Asian Insider

What are some of President Trump’s likely policy priorities after he takes office for a second time? Will he do exactly as he threatened?

Synopsis: The Straits Times’ assistant foreign editor Clement Tan catches up with US bureau chief Bhagyashree Garekar to talk about President Donald Trump’s possible policy priorities in his second term.

In this episode, they discuss the cabinet appointees President Trump has already announced, his China policy and the war of words that has already erupted between Trump’s “bro-in-chief” Elon Musk and Trump’s MAGA base supporters. 

Highlights (click/tap above):

0:38 Trump's inauguration and immediate priorities

6:09 Internal conflicts within the Republican Party

12:32 Trump's approach to China

24:26 The future of TikTok in US and Trump's influence

Follow Clement Tan on X: https://str.sg/uErS

Read Clement Tan's articles: https://str.sg/Ep62 

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Host: Clement Tan ([email protected]) & Bhagyashree Garekar ([email protected]) 

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

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Political stalemate is diminishing Thailand’s international stature and economy

Synopsis: The Straits Times' global contributor Nirmal Ghosh shines a light on Asian perspectives of global and Asian issues with expert guests.

Thailand, once seen as a rising middle power, is now stuck in political and economic stagnation that are affecting its international standing. Its years of political turmoil had caused its economy to underperform, with GDP growing by 1.9 per cent in 2023. 

While economists expect around GDP growth at 2.7 per cent in 2024 and 2.9 per cent in 2025 - the growth is inadequate to satisfy demands and expectations. 

Thailand is currently under the relatively new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 38-year-old daughter of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. But its “old guard” institutions have not allowed the country to progress politically, which are controlling political outcomes through agencies like the constitutional court, the election commission, the anti-corruption commission and the Senate, says Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a senior fellow of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Political Science. 

Meanwhile, Thailand's international standing has diminished - though the country’s size and geographic location mean it remains a key player in the region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is also divided on contentious issues such as the ongoing civil war in Myanmar. 

While former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin has been appointed an informal advisor to next year’s Asean chair, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, expectations are low. 

The former premier, as well as Prime Minister Anwar himself, are from an older generation - but Asean needs a younger generation to lead it forward, says Professor Thitinan, who is currently a visiting professor as well at the London School of Economics, in this episode with host Nirmal Ghosh. 

Highlights (click/tap above): 

6:02 How the military coup in May 2014 'sank' Thailand

10:29 Thailand lost out on tech revolutions like AI

15:07 Why Asean is currently at its weakest

19:22 How Thailand can play a regional role in the Myanmar crisis, and curb transnational crimes like scams

21:39 Msia PM Anwar picks Thaksin Shinawatra as informal Asean adviser

Host: Nirmal Ghosh ([email protected])

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Lynda Hong

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Developing countries are in a vicious debt cycle with little relief in sight, undermining social progress.

Synopsis: The Straits Times' global contributor Nirmal Ghosh shines a light on Asian perspectives of global and Asian issues with expert guests.

Some 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest payments in their debt, than on either education or health. In 2023, a record 54 developing countries allocated 10 per cent or more of government revenue just to pay off interest on their debt - reducing funds available to provide basic services from schools to hospitals, for their populations. 

Public debt thus becomes a human rights crisis, as well as an environmental crisis as most debt is denominated in foreign currencies. Countries then often have to export their way out of debt - which in many cases, such as in that of Laos, means exploiting their natural resources. 

The crisis is worsened by the fact that for many developing countries, it is more costly to borrow than for rich countries - because their credit ratings are worse. For example, the average African country may be paying almost 10 per cent while the United States and Germany may be paying less than 3 per cent, because the latter have higher credit ratings. 

In Laos' case, there is a geopolitical dimension as well; about 50 per cent of Laos's external debt is owed to China.

There is wide consensus that this is a full blown crisis, but the solutions to it are hard to implement. Part of the reason is many creditors are private lenders. Yet solutions are critical if developing countries are to be able to dig themselves out from under the mountain of debt they are burdened with. 

In this episode of Asian Insider, Olivia De Schutter, professor of law and UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, and Keith Barney, Associate Professor at the Australian National University's Crawford School of Public Policy, share with host Nirmal Ghosh insights into the fundamentally unjust situation many developing countries are trapped in. 

Highlights (click/tap above): 

1:52 Global debt: From $51 trillion in 2010 to $97 trillion in 2023

4:01 The Pact for the Future acknowledges the issue, but much public debt is owned by private creditors

5:53 Why Laos debt crisis is also an environmental crisis; China's role in this

10:04 Since the debt is in foreign currencies, countries must export to repay it

13:59 China offers debt deferrals, not relief, just delaying the issue

16:01 Debt burden is driving the international community to consider debt-for-nature or debt-for-climate swaps

Follow Nirmal Ghosh on X: https://str.sg/JD7r

Read Nirmal Ghosh's articles: https://str.sg/JbxG

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Host: Nirmal Ghosh ([email protected])

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Asian Insider on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

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Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

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Factors to watch are increasing population, workforce and productivity.

