<div>Panel discussion “Middle Classes in Southeast Asia : Hegemony and Illiberalism” 11 July 2018, At the Chumbhot-Pantip Conference Room, 4th Floor Prajadhipok Building, Chulalongkorn University</div>

<div>The inter-Korean summit is set to transform the international political landscape of East Asia. For the first time, South and North Koreas have agreed to overcome long years of mutual antagonism. They expressed their willingness to tackle difficult issues in their relationship that had over several decades prevented peace on the Korean peninsula.</div> <div> </div> <div>Among those difficult issues are denuclearization of the region and even a possible reunification in the future. The two countries were separated by the Korean War, which terminated in 1953. </div>

<div>Two defamation lawsuits were filed recently by the prime ministers of Malaysia and Singapore against online media regarding the publication of articles criticising their roles as leaders in their respective countries.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The defamation cases are civil suits filed as “private individuals” against online media: Singaporean <a href="http://thehearttruths.com/">blogger Roy Ngerng</a>, and <a href="http://www.malaysiakini.com/">Malaysiakini</a>, Malaysia’s most popular online news site.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Even though these lawsuits did not use existing criminal </div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Thai authorities will spy on the country’s popular mobile chat applications by infiltrating into chat groups which are suspected of disseminating anti-junta comments. </div></div>

<p>SINGAPORE – Twenty-two-year-old Wendy (not her real name), on her first day as a Hospitality Intern in a budget tourist hostel in Chinatown in Singapore, speaks surprisingly frankly on a seemingly taboo subject, much to this writer’s relief.</p> <p>Clad in a colorful traditional gown, the native Singaporean is taking a break from washing dishes and chatting with guests to talk about how free people and media in her country are to criticize the government – a subject which senior Singapore-based journalists were extremely reluctant to discuss with the writer.</p>

<p>Oral Statement by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the occasion of the consideration of the Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Singapore</p>

<p>(New York, May 27, 2011) &ndash; The Court of Appeal&rsquo;s decision to uphold the author Alan Shadrake&rsquo;s contempt of court sentence for &ldquo;scandalizing the judiciary&rdquo; is a major setback for free expression in Singapore, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges should be dropped, Human Rights Watch said.</p>

<p>The massacre of 31 journalists in Maguindanao, the Philippines, on 23 November 2009, most graphically illustrates the violence and impunity that threaten journalists not only in the Philippines, but throughout the region.</p>