COMMENT | The last time Malaysia assumed the Asean chairmanship was in 2015. Now the country has been given the role again.

Under the Asean charter, the chair is conferred to a member state rather than any personality in the state. However, the Malaysia chairmanship seems to revolve around Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, not the country or the bloc.

It is extremely hard not to agree with my friend - researcher Bridget Welsh - when she argued that “Malaysia’s chairmanship risks the potential of being too much about Anwar, and not enough about Asean”.

In any event, the developing composition of Anwar’s top team has sparked and ignited public disquiet, especially in Malaysia.

Anwar’s personal choice of Thaksin Shinawatra as one of his...