on people at Tak Bai Police Station in Narathiwat province still haunts the locals. Muslim men were handcuffed and forced to lie down on the hot ground during the Ramadan period. They were piled up in five layers of humans and taken by the armed authorities who did not even listen to the cries of people being crushed. Some died before they reached the destination,” she wrote.

A panel established to investigate the incident reported that seven were killed by gunshots, 1,370 were arrested, 78 were killed during the transportation and seven have gone missing. Many of the injured later became disabled.

“The panel saw that it was a very poor judgement of the commander to ignore the transportation. Authorities without experience were tasked with handling the situation and they just followed the orders without considering other factors.”

Despite apologies and compensation, the facts of the case have not been officially revealed, no one has taken responsibility for the tragedy and no offender was arrested, she said.

The prosecution initially accused 59 protesters — one died later — of instigation, and the charge was dropped in 2006 while the case of the seven shot dead was dismissed since no offender was found.

Regarding the 78 deaths during transportation to a camp in Pattani province, the Songkhla Provincial Court stated that the victims suffocated but the offender could not be identified and there was no further prosecution.

Angkhana emphasised the atrocity crime in the legal system to raise awareness in every sector in order to prevent a similar case and bring justice to the victims.

The 20-year statute of limitations will expire in four years but there is still no plaintiff in the case as the families of the victims are afraid for their safety.

“We cannot win against the state. Even though we have not gone to court, we still know who the guilty are and who should take responsibility,” one of the victims’ family members said, adding that the state still framed them as the villains.

On October 25, 2004, about 1,000 people had gathered at Tak Bai Police Station to protest against the arrest of six men, which erupted into a clash between the authorities and the protesters and quickly escalated to violence.

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Reboot Asia’s economies to ease suffering

ColumnsOct 25. 2020

By Straits TimesAsia News Network writers call for measures to revive economies hit by the pandemic. Here are excerpts.

Indonesia can be a powerhouse

Francois de Maricourt

The Jakarta Post, Indonesia

In every crisis, new opportunities emerge.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on global trade networks and shipping routes, with logistics suppliers grappling with disruptions and economic slowdowns.

The pre-Covid-19 globalised world has come to a halt. The question facing governments and corporations alike is what comes next? How will global supply chains shift and reform? How can Indonesia boost its manufacturing capacity? How can we harness the potential of the digital revolution to strengthen the economy, and lastly, how can we make these advances sustainable?

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto recently said the government is working hard to attract international investors looking to relocate their factories from mainland China. If successful, this could position Indonesia as a major manufacturing powerhouse.

Companies looking to diversify beyond mainland China will need to set up a new base for their operations, and Indonesia is an attractive choice. Indonesia has several strategic advantages over its competitors in the region. It is rich in natural resources, has a large domestic market and a ready pool of productive workers.

Greater adoption of digital technologies could potentially help Indonesia attract greater foreign direct investment as well as move up the manufacturing value chain.

Indonesia already has a vibrant e-commerce sector, which last year was valued at US$21 billion (S$28 billion) in gross market value, making the country the largest e-commerce market in South-east Asia.

All members of Asean are working hard to revive their economies and mitigate the economic impact on the most vulnerable members of their societies. To this end, Asean leaders are expected to launch the Asean Pandemic Recovery Fund next month to help fill the region’s US$2.8 trillion infrastructure gap over the next few years as well as providing more immediate economic stimulus.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Indonesia set to establish $6.8b sovereign wealth fund to support economy

Indonesia sees deeper contraction for 2020 than earlier forecast

Linking the Asean Pandemic Recovery Fund to climate and sustainability commitments will go a long way to reduce the impact of climate change on the region’s economies and peoples.

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Supply side structural reforms necessary

Editorial

China Daily, China

Although the 4.9 per cent year-on-year growth of the Chinese economy in the third quarter was slightly below some forecasts of 5 per cent to 5.5 per cent, the economic data announced by the National Bureau of Statistics last Monday remains encouraging.

Not only does the gross domestic product growth signal that the robust recovery of the second quarter has been maintained, but more importantly, almost all the leading economic indicators give cause for optimism that the recovery momentum can be maintained.

All sectors had encouraging data that boosted their performance for the year so far, with agriculture pushing its third-quarter growth to 2.3 per cent, and industry and the service sector growing by 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Notably, three key industries – high-tech, equipment manufacturing and financial – along with information and software-related services, all recorded robust year-on-year third-quarter growth.

The positive trade data shows China has quickly adapted to the fast-changing external environment, as it reflects positive trade growth with all of its major trade partners, including the United States.

Despite consumption replacing investment and trade as China’s largest growth driver five years ago, robust trade is still of vital importance for creating jobs, stoking innovation and expanding opening up.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

China to set five-year plan for steering economy through choppy waters

China and US economies diverge over coronavirus response

While China’s recovery is clearly gathering steam, offering hope for the struggling global economy, National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Liu Aihua cautioned that “the economy is still in the process of recovery”.

Despite the across-the-board improvements, the foundation for sustainable recovery requires further consolidation due to global uncertainties and uneven performance at home, as Ms Liu said. That requires that the new dual circulation pattern be reinforced with supply side structural reforms.

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Revive economy to tackle joblessness

Editorial

Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippines

There appears to be little that the government can do to contain the wave of job losses affecting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), given the global economic downturn. And much of its limited cash resources have been redirected to efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 and mitigate the impact of the crippling lockdowns, especially on poor households.

With millions out of work and hunger pangs across the populace felt more keenly than at any other time, according to surveys, the government and the private sector need to work together even more closely to address the bleak situation.

In particular, programmes have to be put in place to accommodate the tens of thousands of Filipino contract workers now streaming back into the country and swelling the ranks of the local unemployed.

They need to be reintegrated back into the domestic economy, and the assistance should be more than just free entrepreneurial and information technology training and financial education.

The projections that the number of deployed Filipino workers overseas could fall by about 300,000 this year, to add to the millions already out of work, mean that the country will be facing unprecedented levels of joblessness and want in the months ahead.

Reviving the economy to provide work for everyone, especially displaced skilled OFWs, should be the biggest fire lighting up the government’s bum at this time.

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Budget to the nation’s rescue

Editorial

Sin Chew Daily, Malaysia

On the back of a worsening virus outbreak, economic downturn and expected sharp decline in the Malaysian government’s tax revenue in the coming year, how is the Prime Minister going to come up with a fiscal budget that will benefit the people to take care of their livelihood while promoting sustained operations of local businesses? The long-term sustainability agenda should be an effective solution in the upcoming budget.

First, the International Monetary Fund reported that Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink by 6 per cent or almost RM92 billion (S$30 billion) this year. As such, tax revenue next year is expected to dwindle drastically, meaning the government will not have sufficient funds to develop the country, and this will impact the lives of ordinary citizens. New sources of income need to be explored in order to expand the Treasury’s financial capability.

Second, it is imperative for government departments to cut their expenses during this critical moment.

Third, last year’s budgetary deficit was at 3.2 per cent of the GDP, and increasing the budget deficit will likely be a hurried and important option for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. He may have to fix the near-term problems first and pin his hopes on a strong recovery next year.

Fourth, the government needs to address the issue of poverty among the people. Currently, the total income of the lowest 20 per cent stands at about 5.9 per cent of the total income. Their per capita income is merely US$3,313 (S$4,500), or about RM1,160 per month.

• The View From Asia is a compilation of articles from The Straits Times’ media partner Asia News Network, a grouping of 24 news media titles.

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Reforms necessary to ensure the monarchy endures as a respected institution

ColumnsOct 25. 2020Protesters gather on October 21 in Bangkok. A red banner reads: Coup will be met with our defiance. 

By The Nation
The Nation Editorial

The current political unrest has proved the failure of the 2014 military coup to bring about long-lasting stability.

The military at the time had pledged national reform but it did not live up to its promise. A military-sponsored Constitution and related laws enforced over the past six years have been the major causes of the pro-democracy protests across the country and by overseas Thais.

Many of those who used to support the military-backed government have now joined the youth-led pro-democracy movement.

One of the key demands of the protesters is a reform of the monarchy. The unprecedented call foreshadows a fundamental change in the existing legal and political system as well as how economic policy should be framed and implemented.

The pro-democracy protesters are trying to strengthen the rule of law, which has arguably been substantially weakened by the 2017  military-sponsored Constitution, especially related to Palace affairs. Changes in the  highest law and other related laws such as Crown Property Bureau’s management allowing HM the King to take direct control, raised questions of transparency and pointed to a disproportionate expansion of the monarch’s power.  The Defence Ministry transferred two military units in Bangkok to be under the supervision of the Palace, which again raised questions about propriety. With massive numbers of the country’s population  struggling with the Covid-19-induced economic crisis, protesters asked for more transparency in the annual budget allocation for the Palace. Due to the severe punishment imposed by the lese majeste law, the public have long restrained from openly criticising annual budget allocations for royal projects or Palace affairs, raising questions of transparency in taxation and expenditure management of the Palace

The protesters’ demand to reform the monarchy has been widely supported by democracy supporters nationwide, ranging from school children to senior population.

Some ultra-royalists, however, have interpreted their demand as a move to overthrow the monarchy. Pro-democracy protesters deny such motives and have made it clear that they only want to reform the highest institution.

The government has used legal means to suppress protester voices, but has not offered a reasonable counter-argument for why the monarchy should not be reformed.

The government instead has in recent days mobilised its supporters in the form of royalists, aiming to counter the democracy movement.

Under high pressure from protesters, civic groups and the international community, the government lifted the state of emergency imposed earlier in Bangkok and agreed to hold an extraordinary parliamentary session. While critics are sceptical about the potential of the parliamentary debate to achieve any breakthrough, because appointed-senators and ruling party MPs have sent a message that there will be no change to the Constitution provisions related to the monarchy’s role.

Against this backdrop, a business leader — Banyong Pongpanich — has proposed using provisions in previous charters to deal with the call for reform of the monarchy and to preserve the monarchy institution. It is rare for Thai business leaders to stick their necks out on sensitive issues.

As we have witnessed,  royalists mostly are aged people, trying to resist the call for change. They must accept the fact that society is dynamic and the new generation do not think like how they did.

At a time when Thais just celebrated Chulalongkorn Day on October 23, we should be reminded that King Chulalongkorn the great  ended slavery and prostration. That was one of the greatest reforms in Thai history.

Mobilising royalists to counter the pro-democracy movement in present times risks pushing the country into a cauldron, or worse a tragedy. The best way to save the monarchy institution is to undertake reforms in keeping with the demand of the times. Reform will greatly benefit all stakeholders in the country and will potentially ensure harmony.