IKMAS Webinar 5/2021 (Updated)

Inequality and Exclusion in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines

DEC 1, 2021 | 3:00pm – 4.30pm (Kuala Lumpur)

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQJZMIlJFb4&t=1s

Register: shorturl.at/xBOX8
(After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.)

Abstract

Inequality is a defining global issue of our times. Southeast Asia stands out in some ways; the 2010s have seen most
countries in the region reduce income gaps. Nonetheless, inequality levels remain high, especially in the middleincome
to high-income countries, and popular disaffection and economic anxiety prevail, even while official statistics
may paint more buoyant scenarios. The age-old problem of exclusion of segments or groups in the development
process manifests in new ways. This forum discusses structural changes and public policies to address inequality and
exclusion in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Speakers are chapter contributors of the book Inequality and
Exclusion in Southeast Asia: Old Fractures, New Frontiers.

The book provides up-to-date overviews and regional dynamics of inequality levels and trends in Southeast Asia,
primarily related to income, but also wealth, labour market developments, population groups, informal economies
and other socioeconomic variables related to education and health.

Bio

Dr Zulfan Tadjoeddin is Associate Professor in Development Studies at Western Sydney
University, Australia, and Research Associate at SMERU Research Institute, Jakarta. His
areas of research include political economy of development, employment and labour
market, as well as poverty and inequality. He has published in leading academic journals
and has published two books (both Palgrave Macmillan): Explaining Collective Violence
in Contemporary Indonesia: From Conflict to Cooperation (2014) and Employment and
Reindustrialisation in Post Soeharto Indonesia (2018).

Dr. Philip Arnold «Randy» P. Tuaño is associate professor and chair of the Economics
Department, School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University among other
university appointments. He is also a project coordinator of the Human Development
Network, a network of academics and civil society leaders involved in advancing the
cause of human development, and the Philippine country manager of the Sustainable
Development Solutions Network, a global network of universities and research
organizations working on sustainable development solutions. He had served in
government as Director III of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (2001-2004).

Dr LEE Hwok Aun is a Senior Fellow and Co-coordinator of the Malaysia Studies
Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. He co-edited Inequality and Exclusion in
Southeast Asia: Old Fractures, New Frontiers (2021, ISEAS), and authored Affirmative
Action in Malaysia and South Africa: Preference for Parity (Routledge, 2021). He has
written numerous articles, in international refereed academic and media publications,
on affirmative action, inequality, discrimination, social protection, labour and education.
He also co-edited The Defeat of Barisan Nasional: Missed Signs of Late Surge? (2019,
ISEAS), and was national consultant for the 2013 Malaysia Human Development Report
(UNDP).