Mahathir, K-pop stars BTS and India’s LGBT ‘beacons of hope’: Asia’s most influential make Time 100 annual list

China’s Xi Jinping, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, Pakistan’s Imran Khan and Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad all featured among the world’s most influential leaders

South Korean boy band BTS won the readers’ poll for the second year in a row

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Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:24pm, 19 Apr 2019Updated: 5:52pm, 19 Apr 2019

Time Magazine named an award-winning Asian actress, Malaysia’s resurgent political “warhorse” and K-pop megastars among this year’s 100 most influential people.

Now in its 16th year, the Time 100 Most Influential People 2019 list categorises listees as a pioneer, artist, leader, icon or a titan, and is based on both readers’ votes and editors picks. And despite there being a strong Asia presence on this year’s list, some say there are a few notable absentees.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad all featured among the world’s most influential leaders.

Mahathir, a veteran politician now aged 93, pulled off a shock victory in the May 2018 election, defeating disgraced ex-premier Najib Razak and ending his ruling coalition’s decades-long rule.

Clare Rewcastle Brown, founder of Sarawak Report, which broke the US$4.5 billion 1MDB corruption scandal that led to Najib’s downfall and arrest, penned Mahathir’s profile for Time. She described him as a “formidable old warhorse [that] dazzled during a gruelling campaign”.