Singapore Airlines turbulence probe, Hong Kong restaurant service, Indonesian couple’s twist of fate: SCMP’s 7 highlights of the week

From severe turbulence hitting a Singapore Airlines flight to an Indonesian couple’s strange twist of fate, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting

SCMP Highlights

SCMP

Published: 12:00pm, 24 May 2024

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We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond 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. ‘Very freak’ incident: probe into Singapore Airlines SQ321 could last 9 months

Passengers of Singapore Airlines flight SQ321, which made an emergency landing in Bangkok on its flight from London to Singapore, greet family members upon arrival at Changi Airport in Singapore on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 encountered “very freak” turbulence and investigation findings are expected to take up to nine months, but the goal is not to “apportion blame”, industry experts say.

2. Who was Matthew Trickett? Death of Hong Kong spying suspect sparks questions

Matthew Trickett covers his face as he leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 13. Photo: AP

The death of a British security consultant charged as part of Hong Kong’s spying row with the UK has sparked questions about his past and connections to the city. Ex-Royal Marine Matthew Trickett, 37, was found dead on Sunday in a public park in Maidenhead, Berkshire, only a kilometre (0.6 miles) away from the registered address of one of his companies.

3. Lai pledges to keep Taiwan Strait status quo in first speech as Taiwanese leader

In his first speech as president, Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te has promised to uphold the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and called on Beijing to work jointly for peace. “Cross-strait peace and stability is key to the world,” said Lai, who was sworn in on Monday at a ceremony in Taipei – succeeding his independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party colleague Tsai Ing-wen.

4. Chinese scientists propose tunnels to ease crowding in South China Sea islands

Yongshu, also known as Fiery Cross, is one of China’s artificial Islands in the South China Sea. Photo: PLA

An overcrowding problem on China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea could be solved with tunnels, according to a Chinese ocean engineering project team that says it has developed an excavation method to overcome the limitations of the soft coral sand.

5. Noodle seller’s outburst sparks calls to improve Hong Kong restaurant service

At a small family-run eatery in Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun, co-owner Monkey Lo has found himself dealing with overnight notoriety and an outraged online crowd who wants his shop to close down. A video clip shared widely last month showed the Yat Bun Noodle Restaurant’s chef – Lo’s younger brother Wai-keung – hurling abuse at a young woman who demanded to know why he had denied her boyfriend a student discount when the couple dined there the day before.

6. China’s top Covid expert is already preparing for the next pandemic. Here’s why

Although new Covid-19 variants are continuing to emerge around the world, scientists and doctors have already started preparing for the next pandemic to arrive. And as experts learn more about how climate change can affect the mutation and spread of infectious diseases, it might not be a question of if another will emerge – but when.

7. Indonesian wife, 24, surprised husband, 62, was groom at event she attended at 9

In a strange twist of fate, an Indonesian woman has discovered that the man she married was a groom she had met at a wedding when she was a child. Renata Fadhea, 24, from Bangka Island, Indonesia, realised after marrying her husband, who is 38 years her senior, that she had met him 15 years before.