Editor’s Note
by Haniva Sekar Deanty, Managing Editor - TAF
This week’s Maritime Crescent looks at what happens when familiar problems are treated as emergencies, even when the warning signs have long been visible.
In Indonesia, Gemala Asyura looks at recurring forest and land fires across Kalimantan and Riau have once again brought hazardous haze, school closures, and cross-border disruption. While El Niño has worsened conditions, the concentration of hotspots within corporate concessions raises a more persistent question: how long can a recurring and partly preventable crisis continue to be managed primarily through emergency response?
In Malaysia, Edrina Lisa examines strong headline growth sits uneasily alongside concerns over living costs, subsidy reforms, and an increasingly fragmented political landscape. As the country marks another year of independence, the challenge for the Madani government is not simply sustaining economic momentum, but ensuring that national progress is felt beyond the macroeconomic figures.
Meanwhile, Syimah Johari argues that Brunei’s gradual shift toward cashless payments reveals a quieter question of preparedness and accessibility. Digital options are expanding, but their uneven adoption among smaller vendors shows that technological transition depends as much on practicality and habit as it does on infrastructure.
Emergencies do not always arrive without warning. Forest fires return with the dry season, economic frustration builds beneath positive indicators, and payment systems evolve long before cash disappears from daily life.
Indonesia 🇮🇩
We Didn't Start the Fire
by Gemala Asyura, in Pekanbaru
It has not been a month since the devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Flores, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) in August 2026 leaving 111+ dead and 110,000+ displaced. Indonesia faces another severe seasonal forest and land fires (karhutla) that have intensified through August 2026 as the dry season peaked. Karhutla refers to forest and land fires that can spread rapidly, especially during the dry season. Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) claimed the fires were driven by El Niño, causing the thick haze to blanket several cities, up to the point where residents in Palangka Raya admit day time feels like night time.
However, El Niño is a frequent and recurring event that is mostly predictable. By now the government is supposed to have the solution to prevent the same thing happening rather than relying on annual emergency responses to minimise the damage each time it does. The scale of this fire is massive, with people can barely see the road when they travel, schools shut down, smoke even gets indoors and the air quality in Kalimantan hits the dangerous category. The haze has become so severe that it has spread to neighboring Malaysia, forcing more than a hundred schools in Sarawak to close.
President Prabowo Subianto held a limited cabinet meeting specifically to get ahead of El Niño impacts, focusing on two things, securing national water reserves and blocking potential forest and land fires with the main target on rewetting peatlands. So far, the government deployed 30 helicopters in Kalimantan for water bombing and aerial patrols, alongside fixed-wing patrol aircraft, they also do weather modification or cloud seeding conducted in West Kalimantan to induce rainfall, contingent on suitable cloud conditions.
Greenpeace’s research found the majority of karhutla cases are linked to palm oil and pulp/paper companies clearing land by burning, meaning this isn’t purely a natural disaster that recurs on its own. This is why simply putting out the fire after it happened will not solve the problem. The government needs to come up with a long-term prevention system rather than just reactive firefighting and rewetting peatlands. There should have been precautions taken before it happened. In order to minimize the impact, the government should implement and invest in preventive measures every time the peak of the dry season is about to arrive. One may not always be able to contain a fire, but one can certainly prevent it from starting.
According to Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) the majority of hotspots in Kalimantan are located within corporate concessions. Out of a total of 34,262 hotspots, 25,524 points or roughly 74% are situated inside licensed areas. Most of them are in palm oil plantation concessions, mining concessions, and forestry utilization claimed by the Campaign Coordinator at WALHI National, in late July. This reinforces the suspicion that land and forest fires are not caused by El Niño alone, but also by illegal land burning within licensed areas.
Under Prabowo, Indonesia faced two major 2026 disasters, the Flores earthquake and El Niño-driven fires across Kalimantan and Riau leaving 200,000+ hectares burned, 10.6M + exposed to haze. His government responded with strong relief efforts, however, this response looks stronger on relief and reactive firefighting than on addressing root vulnerability. Clearing land by burning is prohibited under Article 69(1)(h) of Law No. 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management, but legal loopholes still permit land-clearing by fire, which is the main driver in this recurring problem. No matter how much water you pour on the roots, it won’t put out a fire caused by a completely different root problem.
Gemala holds a degree in International Relations, with a focus on contemporary global issues. In addition to her years of undergraduate study, she has hands-on experience in early childhood education, having worked in both teaching and teaching assistant roles. She now pursues journalism as a practical extension of her academic background, with a focus and scope centered on ASEAN regional dynamics and social issues.
Malaysia 🇲🇾
Malaysia’s Paradox of Progress
by Edrina Lisa Ozaidi, in WP Kuala Lumpur
Parades are held in Putrajaya Square, and fireworks and drones light the sky since National Day eve. In the past two days, all Malaysian social media feeds are swamped with National Day wishes from brands and corporations alike. However, as Malaysia stepped into September 2026, the country found itself in a peculiar paradox.
On paper, the national macro-narrative is remarkably bold and positive: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim highlighted in his National Day address that Malaysia’s second-quarter GDP growth surged to a robust 6.0%, trade numbers continue to rise to a high ceiling point, and international tech giants are said to have been pouring billions into Malaysia’s local semiconductor and digital infrastructure.
Yet, away from the celebrations, the socio-political pulse tells a far more complex story. The foundational question facing the nation post-Merdeka is not just about economic survival, but a test to national unity: Can Malaysia endure the persistent undertow of ethnic polarisation and fractured political realpolitik?
The most pressing friction point in Malaysian society today is the widening gap between national economic metrics and grassroots lived realities. While national coverage reported a 60% Q2 growth rate as a marked triumph for the Madani administration, another question that should be pondered is: is this small comfort for working-class families facing high living costs, new taxes, and cut subsidies, or are better solutions coming?
Political actors on both sides of the aisle have been quick to point out and weaponise this disconnect. Opposition narratives frequently frame federal economic reforms—such as targeted diesel rationalisation and tax implementation—as proof of a government out of touch with citizens.
Conversely, federal authorities argue that these bitter pills are essential to safeguard the country’s long-term financial sovereignty, while reminding citizens that Malaysia is still servicing debts linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, as well as liabilities involving institutions such as Tabung Haji and Felda.
However, federal leaders also admit that navigating this tightrope, especially with the upcoming national budget, requires more than sound fiscal policy; it demands an empathetic narrative that bridges the cold logic of macroeconomic spreadsheets with the daily anxieties of the electorate.
Compounding these economic anxieties is an increasingly volatile political landscape. The mid-2026 state election cycle in Johor and Negeri Sembilan served as a harsh wake up call for the federal Unity Government. It proved that the forced collaboration between historic ideological rivals—Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional—remains deeply fragile at the grassroots.
As parties recalibrate ahead of upcoming electoral battles, the competition for the center has intensified. Parties are discovering that traditional ethnic-centric politicking no longer guarantees victories, yet a purely technocratic appeal risks sounding elitist. Voters, particularly the youth, are increasingly fatigued by political posturing, shifting their gaze toward pragmatic delivery, governance, and tangible economic opportunities.
Sixty-nine years after independence, Malaysia’s greatest asset remains its multi-ethnic fabric, yet remains as the most sensitive terrain. The challenge for contemporary leadership is to ensure that the pursuit of high-tech modernisation does not leave behind rural and marginalised urban communities.
If the Madani government is to successfully navigate the remainder of its mandate, it must deliver equitable prosperity. The battle for the center cannot be won through politics and macroeconomic data alone; it will be decided in the daily lives of Malaysians who are looking for a reason to believe that the nation’s collective promise includes them.
Edrina is a communications professional with a background in international relations. She holds a degree from the University of Nottingham Malaysia and has worked across public relations and social media for organizations in the development, education, and corporate sectors. Her work focuses on crafting narratives around regional affairs and strengthening media engagement across Southeast Asia.
Brunei Darussalam 🇧🇳
Could Brunei’s Markets Be the Next Cashless Frontier?
by Syimah Johari, in Bandar Seri Begawan
Imagine walking through a food festival in Brunei, spotting something you want to try, only to realise you have no cash left. You ask the vendor if they accept card or QR payments. The answer is more likely to be a bank transfer – if they accept anything other than cash at all.
As pop-up markets, food events and local vendor initiatives become increasingly common across Brunei, these small moments raise a bigger question about how we pay. Last month, a cashless payment initiative was introduced at Gadong Night Market, partly to make spending more convenient for tourists. But beyond the night market, how far has Brunei really come in becoming cashless?
Cashless payment is certainly not new here. Brunei already has options such as Pocket, BIBD’s QuickPay, Progresif’s Ding! and TAIB’s Scan-to-Pay (STP), alongside the increasingly familiar option of transferring money through local banking apps. For many, transferring money from one bank account to another has become almost second nature.
Yet the experience can feel different depending on where we shop.
Walking into a newer café, restaurant or supermarket and paying by card, QR code or another digital method is increasingly common. At a night market, warong, food festival or temporary pop-up, however, cash can still feel like the safest bet.
There are understandable reasons for this. A permanent business may have regular customers and established systems for accepting different forms of payment. A small vendor setting up a stall for only a few days may have a different calculation. Payment terminals may come with costs, while transaction fees can matter more when margins are already small. There is also the simple reliability of cash: no internet connection, device or technical issue is needed to accept it.
For customers, meanwhile, cash remains familiar. Not everyone is equally comfortable with digital payments, particularly older customers who may prefer handling physical money. Going cashless, therefore, is not simply a matter of giving businesses another payment option. It is also about making that option practical for both the person selling and the person buying.
This is what makes the Gadong initiative interesting. Although introduced partly in response to tourists’ needs, making cashless payments more accessible at a night market could have benefits that extend beyond tourism. Visitors who are used to paying digitally may be more likely to spend when they do not have to worry about finding local currency. Vendors who see that demand may have more reason to offer digital payment options.
And as those options become more common at the markets and events that Bruneians themselves frequent, they may gradually become less of a novelty and more of an everyday habit.
Perhaps Brunei does not need to become completely cashless. But if the aim is to make digital payments a normal part of everyday life, the next step may not be getting another café to accept cards. It may be making it just as easy to pay the small vendor at the night market.
Syimah is a graduate of King’s College London with a BA in International Relations. With a strong focus on diplomacy, regional cooperation, and development policy, she is passionate about contributing to meaningful change through public service. Currently, she is involved in poverty alleviation work through a local NGO.
Editorial Deadline 29/08/2026 11:59 PM (UTC +8)
