Three new hiking trails in Taiping, in Perak state, take visitors through jungle and past waterfalls to hilltop colonial buildings that offer accommodation – just beware of the leeches.

Scene UnSeen, a new documentary set to debut at the Singapore International Film Festival, sheds light on the Lion City’s alternative music culture and bands’ struggle to develop.

Filmed in black and white, Prebet Sapu, which explores race relations and shattered dreams in Kuala Lumpur’s darker recesses, will compete in next year’s Academy Awards.

Rainforest a million years old and botanic gardens in a reserve stretching down to the sea; Unesco designation creates an opportunity to draw visitors to Penang Hill’s natural attractions.

Wildlife tourism is hard work in Malaysian Borneo, requiring a slog through jungle with no guarantee of success, unlike an African safari. Planting fig trees could change that, say conservationists.

The Malaysian director’s adaptation of Moonlight Shadow by Banana Yoshimoto has been hailed by the Japanese author as a masterpiece of elegance. Yeo is full of praise for Nana Komatsu’s performance in the lead role.

Twitter commenters say Hollywood will ruin the remake, despite the involvement of Malaysian-Australian horror-film veteran James Wan, as producer, and Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto.

Behind the gritty violence of Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash is an attack on Indonesia’s history of toxic masculinity. Its director talks about its message, and reacts to the movie’s Swiss film festival win.

The resort island group will be the first in Malaysia to reopen to tourism, in September. However, many operators wish to move away from mass tourism and promote sustainability.

Mothballed since ending service on the 127-year-old route between Penang and mainland Malaysia in 2020, the ferries’ fate was uncertain. After one partially sank, creative new uses were announced for the vessels.

On Your Mark by Chiu Keng Guan topped the Chinese box office when it opened in June, and Sam Quah’s Sheep Without A Shepherd made US$190 million there. What’s the secret to their success?

Barbarian Invasion, the winner of the jury prize at Shanghai’s Golden Goblet Awards, highlights a lesser-known part of Malaysia and, unusually, represents its multi-ethnic society.

Alena Murang, whose father is a Dayak tribesman and who has a voice like Enya’s, has released her eclectic second album Sky Songs, sung in endangered Borneo languages and featuring her playing the Dayak ‘guitar’, or sape, usually the preserve of men.

Malaysian zombie film Belaban Hidup: Infeksi Zombie (Fight for Life: Zombie Infection) is the first with an indigenous Iban setting and actors that have never been in a film before.

The resort island of Langkawi has been driven to the brink of ecological disaster by tourism. A Covid-19 travel ban has offered some respite, and the chance for a rethink – starting with conservation of the colugo, an ‘evolutionary missing link’ – a primatologist says.

The Malaysian island state has reverted to being a backwater. Hotels have closed, shophouses are shuttered, events have moved online, and five-star hotel chefs cook hawker food on the streets of George Town.

Malay rapper Sya talks to the Post about Southeast Asia’s hip-hop scene and how she’s challenging a status quo that’s ‘built on the basis of the patriarchy and toxic masculinity’.

Dato’ Maw is going against the grain with a new and hyper-localised spin on hip hop that he calls ‘Cina Music’, with tracks full of pride in his Malaysian Chinese heritage.

Bands under Malaysian label Tarbiah Sentap Records are producing clean-cut versions of songs by K-pop acts such as Blackpink that are less likely to upset Muslims.

Independent filmmakers who ‘touch on the wounds and pain of the past’ in Malaysia have a hard time getting their films screened, even as they earn recognition at international festivals.

Malaysia wants to increase global awareness of its cinema, and the Oscar submission of a horror film is meant to inspire young filmmakers. Roh tells the story of a blood-soaked girl who appears at a family home in a Malaysian rainforest.

Yuna has worked with Pharrell Williams and Usher, Elite were a Malaysian Spice Girls, and Shh … Diam! are the poster band of the country’s LGBT community. Despite Islam’s proscriptions, female musicians are flourishing there.

Malaysian K-pop fans have accused girl group Dolla of being a poor copy of Blackpink, but the girls don’t see themselves that way and say they are very much a Malaysian pop band.

Gabber Modus Operandi are mixing the high tempo Gabber with metal, punk and traditional Indonesian genres. Vocalist Ican Harem and DJ Kasimyn talk about dancing, having fun making a record deal in the toilet.

Pakistan’s hardcore punk and heavy metal bands lack places to play in, and fans to hear their music, as big corporations dominate the country’s music scene. ‘The whole idea of independent music is gone,’ says one musician.

A street art revolution transformed the Malaysian island into a celebrated artistic hub in the early 2010s. But its art scene became a victim of its own success, now catering to the whims of Instagram tourists and hipsters.

Malaysia was an early follower of heavy metal, and some underground bands, apeing a notorious British white-power band, adopted national-socialist icons and preach racial supremacy in their lyrics.

Singaporeans head to Johor for a more authentic punk music experience, while Malaysians head south for a greater choice of imported merchandise and the self-produced albums of Singapore punk acts, writes Marco Ferrarese 

Sixty years after the Malaysian town of Kuala Kangsar was characterised in Anthony Burgess' first novel, Marco Ferrarese tracks down some old haunts. Pictures by Kit Yeng Chan.