Gulf Reformers and South-east Asian Retrenchers

mei-nus

To match the breakneck speed of their progress, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have both initiated bold social reforms recently.

In its drive to attract foreign talent, a condition for stronger competitiveness, the Emirates relaxed laws banning the cohabitation among unmarried couples and alcohol consumption. In Saudi Arabia, freedom for women to drive, and to decide whether to wear the hijab, have amounted to a break with past social practices, speeding up their integration into public and economic life. These changes, which are ushering in a more conducive social climate for realising ambitious development plans, go hand in hand with efforts to curb religious extremism.

Meanwhile, in the two largest Muslim-majority nations of South-east Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia have gone in the opposite direction: The recent general election in Malaysia bolstered Islamic parties significantly, while conservative Islamic agendas proliferate in the political life of Indonesia, leading to the adoption of a controversial new Penal Code seen as a setback for civil liberties. With local elections in Malaysia due later this year, and both parliamentary and local elections in Indonesia in 2024, the conservative trend may solidify.

Are the two diverging tracks over political Islam and social liberties amounting to a chasm between Gulf reformers and South-east Asian conservatives? Will this divergence impact on political, business, and people-to-people ties between the two sides?

These questions will be discussed by Dr. Mohammed Baharoon, Director General of B’huth think-tank in the UAE, Dr. Chin Huat Wong, political scientist at the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, Sunway University, Malaysia, and Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, political scientist of Universitas Islam Indonesia, and research affiliate at MEI-NUS.