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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. How a major Bali bust is putting Indonesia’s tourist visa in the spotlight
The arrest of nearly 40 Indian nationals in Bali for allegedly running an online gambling operation has renewed concern about Indonesia’s tourist visa regime, which analysts warn is vulnerable to abuse by foreign criminal groups posing as travellers.
2. Philippines vows aid for Filipino assaulted in Singapore shopping centre

The Philippines is considering legal action against a man accused of assaulting a Filipino woman at a shopping centre in Singapore after a video of the incident went viral online.
3. ‘Balancing act’: why Malaysia is boosting its missile arsenal amid maritime row
Malaysia is moving to revamp its navy’s ageing strike capacity as it seeks to restore credible deterrence after years of procurement delays amid mounting pressures in the South China Sea.
4. ‘Job terrorism’: 1 in 4 workplaces in Japan victims of employee pranks
This year, nearly one in four Japanese companies are expected to fall victim to baito tero, a term describing part-time employees performing pranks or stunts at work to post on social media, according to a new report.
5. Why Indonesia’s US$1.67 billion China-backed dam is in limbo

After deadly floods and landslides swept through Sumatra last year, Indonesia’s government has moved to revoke permits blamed for damaging forests – ensnaring a flagship China-backed hydropower project and rattling investor confidence in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing renewable energy markets.
6. Philippines’ AI reckoning puts millions of jobs on the line

The US$30 billion outsourcing sector is fighting to adapt, leaving millions of workers with a stark choice: upskill or be left behind.
7. Malaysian police face off with Singapore car driving wrong way at checkpoint
Malaysian police recently engaged in a dramatic confrontation with a Singapore-registered car that was driving against the flow of traffic at the Johor Bahru land checkpoint, with an officer drawing his gun to stop the errant motorist from fleeing.


China turns African port into tourist spot, students rethink Hong Kong: 5 weekend reads

Trump urged Xi to help end Ukraine war; China’s tech sanctions list: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Sharla Cheung’s film career, rise and fall of Hong Kong comics: 7 Lifestyle highlights

Chip prodigy returns to China, coal waste used for critical minerals: 7 science highlights

SCMP Highlights

Indonesia’s tourist visa, Filipino assaulted in Singaporean mall: 7 Asia highlights

Tourists walk through a shopping area in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. Photo: EPA

A still from a social media video shows the suspect accosting the woman before kicking her as both lose balance and fall to the ground. Photo: Handout

The Batang Toru hydroelectric project in Sumatra, Indonesia, has prompted concerns from environmentalists. Photo: Handout

Filipino call centre workers at a business process outsourcing office in Manila. Photo: AFP

What next for Okinawa’s anti-base alliance after Japan election loss?

Anti-base activists take part in a protest against the construction of a US military facility in Henoko in Nago, Japan’s Okinawa prefecture, in 2022. Photo: AFP

US military MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft parked at US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa. Photo: Kyodo

People make payments in a supermarket in Okinawa. Voters’ preoccupations have shifted from opposition to the US bases to “practical concerns”, a recent article has suggested. Photo: Shutterstock

China goes visa-free for UK, Canada; Rubio, Wang Yi in Munich: 5 weekend reads you missed

The Chinatown area of Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Shutterstock

Foreign tourists take in the sights in the Bund area of Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua

In their addresses to the Munich Security Conference, both US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke of the need to carefully manage differences between the two powers. Photo: AFP

Hundreds of passengers queue at Ocean Terminal waiting to board the ship. Photo: Facebook/Longman Lo

A number of psychiatric hospitals in central China have been exposed for luring healthy people to pose as mental patients in a scheme to defraud medical insurance. Photo: SCMP composite/Weibo/Douyin

Chinese tourists are projected to visit Australia in increasing numbers over the extended Lunar New Year break, with China Trading Desk expecting a 20 per cent increase over the same period in 2025. Photo: Reuters

Bangladesh’s outreach to India ‘a good beginning’ for easing strained ties

Tarique Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), shows a victory sign following the BNP’s victory in the general election, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed his “best wishes and support” to the BNP’s Tarique Rahman. Photo: AFP

Supporters of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami party during an election campaign rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in January. Photo: Reuters

Freight containers at the Chattogram Port in Bangladesh on February 1. Moody’s Ratings has warned that sporadic protests and localised lapses in law and order continue to weigh on economic activity. Photo: AFP

News

Asia

From scrutiny over Indonesia’s tourist visa to workplace pranks in Japan, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting


From scrutiny over Indonesia’s tourist visa to workplace pranks in Japan, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.


Indonesia’s tourist visa, Filipino assaulted in Singaporean mall: 7 Asia highlights

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From scrutiny over Indonesia’s tourist visa to workplace pranks in Japan, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting

1. How a major Bali bust is putting Indonesia’s tourist visa in the spotlight

From scrutiny over Indonesia’s tourist visa to workplace pranks in Japan, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting