New Mandala

The Barisan Nasional (National Front) has led Malaysia since independence in 1957. As the Alliance Party – which included the Malayan Indian Congress and the Malaysian Chinese Association, it governed the Federation of Malaya (then only constituting Peninsular Malaya) from 1957 to 1963.
Then, in 1963, with the support of local political parties (e.g. People’s Action Party in Singapore) [...]

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One Night in Bangkok
 Chris Coles
 �
Wednesday 5 August
7pm @ Forth Gallery
69A Pagoda Street
Singapore
The blinding neon and shady denizens of the Bangkok night are captured vividly in American painter Chris Coles’ watercolour renditions of the lurid and colourful world of the Thai capital’s notorious nightlife.
Heavily distorted lines and strong, clashing colors dominate in these paintings which [...]

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[A New Mandala reader has sent me the following comments on sex trafficking in Singapore.]
There have been a number of recent reports about women trafficked into coercive brothels in Singapore. Here is a Bangkok Post report from October last year about Thai women working in “forest brothels”. Here is another Bangkok Post report from late [...]

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