https://www.scmp.com/rss/266885/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Davos, the Alpine resort thronged by the gilded crowds of the World Economic Forum (WEF), is a bacchanal that now seems antiquated, if not obsolete. Still, watching the crowds from the sidelines, I cannot help but feel the 2022 edition – with its lavish dinners, corporate pavilions and chalets – is a sort of fin de siècle, an end of an era, that was set in motion by Covid-19 and other events. The Swiss retreat was first made famous by Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann, whose 1924 novel The Magic... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3179473/davos-shows-southeast-asia-must-increasingly-look-out-its-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3179473/davos-shows-southeast-asia-must-increasingly-look-out-its-own?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 May 2022 00:00:25 +0000 The leaders of the world’s two largest democracies – the US and India – will on Monday meet in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Donald Trump and Narendra Modi are birds of a feather: autocrats who think nothing of lying, undermining their respective constitutions and spewing racist venom. Trump has built facilities to detain Latino “illegal immigrants” near the US border with Mexico. Modi is allegedly doing the same for Muslims in Assam. Nevertheless, relations between the two giants are far from perfect, as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3052026/what-does-new-delhi-election-reveal-about-best-way-defeat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3052026/what-does-new-delhi-election-reveal-about-best-way-defeat?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Feb 2020 04:00:13 +0000 On Monday, February 10, Philippine Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a “quo warranto” petition against ABS-CBN – a perceived critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and the country’s most popular television station, with more than 72.3 million weekly viewers and a 47 per cent viewership share – in effect, attempting to force it off the air. Then, the next day, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr signed a notice terminating the country’s Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3050972/has-rodrigo-duterte-squandered-his-one-chance-transform?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3050972/has-rodrigo-duterte-squandered-his-one-chance-transform?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Feb 2020 08:12:00 +0000 Angola, Haiti and Cambodia are “banana republics”: countries where the rule of law has been traduced by a man or woman or group seeking their own aggrandisement. There is a new addition to this list: the United States. As one of the oldest and proudest of the world’s democracies, this country’s appalling downgrade is testament to one man’s work. His name is Donald Trump and he is the 45th President. TV reality show star, charlatan and bigot, Trump has “tweeted” his nation’s principles – as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3049775/how-southeast-asia-can-avoid-perils-wests-fragile-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3049775/how-southeast-asia-can-avoid-perils-wests-fragile-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Feb 2020 06:00:18 +0000 I have news for you. But sit down first. I don’t want you to faint. There are arguably “two” coronaviruses out there. Two, not one: and the second can turn adults into idiots – let’s call it the “moron strain.” The novel coronavirus, which emanated from Wuhan and is fatal for some, has infected more than 17,000 people across China . As far as I can understand, the symptoms are like those of a normal flu: fever, coughs and shortness of breath. But in the worst-case scenario, it can lead to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3048689/how-fake-news-coronavirus-turning-global-epidemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3048689/how-fake-news-coronavirus-turning-global-epidemic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Feb 2020 06:40:24 +0000 Netflix is celebrating Lunar New Year 2020 by releasing an original series, The Ghost Bride, set in 1890s Malacca, Malaysia’s historic entrepôt. It’s basically a schlocky ghost story: a young woman is invited to marry into a wealthy family to help her debt-ridden father. Here’s the catch: the groom is deceased, and his ghost enlists her to avenge his death. More surprising – and anachronistic – is that despite seeking to highlight Chinese Peranakan culture, often called “Baba-Nyonya” or “Straits... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3047751/dont-be-fooled-netflix-theres-more-chinese-diaspora?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3047751/dont-be-fooled-netflix-theres-more-chinese-diaspora?