https://www.scmp.com/rss/12047/feed Crystal Tai covered business trends and cultural criticism, with a special focus on Northeast Asia, for the Asia desk until December 2019. Before joining the SCMP, she contributed to Quartz, i-D Magazine, Monocle, Wallpaper, Lonely Planet and other publications. Her broadcast commentary has been featured on BBC Radio, CGTN and other media. She continues to make freelance contributions to the Post. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com While K-pop outfit BTS’ first English-language single Dynamite continues to dominate the charts, the boy band’s management company Big Hit Entertainment is reportedly eyeing an IPO in October worth US$811 million. The firm’s CEO Bang Si-hyuk is to offer his superstar group just over US$54 million in shares to strengthen their “long-term partnership” and “boost morale”, according to industry reports this week. And that’s a boon not only for the personal fortunes of the band’s seven members – RM,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3100706/dynamite-and-army-how-k-pops-bts-invaded-us-billboard-charts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3100706/dynamite-and-army-how-k-pops-bts-invaded-us-billboard-charts?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Sep 2020 11:30:15 +0000 Each week, Miho Arai visits the local mall to shop for herself and her family. While the 55-year-old nursery schoolteacher living in Tokyo primarily buys groceries and other household items, she also enjoys looking at products for herself both online and offline. Her most memorable purchase is a luxury handbag she bought with her own salary several years ago. “It was a pink Gucci handbag that I bought at a department store,” she says. It cost around US$500. “I used it on the weekends and on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3097468/parasite-singles-free-pressure-how-japanese-women?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3097468/parasite-singles-free-pressure-how-japanese-women?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Aug 2020 22:30:15 +0000 When South Korea’s Parasite won four Oscars including Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards, it was a sign that Hallyu films and K-drama television shows had become part of the global zeitgeist – and yet the future of Korean cinema looked increasingly unclear. As the film’s director Bong Joon-ho took to the stage in Los Angeles to accept his award, his native South Korea was reeling from its first major outbreak of Covid-19. Why BTS Army and other K-pop fans are aiming their activism at Donald... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3096022/korean-k-dramas-and-hallyu-films-are-alive-and-well?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3096022/korean-k-dramas-and-hallyu-films-are-alive-and-well?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Aug 2020 01:00:19 +0000 Fans of K-pop have stepped into the spotlight as a political force, after claiming credit for derailing expectations of massive crowds for US President Donald Trump’s latest campaign rally and throwing their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement. Thousands of K-pop fans and other social media users encouraged their followers on Twitter and TikTok to register for tickets for Trump’s Saturday appearance in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then not show up – a prank that appears to have fuelled wildly... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3090142/why-bts-army-and-other-k-pop-fans-are-aiming-their-activism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3090142/why-bts-army-and-other-k-pop-fans-are-aiming-their-activism?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jun 2020 14:04:38 +0000 When self-help entrepreneur Vishen Lakhiani, 43, moved to Silicon Valley in 2001 after graduating from the University of Michigan, he was filled with big dreams of entrepreneurial success. But though it was a place ripe for opportunities, the timing was off – the dotcom bubble had begun to burst and the Kuala Lumpur native found himself going through “some really hard times” and working at a “dial-for-dollars” telemarketing job. Down in the dumps, Lakhiani signed up for a meditation class that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3043758/how-malaysian-brain-hacker-vishen-lakhiani-went-meditation-student?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3043758/how-malaysian-brain-hacker-vishen-lakhiani-went-meditation-student?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Dec 2019 04:00:13 +0000 Back in Vietnam, Lien Dinh had always been a fan of Korean culture. The men in the K-dramas she watched were dashing and romantic, well to do and respectful towards the women in their lives. So she moved to South Korea in search of a better life and found her own Mr Right – an electrician 10 years her senior. But after settling down in Daegu, she soon found her experience of Korean society did not match the saccharine scenes on her television screen. “The reality was far from my expectations,”... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3043473/vietnamese-wives-internet-brides-bear-brunt-ageing-koreas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3043473/vietnamese-wives-internet-brides-bear-brunt-ageing-koreas?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Dec 2019 00:30:14 +0000 Is forcing a female employee to wear high heels workplace harassment? This is the question Japan has been grappling with over the past year, led by the activists behind #KuToo, the nation’s anti-high-heels movement. On December 3, KuToo founder Yumi Ishikawa filed a letter to the government asking for a revision of the nation’s power harassment laws. Power harassment – popularly referred to as “pawa hara” in Japanese society – entails forms of psychological abuse and abuse of power, as well as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3041023/japans-kutoo-movement-says-high-heels-dress-code-workplace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3041023/japans-kutoo-movement-says-high-heels-dress-code-workplace?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2019 02:15:10 +0000 Many around the world watched in alarm as Hong Kong’s university grounds became the new front line for clashes between police and anti-government protesters. The two sides traded tear gas for bricks and Molotov cocktails, as campuses descended into smoking battlegrounds; makeshift fortresses for a hard core of demonstrators who vowed never to give in. As the protesters barricaded themselves in, stockpiling food and protective gear, fears grew about how the stand-off might end. Foreign media... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3039820/poor-disabled-old-forgotten-voices-hong-kong-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3039820/poor-disabled-old-forgotten-voices-hong-kong-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Nov 2019 23:15:14 +0000 “Do we have a troublemaker?” read the group chat exchange in Chinese. “This woman is so ugly,” one commenter wrote. “My friend found her Facebook details.” Sujin Han looked in horror at the screenshot of a WeChat group someone had sent her. The messages were all about her – her face, personal information and contact details were being shared with the almost 500 members of a chat group for mainland Chinese students in South Korea. As Hong Kong’s unrest continues into its sixth month, students... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3038795/south-korea-chinese-and-korean-students-are-clashing-over-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3038795/south-korea-chinese-and-korean-students-are-clashing-over-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Nov 2019 23:00:11 +0000 As violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters raged across Hong Kong university campuses this week, some South Koreans were reminded of the fiery student-led protests that took place on their own soil three decades ago. More than 2,000 students at Yonsei University, one of the country’s top universities, fought with police on campus in 1987 to protest against military strongman Chun Doo-hwan and call for democracy. Known as the June Struggle, or June Democracy Movement of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037807/fiery-hong-kong-student-protests-invoke-memory-south-koreas-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037807/fiery-hong-kong-student-protests-invoke-memory-south-koreas-own?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Nov 2019 01:45:09 +0000 Growing up in Ontario during the 1950s, Mike Babin occasionally heard his father Alfred talk about serving during World War Two. But it was not until his 20s that he learned the full extent of his dad’s involvement as a member of the Royal Rifles of Canada, a regiment that fought during the ill-fated Battle of Hong Kong, when the city’s British colonial rulers were forced to surrender to Japan. Across Canada many residents observe Remembrance Day each year on November 11, but few know the story... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3036998/nirvana-starvation-story-canadians-who-defended-wartime-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3036998/nirvana-starvation-story-canadians-who-defended-wartime-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Nov 2019 23:00:06 +0000 It was date night for Han Ah-eum. The 27-year-old office worker and her boyfriend decided to catch a screening of Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, South Korea’s critically acclaimed drama and box office hit about a woman who becomes a stay-at-home mother. She did not expect to find herself in an argument with her partner afterwards. “My boyfriend said he wondered if his mother and aunts had faced such struggles,” Han said. “He also thought the main character’s husband was unrealistically perfect because... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3036634/south-korean-couples-are-breaking-over-feminist-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3036634/south-korean-couples-are-breaking-over-feminist-film?