The devastation caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus in December 2019, SARS-CoV-2, has been immense. The COVID-19 pandemic (2020–) has led to the loss of millions of lives, the disability of millions more, the loss of economic livelihoods, the loss of trust in science for some, and the rediscovery of the importance of public health for others. It is important to acknowledge one region that felt the immediate impact of this outbreak in the same month that the virus was detected and reported: Southeast Asia. This region, as this book is at pains to point out, is complex and diverse and should never be seen as monolithic. There is a colonial legacy in how Southeast Asia is named, seen, and mapped. Legacies of colonization can be traced to the present lived experiences of inequalities and conflicts in the region today. This history has determined the urban and rural...

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