Synopsis: Join The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor, as he distils his experience from four decades of covering the Asian continent.

In this episode, Ravi speaks with James Cheo, chief investment officer for Asean and India with HSBC Group Private Banking, on the glowing economic prospects for Asean and India amid weakening growth in the ageing countries of North-east Asia.

Mr Cheo is a former macroeconomist with Singapore’s central bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore. 

They discuss what’s driving growth in South-east Asia and India, growth being led by productivity and not just investments, and the potential pitfalls investors into these regions need to look out for.

They also discuss the likely impact of Donald Trump returning to the American presidency in January 2025.

Highlights (click/tap above):

3:10 The ‘Triple Rs’ powering South-east Asia

6:40 The new AI is all about Asean and India

9:50 The middle class is leading the way for both regions

11:00 India: 8 years of market gains in a row; Rupee stability great for investors

20:10 Asean’s tripwires

23:00 Deglobalisation challenge; Trump's return and South-east Asia

Host: Ravi Velloor ([email protected])

Read Ravi's columns: https://str.sg/3xRP

Follow Ravi on X: https://twitter.com/RaviVelloor

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Asian Insider Podcast on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts 

Feedback to: [email protected]

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Want a dress ironed? A facial? A shirt darned? Or perhaps a coffee freshly brewed, right on your doorstep?

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times chats with ST’s global correspondents about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.

More services are being offered by Indonesians on motorcycles and bicycles.

Mr Subban has a sewing machine affixed to the table in front of his bicycle. Madam Desri Muliati irons clothes on a motorcycle, using a steam iron heated with a portable gas canister.

They are among Indonesia’s formidable force of informal workers that drive the economy, accounting for nearly 61 per cent of the country’s total labour force.

In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying speaks with journalist Aqil Hamzah about the services that these workers provide, and why they eschew jobs in the formal sector. 

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:10 Making ends meet

3:32 Finding them on TikTok, Instagram and on WhatsApp

6:07 Getting started during the pandemic; how much do they roughly earn as part of this 'informal' economy?

8:46 Challenges for the new Prabowo government

15:30 A reporter intern’s observations about Indonesia; his first experience of Jakarta

Read Aqil Hamzah’s article here: https://str.sg/tQXq

Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR

Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters 

Host: Li Xueying ([email protected])

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Asian Insider on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

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The US’ President-elect inherits a world different from that in his first term.

Synopsis: The Straits Times' global contributor Nirmal Ghosh shines a light on Asian perspectives of global and Asian issues with expert guests.

Tariffs - as a weapon to restore and rejuvenate American jobs and manufacturing -  will be back with a vengeance in Donald Trump’s second term. So will competition with China, in the course of which performative support for Taiwan by hawks in Congress and Washington DC security circles may end up provoking Beijing and thus hurting Taiwan.  

Yet the US’ 47th President will inherit a world different from that of his first term in 2017 - one with more limits to American power. While some hawks in Washington see China as weak and advocate that the US should do everything it can to push it over the edge, realists understand the US can no longer do everything. 

From the perspective of South-east Asia, it is imperative to defuse the zero-sum mentality of US-China competition. Faced with the disruptive effects of tariffs, this  region has to also find ways to go back to a kind of globalisation that works for everyone. 

These are some of the challenges, and currents, that the next American President and the US' trade partners and allies must navigate and adapt to, as a new era looms in Washington DC. 

In this episode of Asian Insider, Nirmal hosts Danny Quah, Professor of Economics and Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and Robert Manning, Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, who is working on the think tank’s Strategic Foresight and China programmes.

They share their perspectives from opposite sides of the world, on the foreign policy of the Donald Trump 2.0 Administration. 

Highlights (click/tap above): 

2:51 Defusing the zero-sum game; what is Trump's idea of a bilateral trade deficit?

6:47 Trump inheriting a very different world now in his second term

13:17 Is there a kind of globalisation that can work for everyone?

16:34 Why Donald Trump is not shy to exercise hard power 

18:02 China weak? Why the US can't do everything anymore

23:54 What makes Trump so tricky to work with?

Follow Nirmal Ghosh on X: https://str.sg/JD7r

Read Nirmal Ghosh's articles: https://str.sg/JbxG

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Host: Nirmal Ghosh ([email protected])

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Asian Insider on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

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While there is concern over trade policy, US investors remain bullish on business with Asean.  

Synopsis: The Straits Times' global contributor Nirmal Ghosh shines a light on Asian perspectives of global and Asian issues with expert guests.

With President-elect Donald Trump intent on using tariffs as a weapon - with the larger strategy of rejuvenating American manufacturing - there is concern that the US could retaliate against countries that have a big trade surplus with the United States.

Within the 10-nation Asean bloc, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand could become targets. 

