- Singaporeans are worrying about Ebola arriving through their heavily trafficked airport, but it is dengue that is the real killer in Southeast Asia at present. Cases of dengue fever in Malaysia were at their highest rates eve,r according to the Minister of Health, with almost 75,000 cases and 143 deaths this year.
- Vietnam's economy maintains strong growth but the country needs more skilled workers, finds an Asian Development Bank report.
- The captain of a Vietnamese oil tanker hijacked en route from Singapore explained his ordeal.
- An excellent piece by Pavin Chachavalpongpun on Thailand’s corruption problem and how it is undermining Gen Prayuth's reform agenda and ultimately his tenuous legitimacy. In the wake of the King's illness last week, Pavin also explored royal succession here.
- The Myanmar president has pledged to free 3000 political prisoners.
- Michael Vatikiotis took a look at the region's murky democracy for New Mandala.
- ISIS in Indonesia and how to combat it, according to Gwenael Njoto-Feillard.
- An explosion, believed to be a grenade and related to gangland turf battle in Kuala Lumpur's busy tourist district of Bukit Bintang, killed one and injured a dozen.
- A few new and notable books out this week: Sebastian Strangio's Hun Sen’s Cambodia, Mathew Davies' Realising Rights and ISEAS on religious diversity in Indonesia and Malaysia, .
- Malaysia's 2015 budget was unveiled this week; here's the overview. Significantly, the troubled Sabah and Sarawak states are to receive 4.5 billion ringgit for development (likely with a security focus).
- Finally, with the ASEAN Economic Community set to be launched next year (albeit with a host of problems still to address), it's a good time to start looking at the combined strength of the ASEAN economies. Here's one infographic put together by ASEAN UP.