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Nov 2019 00:00:17 +0000 The death of a Filipino-American Boston College student who took his own life after being subjected to repeated psychological, verbal and physical abuse by his girlfriend highlights a need to re-examine laws and attitudes towards social media and gender-based bullying, experts say. In a case that has grabbed headlines in both Asia and America, the South Korean national In-young You, 21, has been indicted by prosecutors in the United States on an involuntary manslaughter charge after sending tens... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3035753/what-death-text-asian-american-college-student-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3035753/what-death-text-asian-american-college-student-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Oct 2019 09:06:20 +0000 Newly re-elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has successfully run for office, but he cannot hide from the issues. That is the message from campaigners who are demanding the Liberal Party leader speak up on political protests in Hong Kong that have entered their 22nd week. In the lead-up to last week’s knife-edge federal elections – which returned Trudeau’s party to power but as a minority government – the Canadian leader had come under pressure to back the protests after the rival... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3035241/campaigners-urge-canadas-trudeau-adopt-us-style-hong-kong-human?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3035241/campaigners-urge-canadas-trudeau-adopt-us-style-hong-kong-human?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2019 13:08:48 +0000 Ayumi Miyazaki had tried many dating options over the years. From singles parties to swiping right on Tinder, nothing seemed to work for the architect, 37, living in the Japanese city of Kawasaki. Finally, in 2017, she decided to hand her romantic destiny over to science, and let a laboratory choose her ideal match. She joined Gene Partner Japan, a Tokyo-based DNA matchmaking service which claims it can match couples based on genetic compatibility. A saliva swab was taken from inside Miyazaki’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3034631/forget-tinder-dna-matchmaking-claims-have-love-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3034631/forget-tinder-dna-matchmaking-claims-have-love-down?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Oct 2019 04:45:09 +0000 Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will need to partner with smaller parties to govern after he won a second term in national elections that resulted in his government reduced to a minority. It was a better-than-expected result for Trudeau’s Liberal Party, which faced losing Monday’s election to Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives after a series of domestic scandals. Trudeau’s Liberals only won 156 seats, a decrease of 21, preliminary results showed. He now looks set to govern with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3034092/canada-elections-justin-trudeau-hangs-power-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3034092/canada-elections-justin-trudeau-hangs-power-after?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2019 12:38:54 +0000 When Kate Middleton emerged with her husband Britain’s Prince William onto the tarmac of Pakistan’s Nur Khan airbase on Monday, the buzz on social media was almost palpable. And it had little to do with the fact the pair were embarking on the first royal tour of the former British colony since 2006. Rather it was for what she was wearing: an ombre aqua shalwar kameez – a tunic worn with trousers that is Pakistan’s national dress. “Welcome to Pakistan,” tweeted Zehreeli Chummii. “Thank you [for]... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3033260/why-are-prince-william-and-kate-middleton-praised-pakistani?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3033260/why-are-prince-william-and-kate-middleton-praised-pakistani?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Oct 2019 00:00:15 +0000 Kim Sung-jin was once a regular customer at his local Uniqlo store in Seoul, South Korea. The office worker likes the fit and style of the retailer’s T-shirts, but in recent months a popular boycott of Japanese goods has made him feel pressure to stay away. Rather than be seen in local shops, Kim has taken his affinity for the brand a step further and secretly books trips to Japan at least once a month. “I went to Uniqlo in Tokyo and bought a T-shirt ,” he said of his most recent trip. “Buying... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3033087/rise-shy-japan-shoppers-how-koreans-skirt-boycott-firms-uniqlo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3033087/rise-shy-japan-shoppers-how-koreans-skirt-boycott-firms-uniqlo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Oct 2019 23:00:09 +0000 There’s a stereotype in Canadian politics that sees the Chinese community as apolitical and unlikely to vote. Clearly, it does not take account of people like Gloria Fung. Fung, who arrived in Toronto nearly three decades ago, is the very antithesis of the image of a vote-shy Chinese immigrant. As the founder of a non-profit pressure group, the real estate broker spends much of her free time lobbying and petitioning politicians ahead of Canada’s looming federal election. Still, if Fung doesn’t... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3032596/could-hong-kong-protests-sway-canadian-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3032596/could-hong-kong-protests-sway-canadian-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Oct 2019 09:00:05 +0000 Fewer Chinese travellers went overseas during “golden week” this year – but for those who did, Japan, Thailand and Singapore were the top-ranked destinations as tourists from the mainland gave Hong Kong a miss, according to China’s largest travel company Ctrip. Chinese government data showed only 6.07 million people travelled during the national holiday between October 1-6, a 15.1 per cent drop from the corresponding period last year. Analysts attributed this to Chinese tourists opting for a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3032600/japan-thailand-and-singapore-benefit-chinese-tourists-skip-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3032600/japan-thailand-and-singapore-benefit-chinese-tourists-skip-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Oct 2019 05:00:12 +0000 In 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced an initiative to elevate at least 10 Japanese universities to among the top 100 higher learning institutions in the world within the next decade. With four years left to his deadline, the target is a long way from being met. Despite Abe’s education reforms, which included the creation of a 7.7 billion yen (US$982 million) fund for local universities, last month’s release of the Times Higher Education (THE) World International University... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3031114/why-are-japans-universities-lagging-so-far-behind-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3031114/why-are-japans-universities-lagging-so-far-behind-their?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Oct 2019 23:00:15 +0000 SEOUL Jang Dae-ik, 27, chief financial officer Jang lives in a 356 sq ft studio apartment near Dangsan station in central Seoul. Built in 2013, the flat costs about 120 million won (US$100,500). Jang has given his landlord a 180 million won deposit under Korea’s unique jeonse, or “key money”, leasing system. The lump sum, usually between 50 and 80 per cent of the property’s value, is handed over instead of monthly rent, and the full amount is returned when the tenant moves out, meaning the owner... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3030626/thinking-big-living-small-how-people-across-asia-cope-tiny-homes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3030626/thinking-big-living-small-how-people-across-asia-cope-tiny-homes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Sep 2019 04:30:09 +0000 It was only a garlic press – 20cm of stainless steel and lighter than a tennis ball. Yet Atiqah Nadiah Zailani deliberated for days over whether to buy it. The cooking utensil could easily fit in a drawer or hang on a kitchen hook, but the NGO worker was downsizing. Atiqah, 32, was moving from her spacious family apartment in Kuala Lumpur to a 300 sq ft home she had built in a forest on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital. She is among a growing number of proponents of the “tiny house... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3030528/tiny-homes-how-hong-kongs-reality-became-hipster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3030528/tiny-homes-how-hong-kongs-reality-became-hipster?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Sep 2019 09:59:39 +0000 For the first time in eight years, K-pop’s biggest awards show will not be staged in Hong Kong due to the city’s ongoing protests and instead take place solely in Nagoya, even as South Korea and Japan are engaged in their most bitter diplomatic row in recent history. CJ Entertainment and Merchandising (CJ ENM), the organiser behind the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), announced it would hold the event on December 4 at the Nagoya Dome, a stadium that seats an audience of up to 30,000. The event... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3030194/k-pops-top-awards-show-mama-be-held-japan-instead-protest-hit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3030194/k-pops-top-awards-show-mama-be-held-japan-instead-protest-hit?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Sep 2019 14:10:00 +0000 While Hong Kong’s recent turmoil has been detrimental to most businesses in the city, a handful are busier than ever, proving opportunity can still be found in the simmering chaos. Freddy Choo, a business director at Singapore-based real estate firm C&H Properties, says his firm has stepped up marketing in Hong Kong via social media and other online advertising, and has contacted similar companies to collaborate in anticipation of a surge in demand. The firm has budgeted a six-figure sum to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3029726/some-firms-hong-kongs-unrest-has-brought-uptick-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3029726/some-firms-hong-kongs-unrest-has-brought-uptick-business?