During the Cold War, Southeast Asia was kept on the keep-in-view list amongst news agencies around world. The region was then at the frontline of proxy wars waged either openly or covertly. However, since the reunification of Vietnam in 1975 and the fall of Pol Pot four years later, the region has quietly slid off the radar of international media outlets.

About Zhuang Wubin

As a third-generation Chinese, Zhuang Wubin (b. 1978; Singapore) uses photography to understand the Chinese communities in Southeast Asia (ASEAN). His previous photo books include "Chinatowns in a Globalizing Southeast Asia"(2009 / Singapore) and "Ten Chinatowns of Southeast Asia" (2010 / Indonesia). His forthcoming photo book is titled "Chinese Muslims in Indonesia".

Zhuang is also an independent researcher specializing in contemporary photography in Southeast Asia. His articles have been published on "Asian Art Newspaper" (UK), "Visual Arts" (Indonesia) and "Art Monthly Australia",among others. In 2010, he presented a small part of his findings at the 2nd Luang Prabang International Image Biennial in Laos. In the same year, he received a grant from the Prince Claus Fund (The Netherlands) to further his research.

Video: Sun Peng

Photographer: Wu Chuanjing

Zhuang Wubin provided all the images in the video.