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2020 04:08:27 +0000 When Adriano O Mantiel, a 46-year-old maintenance worker in Rizal province near Manila, wiped ash from his mobile phone screen on January 12, 2020, he knew something was wrong. “I thought that it was rain. But when it happened, my allergies immediately reacted,” he recalls. “I began sneezing. My eyes became very red and I had trouble breathing.” He was reacting to the eruption of Taal Volcano 70km south of Manila in Batangas province – its first seismic activity in more than 40 years. Images of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3046775/taal-volcano-erupted-life-goes-highlighting-resilience-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3046775/taal-volcano-erupted-life-goes-highlighting-resilience-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jan 2020 02:30:14 +0000 Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are the two biggest threats to global peace today. They’re both bullies, terrorising their respective “schoolyards”: Latin America as well as the Middle East in Trump’s case and Southeast Asia in Xi’s. Trump’s ignorance, malevolence and bigotry have always been there to see. It’s easy to dismiss his adventurism and bravado against Iran as an attempt to distract from his impeachment. Xi is infinitely more sinister. Back in 2016, the world’s leaders looked to Beijing as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3045785/beijing-must-not-be-allowed-bully-southeast-asian-nations-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3045785/beijing-must-not-be-allowed-bully-southeast-asian-nations-south?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jan 2020 04:00:14 +0000 Joko Anwar is a dynamic talent. Switching from genre to genre, the 44-year-old filmmaker and former enfant terrible has grown ever more assured in his handling of the language, rhythm and musicality of cinema. In 2019 alone, the Medan-born auteur has written and directed two box office hits – Gundala (“Lightning” in old Javanese) and Perempuan Tanah Jahanam (released overseas as Impetigore) – both of which have sold more than 1.5 million tickets. He is also the scriptwriter for two other hits,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3044773/joko-anwar-indonesian-cinemas-man-moment-puts-women-heart-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3044773/joko-anwar-indonesian-cinemas-man-moment-puts-women-heart-his?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jan 2020 03:00:12 +0000 I am Malaysian. On May 9, 2018, my country bucked the global trend towards authoritarianism, when a combination of anger over the 1MDB scandal and the rising cost of living resulted in an unexpected surge of anti-Najib Razak sentiment that brought 61 years of Umno-led rule to a messy end. The next morning, I felt exhilarated by what I viewed as a historic turning point, a resurgence of liberal democracy and a peaceful pivot away from corruption. How wrong I was. Events in Malaysia were just a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3043891/decade-defined-collective-amnesia-trump-brexit-duterte-and-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3043891/decade-defined-collective-amnesia-trump-brexit-duterte-and-now?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Dec 2019 06:00:12 +0000 Norma Lopez’s son, Djastin, was shot dead two-and a half years ago. He was 23 years old and one of 5,526 documented victims of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on drugs. “If there was no ‘war on drugs’, I would have been able to spend Christmas with my son,” she says. On the day he was murdered, Normita had a feeling something was wrong. “Perhaps that’s why I tried to stop him from leaving,” she recalls. Because of her unwillingness to remain silent, Normita has since been forced to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3043208/philippines-war-drugs-casts-long-shadow-over-grieving-families?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3043208/philippines-war-drugs-casts-long-shadow-over-grieving-families?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Dec 2019 04:37:53 +0000 Is she Cersei Lannister: cold, cynical and deadly? Or Sansa Stark: noble, long-suffering and genuine? Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi – the general’s daughter presiding over a desperately fragile state – has been transformed from being the military’s nemesis into its leading apologist or, worse yet, its enabler. As the proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gear up and Myanmar again comes under global scrutiny, many have asked how she could have become so reviled? She has allowed the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3042238/myanmars-game-thrones-aung-san-suu-kyis-moral-failure-invites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3042238/myanmars-game-thrones-aung-san-suu-kyis-moral-failure-invites?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2019 08:00:10 +0000 The animal is dead. It can be a fish, bird, mammal or reptile. An autopsy is conducted and inevitably reams of plastic are discovered in its stomach. When I wake up every morning, I step into my bathroom and survey the shelves. There are rows of multicoloured plastic containers: toothpaste, hair conditioners, hand soap, creams and eye lotions. Since I’m always travelling, I also have stacks of those cheap, single-use shampoo sachets. Nowadays, I feel as if I’m a perpetrator and the killer of all... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3041241/death-plastic-animals-must-spur-southeast-asia-tackle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3041241/death-plastic-animals-must-spur-southeast-asia-tackle?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Dec 2019 07:30:13 +0000 More people speak Javanese than Malay, Burmese or Thai. Indeed, of Indonesia’s 265 million people, some 95 million speak Javanese. However, it is not the national language of the republic. That is Bahasa Indonesia, a variation of Malay. The two are very different and should never be confused. Moreover, Javanese is very much alive, both in popular culture and politics. For example, one of Indonesia’s most famous pop stars Via Vallen, has attracted more than 186 million YouTube views for her song... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3040148/indonesian-stars-vallen-and-didi-kempot-are-keeping-javanese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3040148/indonesian-stars-vallen-and-didi-kempot-are-keeping-javanese?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Dec 2019 06:00:07 +0000 Gawing – a member of Sarawak’s indigenous Iban race and a Christian – was 19 when he first arrived in the state of Johor back in 1993. He certainly never expected – just over a quarter of a century later – to be living and working in the state capital of Johor Bahru. Growing up in an isolated longhouse community about 250km from Kuching, the capital of East Malaysian state of Sarawak, and the eldest son of struggling black pepper farmers, he received a scholarship to study civil engineering. One... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3039202/tale-one-iban-man-johor-story-malaysias-diversity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3039202/tale-one-iban-man-johor-story-malaysias-diversity?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Nov 2019 08:00:08 +0000 Back in 2014 when Narendra Modi was first elected, he set out to transform the underperforming Indian economy. He promised to replicate the success of his home state, Gujarat, across the republic, creating a surge of jobs and opportunities for all. Instead, five years on, following a deeply divisive election, a National Statistical Office survey shows India faces rising poverty, especially in rural areas, as well as an unprecedented drop in consumer spending. The 2017-18 survey reflects how... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3038196/all-talk-aside-does-narendra-modi-have-real-solution-indias?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3038196/all-talk-aside-does-narendra-modi-have-real-solution-indias?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2019 07:00:10 +0000 “The plan was always to keep moving up,” says 39-year-old Ae Ae Phyo Aung, her English clear and precise. “That’s why I went to work in Doha and Dubai.” After two three-year stints in the Middle East, Ma Ae (“Ma” means “Ms” in Burmese) now works as a housekeeping supervisor in a five-star hotel in Yangon. In 2000 when she was 20 years old, she started working in marketing for the Yellow Pages. She had just finished high school and needed to help her father support her two younger brothers. Two... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3037161/myanmars-young-women-tourism-provides-way-out-poverty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3037161/myanmars-young-women-tourism-provides-way-out-poverty?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Nov 2019 06:00:10 +0000 Francisco Moreno Domagoso was born in the Manila slum district of Tondo, one of the world’s poorest and most densely populated neighbourhoods. Much of his youth was spent scavenging for pagpag , refried leftovers from the rubbish. Now 45, Domagoso – known as Isko Moreno – has become the mayor of the Philippines’ capital. He was discovered in Tondo by a talent scout at a wake and made a career in film and television. However, he has not forgotten where he came from or the lessons of his... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3036199/manilas-mayor-isko-moreno-man-replace-rodrigo-duterte-president?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3036199/manilas-mayor-isko-moreno-man-replace-rodrigo-duterte-president?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2019 08:00:10 +0000 Thirty-year-old Tanya Purohit looks like a leading lady: slim, beautiful and fair-skinned. But what makes her special is her intelligence, warmth and wry, comedienne-like wit. Having started out on a Delhi-based television shopping channel as a promoter and then moving on to a Mumbai sports network, the Uttarakhand-born beauty is working her way ever deeper into Bollywood’s huge M&E (media and entertainment) industry. Andheri, the low-lying, beach-fronting suburb close to Mumbai’s Santa Cruz... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3035144/paying-make-1am-runs-life-bollywoods-aspiring-aishwarya-rais?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3035144/paying-make-1am-runs-life-bollywoods-aspiring-aishwarya-rais?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2019 05:53:32 +0000 The Nggapulu – named after a glacier-covered peak in Papua’s Jayawijaya range – is a German-built ship that forms part of the fleet operated by Pelni, Indonesia’s national ferry company. For six days and five nights, the 146.5-metre-long craft, capable of carrying some 2,170 passengers, was also Team Ceritalah’s home as they travelled from Surabaya in East Java to Makassar, Bau Bau, Ambon, Banda Neira and Tual in the Kei Islands. The billion-dollar question: is the gig economy sustainable? It’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3033889/six-days-sea-aboard-nggapulu-ferry-thats-indonesia-microcosm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3033889/six-days-sea-aboard-nggapulu-ferry-thats-indonesia-microcosm?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Oct 2019 09:21:53 +0000 The gig economy is capitalism at its most brutal. Everybody wants to create the next “unicorn”, or the next Airbnb or Netflix that disrupts business as usual on a global scale. However, potential champions often end up like WeWork, its botched initial public offering in August causing its valuation to plummet 75 per cent from US$40 billion to US$10 billion and its long-haired, pot-smoking founder Adam Neumann to leave in disgrace. Foodpanda, part of the publicly listed German group Delivery... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3032797/billion-dollar-question-gig-economy-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3032797/billion-dollar-question-gig-economy-sustainable?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Oct 2019 06:30:06 +0000 “A government should be the voice of God to the people, not Satan,” says Hamzah Mustaffa, a 22-year-old English literature student from the Jakarta suburb of South Tangerang. Hamzah is the youngest of 11 siblings and a voracious reader of books on Islam, Turkish history and Sufism. He still remembers how his father, who took part in Indonesia’s independence struggle, on his deathbed enjoined his children to “Bela Negara” (“defend the country”). They have more or less held to this: virtually all... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3031799/front-lines-indonesias-young-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3031799/front-lines-indonesias-young-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Oct 2019 03:04:39 +0000 It’s raining heavily outside the Indra Square Mall in Pratunam, Bangkok. Three Indian millennial friends – Rupesh, Ashish and Sourabh – are standing at the entrance and planning their next move. Two are software engineers, one is an entrepreneur. Two live in Mumbai and the other in Hyderabad. Having flown into the Thai capital with the low-cost carrier AirAsia, they’ve been making an extensive, eight-day tour of the kingdom. They’re adventurous, using local buses, the BTS and taxis. They’re also... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3030896/how-independent-indian-travellers-are-transforming-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3030896/how-independent-indian-travellers-are-transforming-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Sep 2019 04:14:01 +0000 Last week, 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg inspired millions of young people to gather in cities around the world to protest against apathy and inaction in the face of climate change. The response in Southeast Asia, however, was tepid at best: demonstrators in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur numbered in the hundreds, even as Indonesia and Malaysia endure suffocating smoke from forest fires. Given the scale of the disruption – an assault on biodiversity as well as people’s general health – where is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3029909/meet-maya-karin-malaysian-actress-transformed-scream?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3029909/meet-maya-karin-malaysian-actress-transformed-scream?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Sep 2019 03:31:45 +0000 He was a quintessential product of Suharto’s “New Order” and, having served as a cabinet minister for two decades, was a much promoted, admired and protected protégé. Nonetheless, from May 1998 for 17 intense months, as Indonesia was battered by the Asian financial crisis (AFC) and political turmoil, BJ Habibie blithely dismantled his mentor’s authoritarian legacy as the country’s president. “Pak Habibie was not a politician. He was an engineer – a man of science,” said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, one... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3027392/history-has-been-kind-bj-habibie-who-transformed-indonesia-17?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3027392/history-has-been-kind-bj-habibie-who-transformed-indonesia-17?