Bangladesh and Malaysia

Pascale Harter introduces personal reflections, insights and experiences from BBC correspondents around the world. Andrew North reflects on hard lessons for the global clothing industry from the Rana Plaza disaster. Bangladesh might be one of the world's leading exporters, but its factories have been hit by a string of disasters. And yet hundreds of thousands depend on the wages it pays and it has helped reshape society. Far from any sweatshops, in very rural Borneo, Jennnifer Pak hears how opposition voices are beginning to filter into local people's lives. The ruling National Front coalition controls most media in the country, but the internet and short wave radio sets are beginning to break its near-monopoly on information. Could that affect the results of the election of May 5th?