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Sep 2019 23:00:07 +0000 Fallen South Korean K-pop star Park Yoo-chun has been ordered by a court in Seoul to compensate a woman who claimed the former boy band member sexually assaulted her. The Mediation Centre of Seoul court recommended that Park, popularly known as Micky, pay 100 million won (US$84,300) to the victim. The victim is among four women who reported Park for alleged sexual assault in 2016. The order, which was first delivered after a mandatory mediation last month, came into effect after a two-week grace... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3027594/fallen-k-pop-star-park-yoo-chun-ordered-pay-woman-sex-assault?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3027594/fallen-k-pop-star-park-yoo-chun-ordered-pay-woman-sex-assault?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Sep 2019 05:23:09 +0000 North Korean food has long been popular with South Korean diners, but Pyongyang’s propaganda is proving far less palatable, as the owner of a new restaurant in Seoul has just discovered. The owner of the soon-to-be-opened North Korean-themed eatery in Hongdae, Seoul’s trendy student nightlife district, had decorated the facade of the building with portraits of the country’s late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il alongside a North Korean flag and propaganda-style posters featuring slogans such... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3027503/north-korean-themed-restaurant-seoul-removes-kim-portraits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3027503/north-korean-themed-restaurant-seoul-removes-kim-portraits?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Sep 2019 11:16:31 +0000 Hello, Love, Goodbye is the hit film about the romance between a millennial domestic worker and a playboy bartender – and it’s now the Philippines’ top-grossing film of all time. Filmed and set in Hong Kong, the movie stars Kathryn Bernardo as Joy and Alden Richards as Ethan, a Filipino couple who inadvertently fall for each another while chasing their dreams and trying to make ends meet in the city. Since its July 31 release, the film has earned more than US$44.8 million worldwide. Besides the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3026107/how-hong-kong-set-hello-love-goodbye-became-philippines-top?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3026107/how-hong-kong-set-hello-love-goodbye-became-philippines-top?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Sep 2019 01:45:06 +0000 Berlin zoo’s newborn twin panda cubs have attracted a fair deal of attention this week – not so much for their cuteness and for being the first pandas to be born in Germany, but for the naming controversy they are inadvertently embroiled in. German media suggested the pair – born to Meng Meng, a six-year old panda currently on loan to Germany by China – be named “Hong” and “Kong”, in recognition of the ongoing protests in the city and in criticism of the mainland government. Calls to name Berlin... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3026039/germany-debates-calling-its-panda-twins-hong-and-kong-just-how?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3026039/germany-debates-calling-its-panda-twins-hong-and-kong-just-how?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Sep 2019 08:50:42 +0000 Hong Kong’s protest movement may be unimpressed with Carrie Lam’s decision to formally withdraw the extradition bill that sparked three months of social unrest, but regional leaders appear a little more supportive of her attempts to appease the public. Initial hopes for a breakthrough following the climbdown by the city’s embattled chief executive, announced on Wednesday, were tempered when protesters derided it as like putting a “Band-Aid on rotting flesh” and vowed to continue demonstrating... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3025911/how-asia-sees-carrie-lams-withdrawal-hong-kong-extradition-bill-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3025911/how-asia-sees-carrie-lams-withdrawal-hong-kong-extradition-bill-its?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Sep 2019 11:30:14 +0000 PROTESTS AGAINST THE DALAI LAMA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA In February 2017, the university said the Buddhist spiritual leader would be giving a commencement speech to graduating students. About 5,300 of the institution’s 8,792-strong foreign student body are from mainland China, and they protested against the speech using the hashtag #ChineseStudentsMatter – which critics say was co-opted from the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The local chapter of the Chinese Students... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3022212/6-events-show-campus-politics-chinesestudentsmatter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3022212/6-events-show-campus-politics-chinesestudentsmatter?