The Faces of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is a region composed of myriad of cultures with people having descents from China, Spain, and Portugal. This speaks volume of the contrasting cultures that one can encounter when travelling across this region. While the culture across the countries in Southeast Asia varies, the demographics and economic stability can see a huge variance as well. Over the course of travels across the region, it is very clear that every country has something unique to offer while it is on the path to become a developed nation, or a semi developed nations. Let’s have a look at 3 countries that form a major core of countries in Southeast Asia in terms of business and political landscape
Singapore
This is the face of Southeast Asia and has gone on to establish itself as the home of expats from across the world with majority of the citizens from Chinese descent. The heavy investment by the government has enabled Singapore to be a fancy place to live in and people often associate Singapore as a place to live in Southeast Asia while tourism can be covered across other countries. The heavy dependency on imports makes it dependent on Malaysia and Indonesia on its raw materials while the moolah is all generated in Singapore. In principle, Singapore is a well-established developed nation with all amenities available across majority of its citizens.
Indonesia
One often associates Indonesia with Bali owing to its tourism. There is no doubt that a lot of country’s development is dependent on the tourism industry, but its manufacturing facilities and availability of raw sources makes it a very reliable source of energy. However, the income levels are extremely low owing to a weak currency and a very manufacturing driven country. The country’s economy was in dire straits during the pandemic which made it very clear how heavily dependent the country was on tourism. As the tourism now picks up, Indonesia is again on the pathway to have a stronger currency. It is on the brinks of collapsing anytime tourism gets interrupted. A high divide in the Muslim and Hindu population makes the demography of Indonesia extremely complex leading to multiple protests and political instability
Philippines
The Spanish inspired island nation is a very strong island in terms of its large network of stores and revenue streams. However, the actual definition of income gap is highly evident here with majority of the well doing people present in Manila City leading to all the focus on development being directed there. This has led to a lot of variances in the country’s perception from the world and a lot of disgruntlements amongst the citizens of Philippines. Dynasty rule has dominated the politics since ages though a change is very evident in the upcoming future.
While Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand also have similar variances, it is not as significant in the definition of developed and developing nations like the 3 countries mentioned above. Times are changing with more investments coming along the way across the less privileged nations and politics taking a turn, it is a matter of time when the difference in the standards of the countries will be even more prominent. Singapore will continue to lead the way as the face of Southeast Asia in the upcoming future while the other countries will be in a constant quest to make the nation stable in terms of economy, demographics, politics and income levels. One thing that is a commonality amongst all countries is the huge potential for tourism which should be cashed in by each and every government. Everyone is keen to visit these countries owing to proximity in Asia and it is important more and more investment goes in that domain.
