Individual essays

The strait of Malacca

By Laura Torres

The Islands of Sumatra and Malaysia are vaguely separated by a breach of 890 km that allows the Indian Ocean

(Andaman sea)  to connect with the South China Sea and surrounded by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. 

In other words, it is a checkpoint that connect some of the most powerful and growing economies in the world China,

India, Japan, the Middle East… 

The ports of Malacca (Port Klang) in Malaysia and Singapore are the two “star” economic centres that surround the Strait,

moreover, the World Economic Forum defines this strait as the most important trade route in the world.

Historically South East Asia has been and currently is a hot spot for international trade and transportation, consequently

many ports and settlements have been created in the areas surrounding this corridor. And has allowed the formation of

populations with high diversity thanks to the merchants coming from all around the world, becoming a massive cultural

rich region. 

Its importance dates back to the Roman and Greek empires when Asian populations traded with spices and cloths, until

nowadays petroleum and natural gas global exchange. Sadly, the now world trade is heavily driven by fuel or oil trade.

The strait of Malacca is responsible for the transportation of one fourth of the total oil exported in the whole world,

moving this commodity from The Persian Gulf to China, Japan, Korea… It can be secure to say that the ports

surrounding this natural hazard have an elementary role in the International economy, and is in the

interest of every single state in the world to protect their rights and the safeness of this passage. 

Maritime passages are subject to many dangers because of the high potential they offer for political conflicts as well as

piracy acts. 

One of the main problems facing the region may be one of capacity. 100.000 ships - approximately - have to cross the narrow strait (1.5 nautical miles) every year, making it the second busiest traffic routine the world after the Strait of Dover that divides France and England. 

Of course, massive traffic leads to increased risk. And it is a feature that pirates in the area have used to their advantage over centuries. Geographically the area is suitable for piracy acts to take place, thanks to the abundance of small and unnoticeable islands as key points for these actions to take place. More over, the lack of cooperation between the nations of South East Asia, which are united politically in ASEAN is a major reason why piracy is increasing. 

The World Maritime office has pointed out that in 2015, had of the piracy attacks in the world took place in South East Asia. 

This previous Economic perspective is basically the only one that has been given to the Strait of Malacca, we have forgotten the importance it has had and has in the creation of cultural diversity as mentioned in the beginning of the essay. We are not blinded by the petroleum world and the conflicts its bringing around the world, and forgetting the true and beneficial consequences or origin that this natural land and water formation has offered. The Strait of Malacca is a concourse of cultures and ideologies. 

Of course, this migration flows were driven by the economic attraction this region offered, the Romans for example were amazed by the cloths and spices found in South East Asia. And therefore began sending merchants that finally settled in the coastlines,. This settlers would eventually emerge into the native cultures but also bringing their own, creating a whole new ethnicity. This same process was repeated throughout history combining many features, from Europeans to even the populations of the nearest Islands the strait. We can call this process cultural hybridity

For example a Chinese society was settled in the north east part of Melaka, the European characteristics that emerged with the Hindu features of the Indian Baba or Melaka Chitty populations. 

It is crucial to understand that this strait has the power to stop the world’s supply of oil and the trade between China and the rest of the world. Whoever is able to control the Start of Malacca has the whole world on its hands. Collaboration and cooperation between the South East Asian countries will be essential to protect the strait of Malacca and ensure the economic prosperity of the surrounding nations as well as to protect it from piracy attacks. 

The fact that sea is something we all have in common is perfectly reflected in the cultural diversity that human migrations and flows that have created in Southeast Asia. 

 The strait of Malacca therefore constitutes the most meaningful water frontier for trade and societies in Southeast Asia. 

Strait of Malacca

Crude Oil and trade flow of the Strait of Malacca

Use your liberty to promote ours: the story of Aung San Suu Kyi and the Rohingya

By Alicia Rubio

The nation of Myanmar has gone through one of the toughest conflicts in recent history. Although it got independence from Britain in 1948 and was since then supposed to become a democracy, this system never consolidated. After a coup d’état in 1962, the country was taken over by the military, which established a dictatorship`that carried out the fiercest repression against those who dared to protest for democracy over the decades. Internal struggle has lasted since then, and despite the fact that multiple upheavals have taken place and the opposition to the authoritarian regime has stood strong and even won two elections, all attempts of instituting real democracy and stability have been frustrated by the military’s refusal to let go of power.

The opposition was led since the so-called 8888 Uprising in 1988 by the democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the major general Aung San, who fought for independence from the British. Due to the pressure put on the government by the demonstrators, an election was held in 1990, with the National League For Democracy, the party led by Suu Kyi, irrefutably winning the vote. However, it was not allowed to take power -instead, the regime kept Suu Kyi under house arrest and tried to recover popularity.

This went on for two decades until in 2010, increased international pressure on top of another civil uprising -the Saffron Revolution, which got this name due to the fact that it was led by buddhist monks- made the military junta carry out a series of reforms, release Aung San Suu Kyi, and finally hold another election in 2015. It was, again, won by her party. She then became the State Counselor of Myanmar, which means that she is essentially the de facto civilian leader of the country, although she cannot be named president due to an amendment in the Constitution -that cannot be reformed because the military still has a good stake of influence in the Parliament.

With Suu Kyi in power, Myanmar is slowly opening up and transitioning into a democratic nation. Nevertheless, a serious humanitarian crisis is still taking place in the country: the rohingya, a minority ethnic group who have historically lived in the country’s state of Rakhine, have been marginalized, attacked, displaced and persecuted for decades. Their case has been ignored for years but pointed at as one of the gravest by international organizations such as the UN or Human Rights Watch. They are not only not recognized as citizens by Myanmar -neither by Bangladesh-, but have also suffered indiscriminate violence coming both from the authorities and from the population, who view them as illegal immigrants. Being a muslim minority in a majoritarily buddhist country, in addition to having been in a different side than the rest of the country during WWII, is probably the reason why the nationalist authoritarian government decided not to include the rohingya among the over 130 ethnicities that form part of the country.

With the new government, it seemed that the situation would finally become safe and stable for this mistreated people -but nothing further from the truth. Aung San Suu Kyi has inexplicably remained silent about this crisis, violence has by no means stopped, and they still suffer a disproportionate rate of poverty. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, in addition, has rejected UN teams willing to investigate the conditions the rohingya live in, and denied the organization’s assertion that an ethnic cleansing and even a genocide were happening. Although it is true that she does not control the army or security forces and that, as previously mentioned, the military still have a big influence in the government run by her, there is a big sense of disappointment and frustration towards the reaction -or more appropriately, no reaction- of Suu Kyi with this big issue. What is it that pushes a person to be fighting as a human rights activist for 30 years, and when finally having the possibility to stop injustice, not doing so? After all, she is the same woman that made the statement “Please, use your liberty to promote ours” be heard around the world.

Myanmar's current State Counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi