> I am not sure why SE Asian cities aren't going as all in on mass transit like China

Eminent domain and mass demolitions were very common in 1990s-2010s China, and to a degree that I have not seen in other authoritarian and nominally communist states like Vietnam or even Laos, let alone other less authoritarian states.

Entire neighborhoods, villages, and towns were razed to build the urban areas that make up China today.

Beijing [0][1], Shanghai [2][3], and other cities across China [4] all saw massive urban demolitions until the Central Government banned them in 2021 during the Evergrande crisis [5] due to limited utility and rising urban discontent.

Back in the day, it was somewhat common to see news about some random Jie commiting a terrorist act in retaliation for being evicted from their homes [6][7] due to this urban demolition program, and partially helped Xi consolidate power as most officials affiliated with these programs were deeply corrupt, and were often felled during the anti-corruption purges (ironically, Xi oversaw similar initiatives in Zhejiang in the 2000s).

Most other governments don't see the utility of implementing a similar style of program.

[0] - https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollecti...

[1] - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/06/sport.china

[2] - https://web.archive.org/web/20130324195541/http://www.unhabi...

[3] - https://archive.nytimes.com/sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/201...

[4] - https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002775

[5] - https://english.www.gov.cn/statecouncil/ministries/202108/31...

[6] - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-18018827.amp

[7] - https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34450213

In Beijing alone, some activists said more than 1 million people were forced from their homes to make way for new sports venues for last year's Olympics.

Wow...

Even in democratic Taiwan they have this mindset to an extent - private land must not stand in the way of infrastructure.