About

Sebastian Strangio is a journalist and author focusing on Southeast Asia. Since 2008, his reporting from across the region has appeared in more than 30 leading publications in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

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Author Archive
Malaysia Wrestles With Beijing's One Belt One Road Bonanza

Malaysia Wrestles With Beijing’s One Belt One Road Bonanza

The sales office for Forest City, one of Malaysia’s largest residential property developments, looks less like an office than an airport hangar or a museum atrium: a futuristic dome flooded with noise and light.
One-Party Cambodia’s Grim Message

One-Party Cambodia’s Grim Message

China-backed authoritarianism is on the rise in Cambodia as the influence of the US and other Western donor countries retreats
Cambodia Becomes the World’s Newest One-Party State

Cambodia Becomes the World’s Newest One-Party State

With strong Chinese support, Prime Minister Hun Sen has effectively destroyed all opposition to his autocratic rule.
'Allah doesn't care if you are transgender': the Indonesian school fighting a backlash

‘Allah doesn’t care if you are transgender’: the Indonesian school fighting a backlash

An Islamic boarding school for transgender people in Yogyakarta is providing a safe haven amid a harsh crackdown on LGBT rights.
The Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, Democracy Icon

The Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, Democracy Icon

Turning “The Lady” into a secular saint only helped Myanmar’s junta.
Cambodia's Crumbling Democracy

Cambodia’s Crumbling Democracy

Behind the growing repression of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government
After Ahok: Indonesia Grapples with the Rise of Political Islam

After Ahok: Indonesia Grapples with the Rise of Political Islam

For decades, Indonesian society has experienced a slow process of Islamization. In 2017, the pace picked up.
The Past Isn't Past

The Past Isn’t Past

Lumphat seemed forsaken by time. Stretched out along a bend of the Srepok River, this former town was now little more than a village, a mere sprinkling of civilisation in a landscape of red earth and pantone blue skies.
Suharto Museum Celebrates a Dictator’s Life, Omitting the Dark Chapters

Suharto Museum Celebrates a Dictator’s Life, Omitting the Dark Chapters

Indonesia’s former dictator looms in bronze over the entrance to the small museum set amid the palm trees and rice fields of central Java.
Ghosts of Pogroms Past Haunt Indonesia

Ghosts of Pogroms Past Haunt Indonesia

After the jailing of Jakarta’s former governor, Chinese Indonesians find themselves caught between age-old prejudice and fears of a rising China.
Myanmar refugees find a foothold in North Carolina

Myanmar refugees find a foothold in North Carolina

For the Myanmar residents of Chapel Hill, hopes of a return home are tempered by fears of continued ethnic tensions
What a High-Level Sacking in Vietnam Reveals About Communist Party Rifts

What a High-Level Sacking in Vietnam Reveals About Communist Party Rifts

Vietnam’s campaign against corruption notched a significant victory earlier this month with the removal of a top Politburo official for “very serious mistakes and violations” while he was chair of PetroVietnam, the state-owned oil and gas company. But analysts say that there is a more complicated story behind the rare Politburo sacking—just the fourth in...