4+ day, 2+ hour ago  (686+ words) Editors from 2006 to 2026 reflect on a special milestone New Mandala - 16 Jun, 2026 20 years ago today, Andrew Walker's post "Some thoughts on the political crisis in Thailand" became the first piece of writing to appear at New Mandala. On behalf of everybody…...

1+ week, 22+ hour ago  (427+ words) Richard Yarrow - 12 Jun, 2026 When the 2025 border conflict began, Thailand tried to assert a decisive advantage over Cambodia through economic pressure, as a larger, industrialised power sanctioning its lower-income, trade-dependent neighbour. However, unlike during previous border conflicts, Cambodia resisted and largely…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (610+ words) The National Library's Albatross File Exhibition and its accompanying book turn Lee from a historically consequential actor into a passive circumstance. By trying to protect him from scrutiny, Singaporeans are given a comforting story instead of an educational one where…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (984+ words) Pasit Wongngamdee - 09 Jun, 2026 Nevertheless, the non-traditional threats that the two primarily meant are the "wrong perceptions" held by people in society'which leads to distrust in the armed forces, the monarchy, and "Thai-style democracy". The military has clearly long realised the…...

1+ mon, 2+ hour ago  (398+ words) Muhammad Ammar Hidayahtulloh & Shelli Israelsen - 20 May, 2026 Women's liberation was initially connected to the broader revolutionary struggle against Indonesian occupation. This changed in the early 1980s, when the Indonesian regime destroyed much of the resistance leadership. Under the leadership of Xanana Gusm'o…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago  (299+ words) Teuku Reza Fadeli - 13 May, 2026 Figure 1. Advertising on the front page of The Straits Times, 2 January 1930 (Source: National Library of Singapore) Figure 2. Listerine Toothpaste Advertisement, D'Orient, 23 October 1937 (Source: The National Library of the Republic of Indonesia) The fair, much like MACS-led…...

1+ mon, 3+ week ago  (136+ words) Through contemporary artworks and a chance encounter in the Singapore Art Museum, this piece reflects on how Singapore's commitment to renewal shapes its cityscape, its visions of youth and ageing, and everyday engagements with technology. Lukas Fort - 24 Apr, 2026 " " " " " " Brian Curtin…...

1+ mon, 4+ week ago  (253+ words) DETAIL FROM A 2020 SERIES OF STAMPS DEPICTING TRADITIONAL MYANMAR ARTS Long before the 2021 coup plunged Myanmar into economic crisis, the country's rich artistic heritage was already being looted, copied and sold to foreign buyers. Today's market in counterfeit antiquities, fake…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago  (402+ words) President Prabowo's drive to reassert state control addresses a genuine postcolonial grievance with an instrument that destroys the conditions for the prosperity it claims to pursue Rayhan Prabu Kusumo - 09 Apr, 2026 Indonesia is repeating a version of this error under President…...

2+ mon, 4+ week ago  (141+ words) Indonesia's new "war on waste' revives familiar mobilisation strategies focused on downstream remediation while leaving the structural causes of pollution largely untouched. Lukas Fort - 20 Mar, 2026 Yet participation is not entirely spontaneous, nor simply spurred by nationalistic imagery. School groups, civil…...