What is Dari Mulut ke Mulut?

Every few months the world media likes to introduce the planet afresh to Southeast Asia. The ‘forgotten’ region is on the rise. 

We know better. You and I and 600 million others know that Southeast Asia is already wildly dynamic, integral to global geopolitics and an economic powerhouse in the making. Dari Mulut ke Mulut does not see the region as a homogenous blob spanning the planet from northern Myanmar to Eastern Indonesia, nor does it see Southeast Asia as simply the chessboard on which the US-China rivalry is being played. 

When this newsletter began in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was running for president in the Philippines, Aung San Suu Kyi was the world-renowned civilian leader of a promising and democratic Myanmar and Lee Hsien Loong was mourning his father with no intention of stepping down in Singapore. In the years since, Dari Mulut ke Mulut has covered Thailand’s new constitution and new king. It’s covered Vietnam’s quiet — and then not-so-quiet — rise toward the centre of Asia’s economy. Indonesia is growing into the global leader its size demands and Malaysia’s elder statesmen have risen and fallen (and risen and fallen again, in some cases). Laos got high-speed rail and fears of becoming a vassal state. There was the pandemic, endless natural disasters and two North Korea-US talks. There was tech giants gambling on labour for their fortunes and social media allowing citizens to talk back. And Dari Mulut ke Mulut has covered all of it.  

What do you get out of it?

Every Monday, readers receive one newsletter looking ahead at the week to come. This often includes upcoming trials or major bilateral meetings, but also local protests or political infighting with the potential to become destabilising. Not pointing fingers, but that’s usually Malaysia. On Fridays, readers can expect a closer look at one key story or trend. This often includes Myanmar updates or election coverage. 

Premium readers receive an additional newsletter each week with a deeper look around half the region. These newsletters alternate between the maritime states — Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia — and the Mekong states of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Brunei and Timor-Leste are added flexibly but tend to be less news-heavy than the other states. 

Myanmar is a standalone issue, which I like to make free for anyone to read given the importance and human stakes involved under the junta. I am proud to be able to keep regular coverage of the crisis in Myanmar free and am very grateful to premium readers for helping me do so. 

But, of course, with such an enormous region to cover and so many ground-shaking stories emerging suddenly, readers can expect snap primers in their inboxes. A recent example is the shock arrest and detention of Cambodian journalist Mech Dara.  

Who am I?

I’m an Australian who popped across the way in 2014 for a baptism of fire into Indonesian politics at one of Jakarta’s English-language newspapers. In the years since I’ve focused increasingly on this newsletter and looked more broadly across the region. I like to spot the emerging trends, the people-backed movements for better governance and the palace intrigue that would inspire fantastic HBO shows. 

I’m also a co-host of Reformasi, a weekly podcast about Indonesia with Kevin O’Rourke, and a freelance writer covering the region for whoever will take me. And I’m on LinkedIn!