But Asean's growth and competitiveness remains attractive regardless. From 2022 to 2023, for example, foreign direct investment (FDI) declined in all regions of Asia except Asean. More broadly, intra-regional trade in Asia is expected to rise by 65% to US$400 billion (S$535 billion) a year by 2030, which is a good sign for US and Asean investors.

Growth opportunities include artificial intelligence, semiconductor production, digital commerce, medical devices, and mineral supply chains - and Asean countries are competing for investment. 

In this episode, Ted Osius, a former US Ambassador to Vietnam and currently President and CEO of the US-Asean Business Council in Washington DC, shares with host Nirmal Ghosh, the business council’s concerns and wish list, and also why he thinks that, regardless of US government policy, investors are bullish on South-east Asia. 

Highlights (click/tap above): 

4:10 The wish for a forward-looking US trade agenda remains as this region moves forward

7:23 From 2022 to 2023, FDI declined in all regions of Asia, except Asean

10:05 Which Asean countries are making real efforts to attract FDI?

12:48 Growth opportunities for US and Asean investors

13:30 Singapore a leading force in Asean, driving the digital economy framework

Follow Nirmal Ghosh on X: https://str.sg/JD7r

Read Nirmal Ghosh's articles: https://str.sg/JbxG

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Host: Nirmal Ghosh ([email protected])

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Asian Insider on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

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We examine the impact of the recent US presidential election result.

Synopsis: The Straits Times’ associate foreign editor Lim Ai Leen and senior columnist Lin Suling meet up in the studio with Bhagyashree Garekar, The Straits Times’ United States bureau chief who covered the US presidential election all year long, and is back in Singapore for a short break.

In this episode, they discuss how Bhagya arrived at her early prediction of a Trump win before the Nov 5 election, how Trump played to the male and minority voters, global anti-incumbency election trends and how they think Asian countries will shape to deal with the impact.

Highlights (click/tap above):

5:12 How Trump appealed to male voters in this 'woke' age, why Trump beat expectations to win the minority vote in the US

15:50 Political lessons for governments in Asia and how they relate to voters; expected impact from incoming Trump administration

17:54 Dissecting the dynamics of the phone call between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and US President-elect Donald Trump on Nov 11

24:00 Tariffs: Making sense of Trump's promises from the Asian perspective

27:50 3 words to define US politics in the incoming Trump era

Hosts: Lim Ai Leen ([email protected]) and Lin Suling ([email protected])

Follow Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

Follow Asian Insider Podcast on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

Feedback to: [email protected]

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Its warren of underground bunkers and tunnels, which sheltered the city’s residents during the heavy bombing of the Second Sino-Japanese war, are turned into lifestyle destinations today.

Synopsis: The Straits Times chats with ST’s global correspondents about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.

Chongqing bears a grim wartime history. As China’s wartime capital which Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang government decamped to in 1937, it was heavily bombed during the Second Sino-Japanese war. Bunkers - some 16,000 - were built into the city’s hills and mountains, sheltering terrified residents as the bombs rained down.

Some eight decades on, the Chongqing government has given these underground shelters a new lease of life. 

In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying speaks to China correspondent Aw Cheng Wei about what it is like to be in those bunkers today, and why Chongqing is approaching its wartime past differently from other Chinese cities.

Highlights (click/tap above):

0:39 Bookshops, car washes and mahjong sessions

2:51 A real coming to terms with its history? 

8:24 Making the most of one’s past 

14:04 The Straits Times sets up shop in Chongqing

Read Aw Cheng Wei’s article here: https://str.sg/w2Esn 

Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR

Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters 

Host: Li Xueying ([email protected])

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Lynda Hong

Follow Asian Insider on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

Feedback to: [email protected]

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All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7  

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Political upheaval in Japan as its snap elections see the ruling party lose its majority, reshaping its ties with the US and Asia. 

Synopsis: Join The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor, as he distils his experience from four decades of covering the Asian continent.

In this episode, Ravi speaks with Tobias Harris, founder of political risk consultancy Japan Foresight on the fallout from the stunning electoral reverses suffered by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba following his decision to hold snap polls.

They discuss what the results, which saw the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party and allied party Komeito lose their parliamentary majority, mean for Japan, its alliance with the US, and its ties with wider Asia.

Tobias and Ravi also discuss how the results could impact on fiscal policy, and whether the government would now be forced to go in for further fiscal expansion.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:36 Japan’s political ‘earthquake’

4:33 Anger, frustration in Japan 

7:50 Domestic priorities to be a focus 

8:33 Japan’s foreign policy

17:55 Fiscal discipline will be difficult

21:17 A modernised LDP

Host: Ravi Velloor ([email protected])

Read Ravi's columns: https://str.sg/3xRP

Follow Ravi on X: https://twitter.com/RaviVelloor

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Lynda Hong

Follow Asian Insider Podcast on Fridays here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts 

Feedback to: [email protected]

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Follow more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 

ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts 

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