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SCMP

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. China makes space for private sector, vows spending to boost demand
China’s leaders pledged to attain next year’s target for growth and better support the country’s private sector after this year’s central economic work conference on Thursday, saying the country’s coffers would be opened wider for a much-needed jolt to domestic demand.
2. South Korea’s ex-defence minister attempts suicide in detention

South Korea’s former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is accused of playing a lead role in last week’s failed attempt to impose martial law, attempted suicide on Wednesday while in detention. Shin Yong-hae, the commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, informed lawmakers that Kim’s suicide attempt took place at a detention centre in Seoul but was thwarted by staff.
3. Even Chow Yun-fat is no match for Hong Kong’s real estate slump

Even the actor famed for playing tough-as-nails characters in Hong Kong classics like The Killer and Hard Boiled is taking a beating amid a slump in the city’s luxury property market. Chow Yun-fat, a beloved local actor who went on to Hollywood fame, has had to slash the asking price of his luxury home in Hong Kong’s most exclusive enclave The Peak by about 14 per cent, according to several property agents.
4. Gas blast causes fire at luxury apartments in Chinese city of Shenzhen

A gas blast at a luxury apartment in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen caused a major fire that spread to several floors in the complex. Emergency crews raced to the scene to evacuate residents and tackle the blaze, which was fully put out three hours after it started at 3pm.
5. Hong Kong’s Cathay reaches 3,400 pilots this year, with resignation rate of 2.9%

Hong Kong’s Cathay Group has hit its target of reaching 3,400 pilots this year and expects to recruit 100 more by the end of January, with the company reiterating it is on track to fully return to pre-pandemic flight capacity by then. “We are pleased to inform you that in the area of pilot recruitment, we have achieved the 2024 target of reaching 3,400 pilots in total. It’s a new milestone,” a Cathay spokesman told the Post.
6. China’s Politburo revives crisis-era language in pledge to bolster economy
China will adopt a “more active” set of policies to expand domestic demand in 2025 with “moderately loose” monetary tools – language not used by high-level authorities since the global financial crisis in 2009 – officials said following a meeting.
7. ‘Everything Malaysia has, Singapore does better’: neighbours spar over migration

A social media post arguing that Singapore is superior to neighbouring Malaysia has brought together Southeast Asians to push back against “gentrification” of their cities, which many tie to growing demand from Western expatriates seeking “affordable luxury” in the region.


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SCMP Highlights

Singapore and Malaysia spar, Chow Yun-fat hit by property market dip: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Singapore’s skyline. Photo: Reuters


South Korea’s then-defence minister Kim Yong-hyun pictured on October 31 in Washington. Photo: Reuters

An aerial view of residential buildings on The Peak. Photo: Roy Issa

The fire started on the 28th floor after a gas blast. Photo: Weibo / @ 深圳新聞廣播

Cathay Group says it has hit its hiring target this year. Photo: Shutterstock

Kuala Lumpur has been featured as a choice destination by various travel and expatriate influencers at least over the past year. Photo: AFP

Fall of Syria’s Assad, Australia’s social media ban: 7 Asia highlights

Syrian rebels celebrate following the takeover of Damascus, in Homs, Syria, on December 8, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

An image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, riddled with bullets, on the facade of a government office after the opposition’s takeover of Hama, Syria. Photo: AP

A caricature depicting South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is seen near the ruling People Power Party’s head office in Seoul on Monday. The sign reads “Arrest”. Photo: AP

School students in Melbourne use social media applications on their smartphones. Photo: Reuters

Tourists walk past a mural featuring the Malaysian national flag in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA-EFE

Government data showed that Singapore’s total fertility rate fell to a historic low of 0.97 last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Left: Thai singer Chayada Prao-hom, who died on Sunday. Right: An x-ray image posted by Chayada to social media. Photos: Facebook/Chayada Prao-hom 

Malaysian actress Zahnita Wilson has posted photos on Instagram of a black eye which she alleges to be part of a two-decade pattern of abuse by her husband. Photo: Instagram/Zahnita Wilson

China creates ghost radar, big-brained early hominid sparks debate: 7 science highlights

New radar technology created by Chinese scientists will help with submarine detection and also could assist communication between surface ships and submarines. Photo: QQ

Bone fragments from several individuals at the Xujiayao site in China are challenging long-held assumptions about the region’s fossil record. Photo: Wu Xiujie

Pythagorean theorem was proved hundreds of years before Euclid by an ancient Chinese mathematician. Photo: Shutterstock

China boosts fighter jet afterburner, tycoon offloads luxury flats: SCMP’s 7 highlights

Former Chinese gymnast Wu Liufang saw her Douyin follower count explode after posting a series of photos on the Chinese social media site. Photo: Douyin/ Wu Liufang

A Chinese development can improve the afterburner efficiency in fighter jets to 99 per cent. Photo: CCTV

Taiwan’s military is training 100 reservists in urban warfare at National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taipei this week. Photo: Handout

The nursing crunch is not unique to Malaysia as there has been a global shortage of such workers. Photo: AP

The chairman of Agile Group Holdings has sold all nine units he owned in Hamburg Villa this month. Photo: Jonathan Wong

News

World

From a South Korean ex-defence minister’s suicide attempt to a social media post stirring debate about gentrification, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting


From a South Korean ex-defence minister’s suicide attempt to a social media post stirring debate about gentrification, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent reporting.
