South Asia has crossed an important milestone, one that is being celebrated by international bodies, but has gone largely unnoticed in Asia. This is the first time that all South Asian nations have a democratically elected government. India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have all successfully held multi-party elections and appointed heads of state accordingly.
While politics has always been melodramatic in South Asia with protests and walk outs becoming a norm, this year is no exception. The Supreme court of Pakistan recently barred both Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from holding electoral office. Bangladesh is undergoing a mutiny by rank-and-file guards protesting over pay and conditions. Meanwhile in the south, tensions continue to grow between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lanka Militia.
Nonetheless, this is a milestone to be celebrated.
After fighting land and sea battles, India and China are now competing to woo over the Himalayan state of Nepal. Nestled amongst the lofty mountains between the two economic superpowers Nepal’s location is strategic for peace and prosperity of the region.
Moving closer to a more integrated ASEAN region, the stock exchanges of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have agreed to to start an e-trading link between the five countries by next year. The technical backbone and policies of the intra-regional trading platform are still being worked out.
While job losses, plunging currencies and cuts in interest rates are a more apparent form of the economic crisis, changing food habits are a less obvious alteration. As consumers give up fine dining for a cheeseburger, fast food restaurants around the Asia have found sales jump manifold. In recession hit Japan McDonald’s reported record sales of US$4.4 billion in 2008 as the Japanese choose cheaper, quicker food over finer dining.
