🇲🇾 Hmm. What to do about flooding?

Hello friends!

Short and sharp today on two things that have made my head explode over the weekend. Plus a sweet birthday message from Melbourne. 

See you Wednesday!Erin Cook

🇲🇲 Well wishes from across the world

Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 77th birthday in prison. The occasion was marked by small protests in Myanmar and birthday celebrations hosted by the diaspora. 

🇲🇾 Backpackers LOVE disaster zones

A deeply odd one out of the brain of an MP in Malaysia. Nazri Aziz, a former Tourism Minister, has suggested flooding across the country could be Malaysia’s brand of ‘dark tourism.’ 

I HATE dark tourism, that is, tourism checking out parts of the world that have experienced horrific suffering and death. It’s distinct from history-minded tourism which takes in a lot of the same venues in that it is branded explicitly as spooky and scary. In this region, Cambodia is the most notable with the Khmer Rouge genocide sites either a sobering and confronting visit, or a place to fire off AK47s nearby. It’s disrespectful and, I think, largely racist. 

So why Nazri Aziz thinks it’s a good idea is bizarre. "Maybe we can have voluntary tourism where people come to the country to help us with the floods, and it is not about them coming here just to enjoy but for them to also learn," he told Sinar Daily, via the Straits Times. “The flood is like a festival. Every monsoon, we have a flood festival, and people will come.”

His idea is that foreigners will see the floods coming and buy tickets and book hotel rooms to ??? Help clean up? Outsourcing state services to backpackers is hardly a solid idea. Beyond that, it’s ethically wrong, says Pahang state MP Young Syefura Othman. She’s from a part of the country that was hit by enormous flooding at the end of 2021, leaving at least 10 from her state dead. Help is needed, but not like this, she says. 

It’s not the first time Azri has floated the idea. Back in 2018, he pushed the plan almost verbatim to his comments this week. In the four years since dozens have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced. If the flooding is so regular punters can be expected to book Air Asia flights in anticipation of them — surely there are hopes of meaningful mitigation and infrastructure development. 

🇵🇭 The new administration begins to take shape

From one Duterte to another. The next great Malacañang dynasty is formally underway after Sara Duterte was sworn in as Vice-President yesterday. She will also be the Education Secretary. Bongbong Marcos will be sworn in as President at the end of the month and has spent June cobbling together a team of familiar faces. 

Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile will join the cabinet as Marcos’ legal adviser. His name is a very familiar one. He was a key advisor to Marcos’ father and is ‘credited’ with being behind Martial Law. He ended up switching sides and helped oust Ferdinand 1. The 98-year-old (yep) has backed Bongbong saying he wants to help the country move forward. Great. Anyways, here’s an excellent fact check from back in 2018 on his comments regarding his role in the Marcos administration 1.0.