South-East Asia must remain diverse and multicultural


A future in which the South-East Asian region is split in two, between rich elites and millions of the poor, is the biggest fear of academic Dr Farish A. Noor.

He paints a frightening picture of a small cluster of cosmopolitan “cafe latte-drinking, sushi-eating” elites “swimming on a sea of 600 million poor South-East Asians” who have no access to mobility.

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