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Aug 2019 21:30:09 +0000 A creative but controversial meme has been racking up likes on a Facebook page titled SFU Dank Memes, a private group frequented by more than 3,700 students at Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University (SFU). It features a Photoshopped image of a duplicitous masked operative from the popular video game Team Fortress 2 and an accompanying caption that reads: “Try to figure out who’s the Chinese communist spy at SFU when half the school is Chinese. And worst of all, he could be any one of us.” The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3022207/hong-kong-protests-uygur-camps-how-chinese-students-became?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3022207/hong-kong-protests-uygur-camps-how-chinese-students-became?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Aug 2019 21:00:17 +0000 South Koreans have in the past month thrown their support behind a boycott of Japanese products amid the deepening diplomatic and trade dispute. Now footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has become the face of a new ban led by fans who feel jilted by his failure to take the field for last week’s match between Italian giant Juventus and the K League All-Stars in Seoul. Signs and slogans used in the “Boycott Japan” movement have been repurposed and now read “Boycott Ronaldo”. Across South Korean social... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3020966/south-korean-fans-call-no-ronaldo-ban-after-juventus-star-sits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3020966/south-korean-fans-call-no-ronaldo-ban-after-juventus-star-sits?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Aug 2019 08:16:45 +0000 In South Korea, Japanese cars are being vandalised and having fermented vegetables thrown at them as the nation witnesses a surge in anti-Japan sentiment amid an escalating trade dispute between the two countries. Since early July, Japan has placed curbs on certain hi-tech exports to South Korea in what Seoul has branded retaliation for a Supreme Court decision ordering a Japanese steelmaker to compensate victims of wartime forced labour. On Friday, Japan announced that it would decide on August... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3020329/toyota-lexus-honda-and-nissan-cars-kimchi-slapped-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3020329/toyota-lexus-honda-and-nissan-cars-kimchi-slapped-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jul 2019 04:30:10 +0000 Aya Yanagishima has recently avoided mentioning her Japanese heritage while living in Seoul, fearing discrimination stemming from anger at Japan’s decision earlier this month to restrict hi-tech materials crucial to South Korea’s export-dependent economy. But Yanagishima has not been spared by the children she teaches, even though they are between six and 12 years old. “When I say the word ‘Japan’ my students blurt out things like ‘I hate Japan’ or ‘your parents are Japanese and need to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3019872/anti-japanese-sentiment-south-korea-brews-trade-war-bites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3019872/anti-japanese-sentiment-south-korea-brews-trade-war-bites?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jul 2019 05:31:16 +0000 South Korean social media has been awash with calls for a boycott of Japanese goods ever since Tokyo announced a curb on exports of hi-tech materials to its East Asian neighbour earlier this month. On Thursday, “boycott” remained the top tending keyword on Twitter in South Korea, with hashtags like #BoycottJapan calling on the nation’s consumers to stop buying Japanese-made products and engaging with Japanese brands. A survey of 501 people carried out by Korean research firm Realmeter on July 11... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3019203/south-koreans-want-avoid-muji-daiso-and-nintendo-brand-confusion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3019203/south-koreans-want-avoid-muji-daiso-and-nintendo-brand-confusion?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jul 2019 00:15:10 +0000 As South Korea’s annual summer heatwave approaches, not even the coolest of the nation’s celebrated K-pop stars are immune to soaring temperatures. Kim Tae-hyung – better known as V, a member of popular South Korean boy band BTS – impressed fans with his honesty when he revealed he was experiencing cholinergic urticaria, a previously little-known medical term for heat rashes. The allergic reaction occurs when body heat and sweat form hives, which can last hours and in some cases even... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3018804/studs-sweat-and-tears-k-pop-band-bts-praised-heat-rash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3018804/studs-sweat-and-tears-k-pop-band-bts-praised-heat-rash?