🇮🇩 Serial killer stuns Indonesia

Hello friends!

I spoke too soon last week about getting better after my mystery illness. Back with a vengeance. I have spent much of this week lying down and watching old episodes of Criminal Minds. I have, however, tried to follow along with some of the news threads. So, today! A very short whip around the whole region as I get back on my feet. 

No Thailand, however. The election there is difficult enough to follow along without a diet of pseudoephedrine, so will dig deeper in the coming days and have an election update early next week. 

Thank you so much to all the readers who reached out with kind words last week. Hopefully, back to regular scheduling from next week.

See you then,Erin Cook

🇮🇩 A serial killer comes undone

I have temporarily shelved my interest in Indonesia’s politics in favour of absorbing everything I can about this deeply weird and frightening serial killer story from Banjarnegara, Central Java. 

Police in West Java were notified Prasetyo, 35-year-old man, was missing. Prasetyo’s son showed police a WhatsApp message he had received from his father saying to contact the police if he didn’t return and shared his location. Police went to the location — a house belonging to Tohari, better known as Mbah Slamet. There they found not just the remains of Prasetyo, but those of 11 others buried in seven makeshift graves.

The bodies were found with small bottles, believed to have contained a poison they were made to drink by Mbah Slamet. The reporting on this is still quite loose with investigations still underway, but it does appear Mbah Slamet is a local dukun, or shaman, and had promised victims he could multiply money. This is a fairly familiar trope — two men in their 60s were charged with a string of murders in West Java revealed earlier in the year which also featured tricking people into believing they could multiply money.  

Mbah Slamet has admitted to the crimes and faces the death penalty. Inevitably, the dukun link has brought up comparisons with Ahmad Suradji, Indonesia’s most notorious serial killer, who confessed to killing 42 girls and women between 1986 and 1997 in Medan. 

🇲🇾 Law reforms welcomed in Malaysia

Well done, Malaysia! The floated abolition of the mandatory death penalty for a range of crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking has been passed in parliament. Lawmakers “approved bills to give courts the option of imposing prison sentences of between 30 and 40 years and caning not less than 12 times,” as per the AP. Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch hopes it will be an inspiration to other countries in the region that still have the death penalty on the books. That is, virtually everyone. 

Attempted suicide will also be removed from the criminal code. As it stands now, anyone who attempts suicide faces a year in prison and/or a fine. “Aiding and abetting” an attempt will remain an offence, Law Minister Azalina Othman Said said in a statement, as per Reuters. The wire quotes former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin who said Malaysia saw 1,142 suicide cases in 2021 — a huge jump from 631 known cases in 2020. 

🇸🇬 Is Singapore next?

Malaysia’s death penalty move has given Singapore much to think about. This explainer from Today Online clarifies that the neighbour still has the death penalty on its books, and shifting to a ‘discretionary’ model has no precedent in the world. It’s unlikely to have an impact on the abolition movement in Singapore, but some experts quoted here flagged what, if any, change on drug trafficking the law will have as something to watch. 

It’s all about real estate. The rental squeeze is continuing but market watchers suggest owners will have to “adjust their expectations” on prices as more supply comes onto the market. 

🇰🇭 Hun Sen bangs his fist

Prime Minister Hun Sen is upping his own political ante by demanding foreign missions in the capital make a choice between his government and an “outlawed group,” that is, a thinly-veiled reference to the disbanded Cambodia National Rescue Party, as per Luke Hunt for the Diplomat. In comments directed at the US, Hun Sen added: “on the one hand, you come to instruct me. On the other hand, you come to oppress me.” If foreign countries are not interested in backing Hun Sen’s government “you can consider ending diplomatic mission [sic] to Cambodia” he added.  

🇲🇲 Licensing reveals all

A very interesting one here from Frontier Myanmar. This sort of story is Frontier Myanmar at its best — how something seemingly innocuous, in this case, liquor licensing, reveals a lot about the junta’s hold on business and the broader community. At least 150 licenses in Sagaing Region, a stronghold of the resistance, have been revoked after holders refused to pay taxes to the military-run government. They have since been reissued to more compliant businesses in Yangon. 

‘The transfer of liquor licences from Sagaing to Yangon represents a big shift in policy that reflects the military’s weakened control in parts of Myanmar. Previously, licences could not be transferred across districts, let alone shift from one state or region to another,’ Frontier Myanmar notes. 

🇵🇭 An Easter tradition is dying

It’s Holy Week and for Pampanga, northwest of Manila, that usually means a very, very busy period. That’s where true believers volunteer for crucifixion including having nails driven through the feet and hands and others self-flagellate. Numbers have dropped year on year and the pandemic saw a forced hiatus of the event, but some worry that the ritual may be dying with the unofficial leaders reaching retirement age. This piece from the Inquirer is a great explainer and a reminder that, no matter what, I’ve got to get there next year. 

🇻🇳 Walking the tight-rope

Vietnam is firming up its balancing act between China and the US. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh spoke with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday in which he pushed China to open up its market to Vietnamese agri goods. It follows a separate phone call between Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and US President Joe Biden on March 29 in which the pair discussed the Indo-Pacific Framework (drink!). 

🇧🇳 Logging on

The government in Brunei is planning a major upgrade in cybersecurity after 496 cyber attacks were reported in 2022. A proposed budget allocation of $163.4 million for the 2023/2024 fiscal year will focus on upgrading cybersecurity and infrastructure in rural areas. 

🇹🇱 Hello, Timor-Leste

We are getting closer and closer to the parliamentary elections in Timor-Leste, slated for May 21, and still, I can find little coverage. God bless the Catholic wire, I guess. 

🇱🇦 A political update

A nice long one on Laos here from Joshua Kurlantzick for World Politics Review. It takes a look at how the economic discontent in Laos is affecting the political reality and what it could mean for the future.