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By OOI KEE BENG (Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 23, 2026 – March 1, 2026) The line of enquiry whenever Southeast Asian regionalism is mentioned together with European regionalism is how they are comparable, and how they can learn from each other. And given the European Union (EU) has a much longer history … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG, Feature in Penang Monthly, March 2026. COSMOPOLIS. That is an exciting word that is full of positive connotations. The original Greek expresses this idea by pairing Kosmos (“world” or “universe”) with Polis (“city-state”). Cosmopolis thus translates into “world-city”, which in short signifies the ideal of a unified political com-munity that absorbs … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 26, 2026 – February 1, 2026, under the column “Picking on the Present”. Tensions have increased for European countries between their role as members of the Cold War military organisation Nato, and their long-term ambitions to become a super-state … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, for The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 1, 2025 – December 7, 2025 For centuries, the Pearl River delta had been the trading hub for anyone wishing to trade with the Chinese Empire. When one considers the dynamics of China’s political economy over the last millennia, this makes a lot of … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG, in The Edge Malaysia, Oct 27 – 2 Nov 2025. The deepest legacy that colonialism left behind in Southeast Asia are the nation-states that now control the colonialists’ contingently-defined territories. By and large, all these countries were born during the Cold War that followed the Second World War. This tells us … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG, for The Edge Malaysia Weekly. September 22-28, 2025 The passing of the Gig Workers’ Bill 2025 by the Malaysian parliament is significant, encouraging and inspiring. For a country whose political culture pathologically encourages racial consciousness, confrontation and intimidation, this legislation is a rare acknowledgement of society’s struggling classes — and gig … Continue reading
Keynote speech given at Canon Malaysia’s “Think Big” Conference on 9 September 2025 at Holiday Inn, Bukit Mertajam. PENANG INSTITUTE PROVIDED much of the thinking, the research and the ground support in the creation and socializing of the Penang2030 vision and masterplan, along with Think City and the Chief Minister’s Office. We decided to publicize … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may be proudly considered one of the great achievements of diplomacy in the world. For the region itself, the initiative has allowed for the various member states to be cognizant of each other’s differences and difficulties. Be that as it may, it has yet … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, “Picking on the Present” column in The Edge Malaysia 21-26 July 2025 THE SHOCK AND AWE approach that President Donald Trump’s Project 2025 clearly depends on, when exercised on the international stage, has brought about a whole range of reactions from governments all over the world. At one pole, you have … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng ASEAN is almost seven decades old. The wish to get along despite cultural diversity and political differences is a value in itself. One should ask why ASEAN has survived so long despite an underwhelming track record. What is it that its founding fathers understood, and how precious are the lessons learned … Continue reading
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