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Sep 2019 04:29:16 +0000 It is one of the most famous images in Southeast Asian history: Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej sitting regally before a group of prostrate, feuding politicians. It was May 20, 1992 and the king had just intervened, demanding an end to bloody riots that had paralysed Bangkok. The protesters dispersed, the junta leader resigned and Thailand gradually returned to civilian rule. Also kneeling at the king’s side was another remarkable man: his trusted adviser Prem Tinsulanonda, who passed away... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3026338/prem-tinsulanonda-was-trusted-royal-aide-so-who-will-be-new-thai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3026338/prem-tinsulanonda-was-trusted-royal-aide-so-who-will-be-new-thai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Sep 2019 07:44:01 +0000 What is a nation? If it’s just a random grouping of people, what brings and then keeps them together? Is it a shared history, religion, geography, culture or language? Can the reasons be merely economic: “Hey, we’re all making money, so why not “hang” together?”. Well, for much of Asia, August was the month for flag-waving, patriotic songs and emotive nationalist videos. And please, we do not need to listen to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the Malaysian cabinet singing poorly. All we want... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3025312/nationalism-rises-what-holds-asian-countries-together?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3025312/nationalism-rises-what-holds-asian-countries-together?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Sep 2019 04:26:36 +0000 Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee producer – exporting an estimated US$3.5 billion of the commodity in 2018. They are second only to Brazilians, who exported US$5.2 billion worth of coffee in the same year. However, in 1986, the republic managed to grow only 300,000 60kg bags of coffee beans. In 2018, volumes had skyrocketed to over 30 million bags: a hundredfold increase. In comparison, Indonesia’s production only rose from 5.9 million bags in 1986 to just 10.2 million bags in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3024336/how-coffee-helped-vietnamese-war-veteran-raise-his-family?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3024336/how-coffee-helped-vietnamese-war-veteran-raise-his-family?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Aug 2019 06:00:12 +0000 Mawlamyine (or Moulmein) in Myanmar is one of those Southeast Asian cities like Sandakan (Malaysia), Bacolod (Philippines) and Songkhla (Thailand) – where the past looms large but the present seems faded and unpromising. The kinds of places that young people yearn to leave in search of jobs and money. Home to just under 300,000 residents, the capital city of the three-million-strong Mon State has a slightly forlorn, neglected air. After all, its glory years were well over 150 years ago, between... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3023482/sleepy-mawlamyine-myanmar-youths-cant-wait-leave-city-becomes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3023482/sleepy-mawlamyine-myanmar-youths-cant-wait-leave-city-becomes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2019 02:00:17 +0000 The West Bank. Gaza. Xinjiang. Modern-day concentration camps. Is the 12.5-million strong, Muslim-majority Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir next? Last week it was placed under curfew, its telecommunications silenced and its mainstream political leaders detained. About 500,000 troops were already stationed in Kashmir, making it one of the most militarised areas in the world. In recent weeks, a further 35,000 Indian soldiers were deployed, as tourists and non-residents rushed to escape the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3022398/kashmir-colonised-have-become-colonisers-indias-soul-stake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/3022398/kashmir-colonised-have-become-colonisers-indias-soul-stake?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Aug 2019 05:21:11 +0000 While industry can transform lives, create jobs and churn out vital products, we are becoming increasingly aware of the pollution and destruction it leaves in its wake. Moreover technological and digital innovation could easily decimate what we once considered to be immutable and enduring industries. Indonesia’s Cilegon region, 100km west of Jakarta, is one of Southeast Asia’s largest industrial hubs – comparable to Malaysia’s Southern Johor, Vietnam’s Vung Tau, Singapore’s Jurong and Thailand’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3021449/era-trumpian-trade-wars-may-be-blessing-indonesian-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3021449/era-trumpian-trade-wars-may-be-blessing-indonesian-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Aug 2019 03:00:13 +0000 Nearly four years ago, the south Indian city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, was under water. The worst floods in living history – the result of cyclones from the Bay of Bengal – brought this manufacturing and services powerhouse of 11 million to a standstill as brackish water lapped at the wheels of the planes parked at the Anna International Airport. More than 500 people died and a further 1.8 million were displaced. Today, the city is wracked by an unprecedented drought, enduring more... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3019540/drought-stricken-chennai-water-now-more-expensive-petrol?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3019540/drought-stricken-chennai-water-now-more-expensive-petrol?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jul 2019 03:35:00 +0000 Bantar Gebang is the largest uncovered landfill in Southeast Asia – a vast, 120-hectare moonscape of toxic, foul-smelling waste serving the greater Jakarta region, which is home to 32 million people. The landfill holds an estimated 39 million tonnes of garbage, with 7,000 tonnes added daily. It should reach its capacity of 49 million tonnes by 2021, if not before. Ibu Suki Sri, 52, started scavenging at the facility when it first opened 30 years ago. Back then the rubbish was deposited in a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3018609/waste-piles-higher-jakartas-vast-landfill-western-lie-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3018609/waste-piles-higher-jakartas-vast-landfill-western-lie-about?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jul 2019 05:31:23 +0000 Manila, Jakarta and Bangkok are vast Southeast Asian cities – rambunctious and extremely competitive, verging on cutthroat. For foreign investors looking to take the plunge, knowing who to trust is a critical issue. A wrong move can wipe out your investment – sometimes we’re talking billions of dollars. For well over half a century, Washington SyCip, a sprightly, nonagenarian professional who passed away in 2017 was the key to the Philippines. Straight-talking, warm, funny and enormously curious... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3016779/remembering-wash-sycip-one-man-council-elders-who-helped?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3016779/remembering-wash-sycip-one-man-council-elders-who-helped?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jul 2019 07:35:18 +0000 “Our freedom and our rights are fast disappearing,” says Clara, a 24-year university graduate and Hong Kong activist. “This wasn’t like the Occupy movement back in 2014. Back then, the general public weren’t so convinced. This time, it’s very different. Many people feel they have no choice; that they have to demonstrate in order to preserve our current way of life and our autonomy.” English is not Clara’s first language – she’s more at ease with Cantonese – but she speaks with a fluency and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3015782/after-hong-kongs-protests-cooler-heads-must-prevail-both-sides?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3015782/after-hong-kongs-protests-cooler-heads-must-prevail-both-sides?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Jun 2019 04:46:13 +0000 This year, India, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia all held elections. About 1 billion voters were involved, all within a few weeks of one another. On the ground, the elections provided a study in contrasts. For example, in the southeast of India in April, we discovered a city pulsating with people as crowds in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh state, waited for candidates to arrive in the baking heat, with music blaring from loudspeakers. It was a long way removed from the city of Phitsanulok in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3014873/what-can-we-learn-asias-election-season?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3014873/what-can-we-learn-asias-election-season?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jun 2019 01:00:14 +0000 Whatever you call it – Eid ul-Fitr, Hari Raya Aidilfitri or Idul Fitri (or more simply, Lebaran) – the end of the Ramadan fasting month is a major holiday for both Malaysians and Indonesians. This is unsurprising when you consider that 61 per cent and 87 per cent of the respective populations are Muslim. Both capital cities – Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta – experience a huge exodus of people as millions head back to their kampungs, or hometowns. Indeed, it’s estimated some 15 million leave Jakarta in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3013966/what-it-celebrate-eid-ul-fitr-muslim-minority-country?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3013966/what-it-celebrate-eid-ul-fitr-muslim-minority-country?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jun 2019 04:00:17 +0000 Tash Aw is a successful, international-prize-winning Malaysian novelist. He is also a sophisticated and well-travelled essayist with an intuitive grasp of the zeitgeist and mood of wherever he is. Born in Taipei 47 years ago, he has lived and worked across the globe: from Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Paris to London, where he is currently based. And yet Tash’s writing only really comes alive – crackling with verve and shot through with a combination of both poignance and menace – when... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3012952/tash-aws-we-survivors-compelling-look-malaysias-underbelly-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3012952/tash-aws-we-survivors-compelling-look-malaysias-underbelly-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Jun 2019 02:00:11 +0000 As night fell in the Indonesian capital last Wednesday, Dita Hidayatunnisa could sense trouble in the air. The 27-year-old teacher and administrator had made the journey from her hometown of Bekasi in West Java to join protests against the re-election of incumbent President Joko Widodo. But for the second day in a row, protests descended into riots. Lengthening shadows in the diminishing light added a sinister side to the change in mood that Dita and her friends felt sweeping through Jalan M.H.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3011986/indonesia-riots-how-peaceful-protests-against-joko-widodos-re?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3011986/indonesia-riots-how-peaceful-protests-against-joko-widodos-re?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2019 09:54:58 +0000 When Sant Kabir, the 15th-century mystic and poet, walked out of the city now known as Varanasi, in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh, he must have known he was leaving for the last time. Devout Hindus, in the twilight of their lives, have long sought to head towards Varanasi and spend their remaining days in their religion’s holiest of cities alongside its holiest of rivers, the Ganges. In contrast, Kabir chose to walk away, despite the wizened iconoclast having been born there – rejecting ancient... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3011113/sant-kabir-and-spiritual-rationalism-narendra-modis-india?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3011113/sant-kabir-and-spiritual-rationalism-narendra-modis-india?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 May 2019 07:06:14 +0000 Euphoria over the surprise victory of the Mahathir Mohamad-led Pakatan Harapan coalition in Malaysia’s elections last year has been swiftly replaced by surprisingly bitter disappointment For the past two months, Team Ceritalah has been criss-crossing the country: everywhere from Kuala Kangsar to Penampang. It’s been a Herculean effort for the young team: listening to and recording stories on the ground. We tried to revisit all the people we interviewed before last year’s polls. Team Ceritalah... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009982/one-year-pakatan-harapan-still-grappling-realities-delivering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009982/one-year-pakatan-harapan-still-grappling-realities-delivering?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 May 2019 05:34:26 +0000 A man, dressed as a Roman soldier, holds up a hammer. There’s a brief snap as the tool hits the nail: metallic but light. Another man, whose limbs are being bound to a life-size cross, winces as the metal pierces the palm of his hands. There is no blood. It’s Good Friday and Team Ceritalah is in Pampanga, two hours northwest of Manila, during Holy Week. This is rich agricultural country and the heart of Luzon island. For Christians, and especially Catholics, Holy Week – which commemorates the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009045/philippine-midterm-elections-filipinos-repent-during-holy-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009045/philippine-midterm-elections-filipinos-repent-during-holy-week?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 May 2019 10:00:18 +0000 Veena Kumari is a typical Narendra Modi voter: a 52-year-old housewife. With her farmer husband, she lives in a village close to Pratapgarh, a dusty town with an “unfinished” vibe just 170km from Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. “Unemployment is the main issue in the country, but this has improved. If we give Modi another five years, there will be no more unemployment.” Her twenty-something son will finish college in two years. Veena is certain that if the incumbent prime minister is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008159/indias-elections-if-not-modi-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3008159/indias-elections-if-not-modi-who?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Apr 2019 12:30:08 +0000 Muhammad Rofiqul A’la is a jovial, portly 39-year-old farmer and kyai (Islamic scholar) from Jember in the densely populated province of East Java. Known in his village as Kiyai Rofiq, he is also part of the reason that Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was able to surprise Indonesians, and the world, in last week’s presidential elections. According to the results collated thus far (the official tally will only be released on May 24), Jokowi increased his share of the votes in two key provinces – East and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3007120/key-east-java-how-tradition-nusantara-islam-and-religious-grass?