2017/36, 5 June 2017
As an effort to clamp down on fundamentalism and intolerance, the Indonesian government has introduced new measures to re-inculcate Pancasila, which upholds pluralism and inclusiveness, as the sole national ideology. In his speech during Pancasila Day on June 1, President Joko Widodo established UKP-PIP, a special task-force to reinforce Pancasila principles in citizens’ daily lives, including in religious lectures, education curricula, and social media.
Why was Thailand’s Prime Minister Absent in the Belt and Road Initiative Summit? by Pongphisoot Busbarat
Recently, there were a lot of questions as to why the Singapore Prime Minister was not present at the recent Belt and Road (BRI) Summit held in Beijing during 14-15 May 2017. This is especially when Singapore is located in the maritime silk road. Similar questions also direct to another two heads of Southeast Asian governments who were also left out: Brunei Darussalam and Thailand. While the case of Brunei is straightforward regarding its small impacts on the BRI, Thailand is unmistakably an important node especially in mainland Southeast Asia.