A future in which the South-east Asian region is split in two, between rich elites and millions of the poor, is the biggest fear of academic Farish Ahmad-Noor.

The frightening picture he paints is of a small cluster of cosmopolitan “cafe latte-drinking, sushi-eating” elites “swimming on a sea of 600 million poor South-east Asians” who have no access to mobility.

Associate Professor Farish of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies made the point during a panel discussion on diversity and identity on the final day of the Singapore Bicentennial Conference.