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jul 2019 09:00:16 +0000 Last week, Kim Kardashian West was forced to relinquish the name “Kimono” for her new line of shapewear after Japanese netizens – and even the government – criticised her for appropriating the country’s traditional garment. Social media users chastised Kardashian West for linking the word to lingerie or innerwear. But Kardashian West – whose family has been accused of other incidents of cultural appropriation, often black culture – is not the first Westerner to do this, and she won’t be the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3017517/kim-kardashian-isnt-first-westerner-sexualise-japans-kimono-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3017517/kim-kardashian-isnt-first-westerner-sexualise-japans-kimono-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jul 2019 09:30:12 +0000 Japan is to send patent officials to the US to discuss the flap over Kim Kardashian’s Kimono brand underwear, the trade minister said on Tuesday. The reality TV star and businesswoman said on Monday she would rename her Kimono shapewear line after people in Japan said her use of the term was disrespectful. Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said he was aware of Kardashian’s decision but still wanted there to be “a careful examination” of the matter. “This has become a big deal on social media,” Seko... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3016937/kim-kardashians-kimono-row-has-so-annoyed-japanese-they-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3016937/kim-kardashians-kimono-row-has-so-annoyed-japanese-they-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jul 2019 09:02:37 +0000 The mayor of Kyoto has written a letter to Kim Kardashian urging the reality TV star and social media influencer to reconsider the use of “Kimono” as the name of her new line of body-hugging shapewear. “I’ve been passionate about this for 15 years,” Kardashian declared last week when she launched the range to her 60 million Twitter followers. “Kimono is my take on shapewear and solutions for women that actually work.” Her comments provoked an online backlash, as thousands took to social media... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3016751/kim-kardashian-urged-kyoto-mayor-reconsider-kimono-name-her-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3016751/kim-kardashian-urged-kyoto-mayor-reconsider-kimono-name-her-new?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jul 2019 05:02:45 +0000 On the same day an open letter supporting anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong appeared in Canada’s English-language press, an advert praising tough police action on demonstrators appeared in two of the country’s Chinese-language newspapers. The letter, published on June 21 in the Toronto Star, was signed by a group of 20 young people in Vancouver who described themselves as “young social change advocates” belonging to the “Asian Diaspora for Hong Kong”. Many of the signatories said they... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3016697/chinese-kind-democracy-why-young-chinese-canadians-vancouver?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3016697/chinese-kind-democracy-why-young-chinese-canadians-vancouver?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Jun 2019 11:30:07 +0000 Alek Sigley’s last post on Twitter was of North Korea’s Ryugyong Hotel, a pyramid-shaped glass building known as the “Hotel of Doom” for the numerous problems rumoured to have plagued its construction. The tweet, posted on Monday, garnered no shortage of attention, with 100 retweets and more than a dozen comments. Like many millennials, the 29-year-old Australian could boast a bona fide social media following of more than 4,000 people – the only difference being he was tweeting from inside the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3016387/only-australian-living-north-korea-alek-sigley-was-prolific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3016387/only-australian-living-north-korea-alek-sigley-was-prolific?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jun 2019 11:20:22 +0000 Kim Kardashian, the reality television star and social media influencer, has been accused of cultural appropriation after launching a new line of shapewear products under the name Kimono Solutionwear. Kardashian and her famous family – often referred to as the “Kardashian Klan” – are known for using the letter “K” in their branding, but her choice to name and trademark her latest business venture Kimono prompted cultural critics and social media users to condemn what they saw as an act of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3016135/kim-kardashians-kimohno-provokes-social-media-stir-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3016135/kim-kardashians-kimohno-provokes-social-media-stir-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Jun 2019 07:20:13 +0000 You can smoke it, eat it, and now you can smear it on your face. Beauty products made from marijuana have blossomed as a lucrative new sector within the skincare and cosmetics industry, with the global value of this market set to hit US$25 billion – 15 per cent of the total global beauty market – in the next 10 years, according to investment bank Jefferies. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis plants. Its effects are still not fully understood, but experts have... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3015604/smearing-cannabis-your-face-latest-asian-beauty-craze?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3015604/smearing-cannabis-your-face-latest-asian-beauty-craze?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Jun 2019 11:30:11 +0000 Hong Kong’s massive protests against a proposed extradition bill have captured global attention in recent weeks, showcasing the defiance of the city’s inhabitants in the face of efforts to curtail their freedoms. But long before Hongkongers took to the streets in their millions, other regions of Asia – from South Korea to Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia – have borne witness to modern mass protest movements, representing different forms of social and political activism. Some... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3015616/its-not-just-hong-kong-asia-has-rich-history-protests-here-are-5?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3015616/its-not-just-hong-kong-asia-has-rich-history-protests-here-are-5?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Jun 2019 06:45:09 +0000 Just a few years ago, South Korea’s beauty industry could do no wrong in China. Lipsticks worn by actress Jun Ji-hyun in the 2014 hit K-drama My Love From The Star sold out almost immediately thanks to Chinese fans, despite being on screen for just seconds. As part of the K-wave – along with K-pop, K-fashion and K-dramas – South Korean beauty trends set the agenda in China. Propelled by savvy marketing campaigns and viral skincare and make-up tutorials, the industry racked up $13.1 billion worth... https://www.scmp.com/society/why-chinas-falling-out-love-k-beauty/article/3014787?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/why-chinas-falling-out-love-k-beauty/article/3014787?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Jun 2019 09:16:53 +0000 If you asked Chinese shoppers a few years ago, South Korea’s K-beauty industry could do no wrong. The lipsticks worn by actress Jun Ji-hyun in the 2014 hit K-drama My Love From The Star only had to be on screen for seconds to sell out almost immediately thanks to Chinese fans. Propelled by savvy marketing campaigns and viral skincare and make-up tutorials, the industry racked up US$13.1 billion worth of sales in 2018, according to market research company Mintel. In China, as part of the K-wave –... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3014609/k-beauty-china-falling-out-love-korean-cosmetics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3014609/k-beauty-china-falling-out-love-korean-cosmetics?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Jun 2019 01:00:23 +0000 Yumi Ishikawa is one of the most recognisable faces of Japanese feminism today. Over the last few months, the 32-year old part-time funeral attendant has been featured by local and international media for her role as the founder of #KuToo, Japan’s anti-high heel discrimination movement launched by a series of Ishikawa’s tweets in January. #KuToo – a portmanteau of the words kutsu (shoe), kutsuu (agony) and MeToo – became a rallying cry for Japanese women. Thousands of Twitter users responded... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3014655/japans-kutoo-founder-yumi-ishikawa-asks-it-bad-feminist-get-naked?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3014655/japans-kutoo-founder-yumi-ishikawa-asks-it-bad-feminist-get-naked?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jun 2019 09:30:05 +0000 South Koreans are rallying to support protests in Hong Kong against a contentious extradition bill, with university students sharing posters on campus and more than 20,000 people signing an online petition asking President Moon Jae-in to “stand up for the principles of international human rights law”. Moon has previously promised to act on any petition submitted to the presidential Blue House that earns 200,000 signatures in 30 days. The country’s third-largest political party, Bareunmirae –... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3014574/south-koreans-rally-support-hong-kong-protests-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3014574/south-koreans-rally-support-hong-kong-protests-against?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jun 2019 11:30:43 +0000 Camera lights wash over Ding Xiaoping as she broadcasts herself across the internet from an iPhone, from inside a minimalist-style living room complete with an ornate faux fireplace. Sporting a trendy auburn hairstyle and bright coral lipstick, Ding speaks in rapid-fire Mandarin introducing 2,000 of her Taobao live-streaming channel viewers to the high-waist pink pastel shorts she’ll be wearing for the next 10 minutes – until she changes into her next look. For many Chinese consumers and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3013200/forget-k-pop-and-us-missiles-korea-back-fashion-china-thanks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3013200/forget-k-pop-and-us-missiles-korea-back-fashion-china-thanks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2019 06:54:58 +0000