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3007120/key-east-java-how-tradition-nusantara-islam-and-religious-grass?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Apr 2019 05:05:29 +0000 The General Class compartment – the cheapest – is full and Team Ceritalah are forced to perch on what are supposed to be the luggage racks (and therefore situated directly above the normal seats). It’s an express train from Hyderabad to Chennai. The summer heat (well over 40 degrees Celsius) has enveloped the parched Deccan plateau. The tickets – only 225 rupees (US$3.20) – are relatively inexpensive. Still, it’s a stifling fifteen-hour journey – two hours longer than scheduled. India elections:... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3006256/india-election-profit-margins-lassi-modis-magic-has-evaporated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3006256/india-election-profit-margins-lassi-modis-magic-has-evaporated?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Apr 2019 02:00:10 +0000 Chiang Mai is swathed in smog. It’s opaque, oppressive and disconcerting. There’s no horizon. The air is yellowish and way, way above acceptable health levels: the result of forest fires and local slash-and-burn agriculture crashing head-to-head with El Niño, the global weather phenomenon. But the sickly air quality – earlier in the year Bangkok was similarly shrouded in pollution – serves only to match the obfuscation and uncertainty surrounding Thailand’s first contested elections in over... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3005163/why-did-thailands-junta-bother-its-farcical-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3005163/why-did-thailands-junta-bother-its-farcical-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Apr 2019 07:03:48 +0000 On April 17, 2019, Indonesia will be going to the polls. West Java, the country’s most-populous province, with 48.6 million inhabitants, is the pre-eminent electoral battleground. Back in 2014, Joko Widodo lost the vote-rich prize to his nemesis, the former general Prabowo Subianto by a huge, twenty-point margin. Ever since then, he’s made the homeland of the Sundanese people a key target, lavishing the region with a succession of critical infrastructure projects, from new airports, railway... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3004135/bekasi-jersey-indonesia-clue-widodos-election-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3004135/bekasi-jersey-indonesia-clue-widodos-election-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Apr 2019 01:00:12 +0000 Coco Martin is a Filipino everyman. In person, he’s shorter than you’d expect. Disarming; he’s also trim, handsome (but not too handsome) with an empathetic smile and warm eyes. When you meet him, he’s immediately familiar. He could be the mechanic from down the road, the kindly hospital orderly or the overseas foreign worker. Nondescript. Ordinary, but trustworthy. Meanwhile, the Philippines is three years into President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in office and is fast approaching the all-important... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3002357/coco-martin-one-philippines-biggest-stars-because-hes-everyman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3002357/coco-martin-one-philippines-biggest-stars-because-hes-everyman?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Mar 2019 02:00:17 +0000 One man has dominated Thai politics for well over twenty years; and it is not the current monarch, King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun. Separately, the hapless, but essentially well-meaning military leader Prayuth Chan-ocha looks set to be a mere footnote in the kingdom’s contemporary history. Loathed by the elite, Thaksin Shinawatra, the brash Chiang Mai-born, telecom billionaire-turned-politician (and prime minister from 2001 to 2006) remains a Svengali-like presence despite being... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3001194/thailands-young-look-future-does-thaksin-shinawatra-still-matter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3001194/thailands-young-look-future-does-thaksin-shinawatra-still-matter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Mar 2019 04:09:26 +0000 Pakistan is an existential threat to India, right? Wrong. With a population just one-quarter the size of its fraternal twin, an imploding economy and a hopelessly dysfunctional political system, Pakistan is little more than a strategic challenge or geopolitical footnote. So as the world obsesses over the rapidly escalating showdown between the two nuclear powers, it’s worth remembering the real reason behind the tension: India’s upcoming General Elections. And yes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2188655/forget-nuclear-war-pakistan-heres-real-threat-indias-prime?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2188655/forget-nuclear-war-pakistan-heres-real-threat-indias-prime?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Mar 2019 03:56:27 +0000