Our stories change lives. After we reported on the lack of funding for refugee education in Malaysia in January 2021, donations from New Naratif readers allowed at least 14 refugee children to continue their education.

We are under attack. Constant harassment by the Singapore government takes a financial and psychological toll on our team.

We are fighting to protect our independence. We are not-for-profit, ad-free and non-partisan. Each of our members helps ensure our editorial independence.

Our work is by Southeast Asians, for Southeast Asians. Everyone on our team is either from the region or has lived here for years. We do not do parachute journalism.

We resist imperialism. Where there is foreign capital there is foreign influence. Our stories highlight the many ongoing struggles to defend the sovereignty of the people of Southeast Asia.

We are a home for Southeast Asian artists. We pay visual artists a fair rate to illustrate our stories and create original comics to make our work more accessible. You won’t find this work anywhere else, and we need your support to keep it going.

 Our visuals are always on point. Our visual identity is carefully curated and beautifully presented by our one-person Art and Design Department. We know this gives the impression that we are well-funded, but it is purely a function of our team’s incredible talent and hard work.

Our freelance contributors deserve better rates. Our base rate for journalism is US$250 per article, but our contributors deserve more. As long as our memberships increase, so will our rates.

 We are a community and a movement. Our readers and members have a direct line to our team via Discord, and we host regular online events with members.

We are overworked and underpaid. You would be shocked by the number of hours our 13-person team puts into the journalism, research, comics, podcasts and events we produce across Southeast Asia. This work may not be profitable, but your membership can make it sustainable.