appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

SCMP

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Alice Guo gets life term for human trafficking linked to Philippine scam hub
A Philippine court has found a former mayor guilty of human trafficking and sentenced her to life imprisonment over her role in setting up a scam centre, as Manila and other Southeast Asian governments vow to fight transnational criminal syndicates.
2. Singapore minister sorry for derogatory remarks on Hong Kong football team

Singapore’s acting sports minister has conceded he “should have been more respectful” after calling Hong Kong football fans and players “idiots” in a locker room pep talk to his side, following the city state’s historic win on Tuesday night in Hong Kong.
3. Preacher misconduct prompts Indonesia rethink on religious vetting

Calls to certify Islamic preachers in Indonesia are growing after a cleric was filmed kissing young girls during religious gatherings in East Java, reigniting debate over how the state should regulate religion in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.
4. Malaysia’s poorest state prepares a poll shock for the prime minister
A gentle breeze stirs the wooden houses of Sarang, a sleepy fishing village on Sabah’s northern coast, its tranquillity seemingly at odds with the mounting troubles facing the resource-rich yet persistently impoverished Malaysian state.
5. South Korean teen dies after 8 hospitals refuse to treat him

A South Korean high school student died in an ambulance after eight hospitals refused to treat him over the space of an hour, in a case that has reignited concerns over a growing shortage of doctors and specialists in the country.
6. Trump ‘uniquely consistent for decades’: Singapore’s Vivian Balakrishnan
Singapore’s top diplomat said on Wednesday that United States President Donald Trump had held the same views on free trade and immigration for decades, despite being widely seen as erratic and among the most unpredictable of American leaders.
7. Bali hostel poisoning mystery deepens after Chinese traveller’s death

More than two months after a mass poisoning at a Bali hostel left a young Chinese traveller dead and scores of guests violently ill, the incident remains mired in conflicting accounts and uncertainty.


Chinese coal mine accident, Cathay Pacific flight turbulence: 5 weekend reads you missed

Selfies and symbolism: behind the scenes from Xi’s summit with Trump and Putin

Leaders Xi, Putin meet over tea; rare earth find in northeast China: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Shenzhen’s 24-hour spa, a glimpse of 1970s Hong Kong: 7 Lifestyle highlights

SCMP Highlights

Alice Guo gets life term for human trafficking; Bali poisoning mystery: 7 Asia highlights

Alice Guo attends a hearing at the Senate in Manila over accusations of human trafficking in September 2024. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo speaking to Singapore’s national football team in a locker room after their win over Hong Kong in an Asian Cup qualifier match in Kai Tak Stadium on Tuesday. Photo: Facebook/David Neo 

Islamic cleric Mohammad Elham Yahya Al Maliki is seen embracing a young girl and sucking in her cheeks. Other clips show him kissing several children on the cheek. Photo: YouTube/Gerakanpis

A medical worker walks down a hallway in a hospital in Seoul. South Korea has among the lowest ratios of doctors in the developed world. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

Chinese tourist Deqing Zhuoga was found dead at the Clandestino Hostel in Canggu, Bali, on September 2. Photos: Facebook / Deqing Zhuoga / Clandestino Hostel

Brawl at Malaysia-Singapore crossing, Southeast Asia’s climate crisis: 7 Asia highlights

Motorists coming from Malaysia’s state of Johor form a queue as they approach the immigration checkpoint to enter Singapore. Photo: AFP

Sheikh Hasina gestures while speaking to the media, a day after she won the 12th parliamentary elections, in Dhaka, Bangladesh in January 2024. Photo: AFP

Illustration: Huy Truong

Sari Kartina Abdul Karim at her home in the Netherlands. Photo: Facebook/Sharina Abdul Karim

Uproar at Miss Universe event in Thailand, ‘da ka’ moments in Singapore: 7 Asia highlights

Chinese tourists take pictures near the Merlion statue in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Brittany Porter poses with Sultan Muhammad V. Photo: Instagram/its.brook.lynn

US Vice-President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha Vance attend a service at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington on January 20. Photo: AFP

Miss Universe Thailand’s host organiser Nawat Itsaragrisil has come under criticism for his “malicious” comments targeting several of the competition’s delegates at an event in Bangkok on Tuesday. Photo: YouTube/YouSawClipz

US singer unknowingly marries Malaysian sultan, HKU regains top spot: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Namewee outside Dang Wangi police station and Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh. Photo: Instagram/namewee, Facebook/iriss0810

Bai Suocheng (centre) was sentenced to death on Tuesday, as were his son Bai Yingcang and three close associates. Photo: CCTV

Hong Kong Olympic gold medallist Vivian Kong (centre) has declared her bid to run for the tourism constituency in the Legislative Council election. Photo: Karma Lo

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has regained its position as Asia’s best in a global ranking after 15 years. Photo: Elson Li

News

Asia

From a Singapore minister’s Hong Kong remarks to South Korea’s medical shortage, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting


From a Singapore minister’s Hong Kong remarks to South Korea’s medical shortage, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.


Alice Guo gets life term for human trafficking; Bali poisoning mystery: 7 Asia highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From a Singapore minister’s Hong Kong remarks to South Korea’s medical shortage, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting

1. Alice Guo gets life term for human trafficking linked to Philippine scam hub

From a Singapore minister’s Hong Kong remarks to South Korea’s medical shortage, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting