https://www.scmp.com/rss/317173/feed Zuraidah supervises the publication’s Hong Kong, Asia and international coverage as well as its photo, graphics and Young Post desks. She also oversees This Week in Asia, an award-winning Sunday current affairs magazine. Zuraidah was previously the Deputy Editor of Singapore’s largest English-language daily, The Straits Times. Among the books Zuraidah has published are Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going (Straits Times Press, 2011), a monograph on the Opposition in the... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Zuraidah Ibrahim,Kolette Lim Zuraidah Ibrahim,Kolette Lim Hashim Djojohadikusumo is smiling almost beatifically, but the trademark feistiness is unmistakable. We are sitting down for a chat amid the turmoil gripping Indonesia’s capital markets and he says emphatically that “it’s good, it’s good” that it happened. This unvarnished answer is one of several he gives as we talk about his country, nearly two years after his elder brother, Prabowo Subianto, won the presidential election by a wide margin, securing 58.6 per cent of the votes on his third... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3342707/inside-indonesias-inner-circle-hashim-djojohadikusumo-his-brother-prabowos-vision?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3342707/inside-indonesias-inner-circle-hashim-djojohadikusumo-his-brother-prabowos-vision?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2026 04:30:08 +0000 Zuraidah Ibrahim Zuraidah Ibrahim Tengku Zafrul Aziz is rarely seen without his signature gleaming white smile and well-tailored suit over a trim physique and flat tummy, evidence of a strict exercise regimen. Malaysia’s minister of investment, trade and industry jokes that he is often mistaken for a Singaporean politician when abroad, perhaps because of his lean appearance and – this part is unspoken – his technocratic background. But there is one difference: “You can ask me anything on stage and I’ll try to answer.” Despite... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334566/malaysias-tengku-zafrul-us-trade-deal-umno-and-looking-singapore-minister?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334566/malaysias-tengku-zafrul-us-trade-deal-umno-and-looking-singapore-minister?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 03:00:09 +0000 Zuraidah Ibrahim,Jean Iau Zuraidah Ibrahim,Jean Iau Wee Ee Cheong leans back in his chair in the boardroom of UOB Plaza and behind him a deep green bonsai peeks into view from a shelf, poised like it is meant to be part of the conversation. Wee’s minders had told us not to be surprised if he talks about his beloved plants. It is his hobby, after all. A lush bonsai graces the cover of the bank’s annual report for its 90th anniversary, a nod to the enduring roots of Singapore’s only remaining family-controlled bank. But he shows little interest in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3330248/how-uobs-wee-ee-cheong-planting-seeds-next-90-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3330248/how-uobs-wee-ee-cheong-planting-seeds-next-90-years?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:16 +0000 As speakers at the recent Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey sought to galvanise the international audience to respond to the crumbling of international institutions and two grinding wars, there were frequent references to the “Global South”. The appeal for solidarity among the countries beyond the advanced industrial West is understandable. Trust in a global order dominated by the United States and Europe has eroded in the face of their wilful failure to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Now,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3307108/will-trumps-chaos-galvanise-global-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3307108/will-trumps-chaos-galvanise-global-south?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Apr 2025 02:00:22 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3295993/asean-panel-shows-split-views-gender-equality?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3295993/asean-panel-shows-split-views-gender-equality?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jan 2025 10:00:00 +0000 In this edition of Hong Kong Update, we look at Lunar New Year festivities, the traditional drawing of fortune sticks at Che Kung Temple and the “Chubby Hearts” initiative. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3252504/hong-kong-week-roar-dragon-troubling-prophecy-and-adorable-chubby-hearts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3252504/hong-kong-week-roar-dragon-troubling-prophecy-and-adorable-chubby-hearts?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Feb 2024 03:00:00 +0000 Like nyepi in tourist hotspot Bali where natives enter into contemplative silence, Indonesia is having three days of quiet before Wednesday’s presidential and legislative polls, with surveys showing Prabowo Subianto in the lead. As more than 204 million eligible voters cast their ballots in one of the world’s biggest elections on February 14, Prabowo and running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, have been aggressively pushing for a single round of balloting, arguing that a second would prove... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3251764/indonesia-election-2024-prabowo-subianto-poised-first-round-win-survey-numbers-suggest-so-voter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3251764/indonesia-election-2024-prabowo-subianto-poised-first-round-win-survey-numbers-suggest-so-voter?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Feb 2024 01:00:19 +0000 For a spell last October, it looked like TikTok had been kneecapped when Indonesia banned it from engaging in e-commerce in its second-largest market by user numbers. This week, however, the viral short video app found a way back into the country’s e-commerce space through the completion of a US$1.5 billion acquisition of Tokopedia, taking a 75 per cent controlling stake in Indonesia’s second-biggest shopping platform that is part of the GoTo group. It made sense for Tokopedia, GoTo Chief... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3250697/will-tiktoks-deal-indonesian-e-commerce-giant-tokopedia-set-precedent-make-allies-out-enemies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3250697/will-tiktoks-deal-indonesian-e-commerce-giant-tokopedia-set-precedent-make-allies-out-enemies?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Feb 2024 02:00:19 +0000 In this issue of Hong Kong Update, we look at the city's biggest-ever case of digital currency fraud, as well as the ongoing saga of illegal structures at luxury homes. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3235668/hong-kong-week-jpex-crypto-scandal-more-illegal-structures-and-expats-take-stock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3235668/hong-kong-week-jpex-crypto-scandal-more-illegal-structures-and-expats-take-stock?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Sep 2023 03:00:00 +0000 Over the past week, two of the candidates vying to be Singapore’s next president have been revealing details about their private lives, sharing stories ranging from how they met their partners to their personal fertility tips. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a former cabinet minister, and fund manager Ng Kok Song are accomplished individuals in their own respective fields, but are now trying to make themselves more relatable to voters. The third candidate in the September 1 election, former insurance... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3232361/singapore-presidential-election-will-anti-pap-protest-voters-spoil-front-runner-tharman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3232361/singapore-presidential-election-will-anti-pap-protest-voters-spoil-front-runner-tharman?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Aug 2023 01:30:19 +0000 Singapore’s presidential hopeful Tharman Shanmugaratnam says voters can count on him to act with “independence of mind”, but should not see the presidency as “an alternative power centre” to the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). In a wide-ranging interview with the Post, he also brushed aside speculation that his seniority and popularity would eclipse Lawrence Wong, the much younger PAP minister slated to take over as prime minister. “The president should never outshine the prime minister,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3231902/singapores-president-must-not-outshine-prime-minister-alternative-power-centre-says-tharman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3231902/singapores-president-must-not-outshine-prime-minister-alternative-power-centre-says-tharman?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Aug 2023 08:07:03 +0000 Having two candidates of international renown contest Singapore’s coming presidential polls – namely himself and former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam – has stirred up much interest abroad, according to Ng Kok Song. The presidential hopeful and former chief investment officer of sovereign wealth fund GIC said ex-British prime minister Gordon Brown and billionaire investor Ray Dalio were among those who had commended him for running, with both commenting that he and Tharman were “the two... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3231880/singapore-fortunate-have-tharman-and-me-running-president-i-have-independent-edge-ng-kok-song?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3231880/singapore-fortunate-have-tharman-and-me-running-president-i-have-independent-edge-ng-kok-song?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Aug 2023 06:30:10 +0000 The United States needs to focus on the “long game” when dealing with China and resist the lure of short-term benefits that could create a more difficult relationship later, says the front runner in Singapore’s coming presidential election, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. An internationally respected former finance minister and central banker, Tharman said he was worried that recent moves by the US against China, such as imposing export controls and investment restrictions, would have far-reaching... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3231737/us-must-play-long-game-china-says-singapores-tharman-shanmugaratnam-not-go-short-term-gains-risk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3231737/us-must-play-long-game-china-says-singapores-tharman-shanmugaratnam-not-go-short-term-gains-risk?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Aug 2023 02:06:17 +0000 In this issue of Hong Kong Update, we follow news of a whale which died after it was first spotted in the city's waters, as well as the funeral of singer Coco Lee. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3230179/hong-kong-week-death-whale-farewell-diva-and-sobering-economic-data?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3230179/hong-kong-week-death-whale-farewell-diva-and-sobering-economic-data?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0000 In this issue of Hong Kong Update, we look at a string of freebies and celebratory events lined up for July 1, the city's talent drive and another tragic knife attack. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3225357/hong-kong-week-july-1-goodies-talent-scheme-applications-and-another-stabbing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3225357/hong-kong-week-july-1-goodies-talent-scheme-applications-and-another-stabbing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jun 2023 03:00:00 +0000 In this issue of Hong Kong Update, we look at the influx of cross-border travellers during the Labour Day 'golden week', as well as John Lee's takeaways from his trip to the Greater Bay Area. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3219120/hong-kong-week-long-weekend-mainland-travel-and-district-patriots?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3219120/hong-kong-week-long-weekend-mainland-travel-and-district-patriots?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Apr 2023 03:00:00 +0000 In the second part of a wide-ranging exclusive interview with This Week in Asia, the city state’s influential Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam offered his views on the Greater Bay Area surrounding Hong Kong, Singapore’s tough anti-drug stance and the fourth-generation or “4G” leadership of the People’s Action Party. This is an edited transcript of the second part of the interview. Read the first part of the transcript here. TWIA: How enthusiastic are Singapore companies or the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3216384/be-prepared-debate-singapores-influential-minister-k-shanmugam-drug-war-and-handling-alternative?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3216384/be-prepared-debate-singapores-influential-minister-k-shanmugam-drug-war-and-handling-alternative?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Apr 2023 02:58:24 +0000 With 35 years of service as an MP – under three different prime ministers – Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam is one of the city state’s most influential political figures. The only parliamentarian with a longer tenure is Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 71. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with This Week in Asia, Shanmugam talked about the state of global geopolitics, Singapore’s wealth gap, its tough anti-drug stance and his own future as the country prepares for a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3216356/k-shanmugam-qa-influential-singapore-minister-us-china-tensions-financial-hub-rivalries-and-wealth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3216356/k-shanmugam-qa-influential-singapore-minister-us-china-tensions-financial-hub-rivalries-and-wealth?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Apr 2023 00:58:48 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3211633/hong-kong-week-budget-blueprint-diplomatic-red-lines-and-grisly-murder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3211633/hong-kong-week-budget-blueprint-diplomatic-red-lines-and-grisly-murder?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Feb 2023 03:00:00 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3204792/hong-kong-week-rat-free-pubbing-and-high-praise-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3204792/hong-kong-week-rat-free-pubbing-and-high-praise-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Dec 2022 02:00:00 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3182393/covid-surge-cabinet-line-and-handover-anniversary-all-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3182393/covid-surge-cabinet-line-and-handover-anniversary-all-you?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jun 2022 03:00:00 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3174036/hamstergate-omicron-superspreader-and-coffee-carcinogens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3174036/hamstergate-omicron-superspreader-and-coffee-carcinogens?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Jan 2022 07:07:59 +0000 A chapter from Singapore’s history has become an unlikely reference for some in Hong Kong’s opposition camp. The object of their curiosity is the opposition walkout from Singapore’s Parliament in 1966, and the lessons it might hold for Hong Kong’s pan-democrats of today. A Hong Kong opposition leader let on privately that he was reading Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs to glean lessons on how to avoid the kind of dominance Singapore’s first prime minister achieved. Another revealed he wanted to find out... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3134413/hong-kong-politics-post-national-security-law-why-singapores?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3134413/hong-kong-politics-post-national-security-law-why-singapores?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 May 2021 03:00:26 +0000 Singapore ’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong went into Friday’s general election saying a nation deep in “the crisis of a generation” needed the leadership of a strong People’s Action Party (PAP). In the early hours of Saturday, his government was presented with a different set of hard truths. Voters demanding a check on PAP power boosted the opposition’s small presence in parliament and raised questions about the government’s carefully orchestrated leadership succession plans. As expected, the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3092783/singapore-election-hard-truths-pap-voters-deny-ruling-party-easy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3092783/singapore-election-hard-truths-pap-voters-deny-ruling-party-easy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jul 2020 09:06:04 +0000 Even while we do not know when the Singapore elections will be called and how the opposition will perform, we can identify a few givens as well as a few known unknowns. I will start by highlighting three relatively stable factors that are unlikely to change in the coming election. First, the opposition is not a government in waiting. Furthermore, that’s not what most voters expect from them. They function as a potential check on the ruling party, a means for citizens to exert pressure on the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3047239/singapore-election-paps-order-and-stability-will-win-out-how-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3047239/singapore-election-paps-order-and-stability-will-win-out-how-will?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jan 2020 23:00:09 +0000 Hong Kong must not rely on the police alone to restore calm to the city as the current impasse requires a political solution that should start with the formal withdrawal of the extradition bill that sparked the crisis, the chairman of the police watchdog has said. Senior lawyer Anthony Neoh SC, who heads the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), also did not rule out having a commission of inquiry at a later stage, once other restorative steps have been taken, including bringing about... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3023485/hong-kong-protests-need-political-solution-and-should-start?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3023485/hong-kong-protests-need-political-solution-and-should-start?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Aug 2019 23:30:12 +0000 Hong Kong’s embattled government will hit the pause button on its controversial extradition bill as early as Saturday afternoon, sources have told the Post, after Beijing officials in charge of the city’s affairs held meetings in neighbouring Shenzhen to seek a solution to a crisis that has made international headlines. City leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was expected to announce the decision at 3pm at the government headquarters. LIVE: Hong Kong leader to delay extradition law to ‘avoid... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014629/hong-kong-government-will-announce-pause-unpopular?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3014629/hong-kong-government-will-announce-pause-unpopular?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Jun 2019 02:23:42 +0000 When he opened his hawker stall 15 years ago, Singaporean Jaesen Ng hoped the man he named it after would drop by some day. Three weeks ago, Thaksin Beef Noodle stall finally entertained its namesake, Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He came for lunch with his sister, Yingluck, also a former premier, and his daughter Ing, and tucked into the signature dish at the shop in a southern part of the Lion City. “I told him, ‘What took you so long?’,” recalls Ng, 64, who worked in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2180786/poll-dance-how-asias-politicians-are-mobilising-voting-masses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2180786/poll-dance-how-asias-politicians-are-mobilising-voting-masses?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jan 2019 00:05:06 +0000 China is right to stay calm in its trade dispute with the United States, says Singapore’s former prime minister Goh Chok Tong. “China is reacting in the right way, restrained, dignified and not trying to ratchet up the dispute … that’s the right way to behave at this stage,” he told This Week in Asia . He shared these comments when relating a recent conversation in which he was asked what Lee Kuan Yew would advise the Chinese if he were alive today. Lee, Singapore’s founding prime minister who... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2171366/china-right-keep-calm-and-carry-trade-war-us-says-singapores-goh?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2171366/china-right-keep-calm-and-carry-trade-war-us-says-singapores-goh?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Nov 2018 04:03:01 +0000 “You want to know the story of this?” Goh Chok Tong says as he plucks at the grey fabric on his chest. It is not often that a former prime minister volunteers to share his fashion choices, so you say yes, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. He had worn a similar top in black at a public event the previous evening, getting people talking. So, yes, how did Goh, a Chinese Singaporean, end up wearing a Nehru (or is it a Modi) vest? The garment is a sleeveless jacket that keeps him warm against... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2171445/three-lees-too-much-goh-chok-tong-leading-singapore-after-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2171445/three-lees-too-much-goh-chok-tong-leading-singapore-after-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Nov 2018 23:30:45 +0000 In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post this week, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad opened up about relations with China and his ideas for getting his country going again. But he deflected questions on whether he wants to stay on as premier beyond the two years he has promised to stay in office. Below is an excerpt of the interview at his Putrajaya office. *********** Q: Selamat Hari Raya. We hear you had a big Hari Raya celebration (to mark the end of Ramadan) at... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2151394/mahathir-mohamad-qa-malaysian-pm-beijing-jack-ma-and-why?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2151394/mahathir-mohamad-qa-malaysian-pm-beijing-jack-ma-and-why?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Jun 2018 00:01:14 +0000 The Malaysian government is taking time to build a watertight case in the 1MDB financial scandal and not be swayed by populist sentiment, according to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. His predecessor Najib Razak is the prime suspect under investigation and has been banned from leaving the country. This week, Najib’s decision to go on holiday to the resort island of Langkawi – which coincidentally is the parliamentary seat of Mahathir – sparked fears he was trying to slip out of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2151474/1mdb-probe-needs-time-be-watertight-malaysias-mahathir-calls-cool?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2151474/1mdb-probe-needs-time-be-watertight-malaysias-mahathir-calls-cool?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Jun 2018 09:34:00 +0000 Malaysian Prime Minister ­Mahathir Mohamad wants to strengthen “good relations” with Beijing, but is urging Chinese ­investors to refrain from relying only on material, capital and ­labour from back home and ­denying his country any real benefits. The 92-year-old leader’s ­setting out of the terms for better relations in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post came in the wake of widespread unease that his defeated predecessor, Najib Razak, had been too lax in approving... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2151451/nothing-fear-china-says-malaysias-mahathir-mohamad-lopsided?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2151451/nothing-fear-china-says-malaysias-mahathir-mohamad-lopsided?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Jun 2018 08:30:30 +0000 The United States is prepared to provide North Korea “unique” security guarantees if it undertakes “complete verifiable and irreversible” denuclearisation, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said on Monday. Speaking on the eve of the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, he said that preparatory talks between officials on both sides to narrow differences were advancing more quickly than expected. “They are moving rapidly … and moving to their logical... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2150257/mike-pompeo-says-north-korea-could-get-unique-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2150257/mike-pompeo-says-north-korea-could-get-unique-security?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Jun 2018 10:26:52 +0000 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is due to arrive in Singapore around late afternoon on Sunday and will have his own official programme that could include a meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, sources told the South China Morning Post. If confirmed, this would mean that both Kim and US President Donald Trump would be in Singapore for their historic summit early and this could help both in their preparations, another source said. “As of tonight, we were told Mr Kim will be here on Sunday... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2150050/kim-jong-un-reduces-risk-exposure-staying-st-regis-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2150050/kim-jong-un-reduces-risk-exposure-staying-st-regis-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jun 2018 11:45:30 +0000 When Lim Guan Eng walks into his office in Putrajaya – with its oak shelves barren of books and glass cabinets glaringly empty – a group stands up to extend him deferential greetings. All the women are clad in hijab and almost all the men are Malay, the majority race of Malaysia. Lim, 57, is Malaysia’s new finance minister. It is a post that has been entrusted to an ethnic Chinese Malaysian for the first time in 44 years. Lim takes over from former premier Najib Razak who held the finance... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2148926/will-new-malaysia-have-same-old-racial-divide-ethnic-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2148926/will-new-malaysia-have-same-old-racial-divide-ethnic-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Jun 2018 01:30:45 +0000 It is Friday afternoon and a man in a white linen shirt, returning from prayers at the mosque, enters the third-floor office of the Pakatan Harapan, his hands clasped near his chest as he whispers, “Sorry, sorry, I have to change from my slippers first.” Everyone glances at his feet as he glides softly past to a side room to put on his office shoes. Those feet have walked the corridors of power as well as the confines of a tiny prison cell and may well now lead Malaysia on a path of freedom.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2148930/anwar-ibrahim-qa-malaysian-democracy-icon-prison-dissent-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2148930/anwar-ibrahim-qa-malaysian-democracy-icon-prison-dissent-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jun 2018 04:30:45 +0000 The Malaysian government announced belt-tightening measures on Thursday afternoon to rapidly pare down total liabilities of 1.087 trillion ringgit (US$250 billion) that ballooned during the tenure of scandal-tainted premier Najib Razak and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is confident it can “well maintain” the current budget deficit without further burdening the economy. In his first foreign media interview, Lim told the South China Morning Post a series of heavy expenditure cuts, a surge in oil... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2148625/malaysian-finance-minister-lim-guan-engs-belt-tightening-plan-1?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2148625/malaysian-finance-minister-lim-guan-engs-belt-tightening-plan-1?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 May 2018 07:15:00 +0000 The catchphrase “Malaysia Boleh” or “Malaysia Can” evolved as a national slogan in the early 1990s, rallying citizens around the proud vision of a tiger economy aspiring to developed nation status. Over time, it came to be used by those very citizens in a mocking tone, deriding their Southeast Asian nation, and especially its government, for its bumbling ways. But since the night of May 9, spirits have been soaring again as Malaysians try to grasp, still in disbelief, the potentially monumental... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2145601/malaysia-boleh-mahathirs-return-power-more-palace-coup-it-new-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2145601/malaysia-boleh-mahathirs-return-power-more-palace-coup-it-new-era?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 May 2018 12:51:52 +0000 Older Singaporeans travelling beyond Asia are all too familiar with encountering ignorance about their country’s geography. “You’re from Singapore? Is that part of China?” Being the only Chinese-majority state outside Greater China and being no larger than a city, some confusion about Singapore’s status is understandable. After 52 years, Singapore still finds itself needing to educate the world that it is a sovereign republic. One lesson was delivered a week ago. On August 4, Singapore announced... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2106497/what-singapore-saying-expelling-china-hand-huang-jing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/2106497/what-singapore-saying-expelling-china-hand-huang-jing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Aug 2017 02:15:30 +0000 However differently they might have led colonial Hong Kong’s dealings with Beijing, David Wilson and Chris Patten agree on one message for Hongkongers 20 years after the handover: Forget the idea of a breakaway city state. The two ex-governors of the former British colony made the appeal in exclusive interviews with the South China Morning Post as some young people, including those in the post-1997 generation, appear to have lost patience in a sovereign state they blame for the undemocratic... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2099824/hong-kong-independence-never-going-happen-former-governors-david?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/2099824/hong-kong-independence-never-going-happen-former-governors-david?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jun 2017 01:00:30 +0000 Barely minutes into the interview, Chris Patten mentions the label once pinned on him – “a sinner for a thousand years”. One feels compelled to ask: is it an old wound that still hurts? He brushes aside the question but returns to it later when the conversation turns to how China perceived him. Soon after arriving in Hong Kong in 1992 as its last colonial governor, he introduced electoral reforms to give more people a chance to vote in nine new functional constituencies. To China, this was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2099806/chris-patten-recalls-happiest-years-last-governor-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2099806/chris-patten-recalls-happiest-years-last-governor-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jun 2017 08:03:14 +0000 How far can Britain go to ensure that the promises made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong’s handover will be kept? The answer depends on whom you ask. According to Chris Patten, the last colonial governor before Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, Britain has a “legitimate interest” in asking China whether it is living up to its promise of ensuring that the city’s way of life and freedoms remain unchanged for 50 years until 2047 as provided by the agreement. “It’s a joint... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2099805/how-far-should-britain-go-ensure-joint-declaration-promises?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2099805/how-far-should-britain-go-ensure-joint-declaration-promises?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jun 2017 05:03:21 +0000 Hong Kong has remained one of the freest cities in Asia but has much work to do in building democracy and sorting out its future relationship with Beijing, its last two British colonial governors say. In separate interviews with the Post in London to mark the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, both David Wilson and Chris Patten hailed the city for sustaining its political and economic freedoms over the past two decades. But they also warned that Hong Kong faced major external and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2099800/hong-kong-ex-governors-patten-and-wilson-still-upbeat-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2099800/hong-kong-ex-governors-patten-and-wilson-still-upbeat-about?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jun 2017 03:45:30 +0000 In Singapore, the President’s Scholarship represents the pinnacle of educational achievement and the promise of a high-flying career in public service. Awarded to a select few top performers in each pre-university cohort, it reflects Singapore’s belief in harnessing elite talent, an obsession of its late founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. Lee’s family is full of President’s Scholars. He and his wife, both Cambridge-educated lawyers, had three children. All three became President’s Scholars.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2098753/sons-mothers-money-and-memory-theories-about-lee-kuan-yew-family?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2098753/sons-mothers-money-and-memory-theories-about-lee-kuan-yew-family?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jun 2017 01:00:00 +0000 Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has unleashed a stunning broadside in response to his siblings’ attacks over his handling of their late father Lee Kuan Yew’s estate. In his last will, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding premier, said he wanted the family bungalow demolished after his death. But in a lengthy statement released through his lawyers on Thursday evening, Lee Hsien Loong expressed “grave concerns about the events surrounding the making of the Last Will”. He alleged that his... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2098578/lee-kuan-yew-family-feud-singapore-pm-questions-sister-laws-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2098578/lee-kuan-yew-family-feud-singapore-pm-questions-sister-laws-role?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jun 2017 19:00:00 +0000 Oblivious to the oppressive heat and the smoky emissions from the stalled traffic, a middle-aged Indonesian couple ambles up and down the pavement outside the office of the governor of Jakarta. Garment merchant Pak Eeng and his wife Ade are out-of-towners from the neighbouring island of Sumatra. They had taken a boat and a bus, travelling overnight and through the day to the capital city, partly to meet with suppliers but also to pay their respects to a defeated politician. WATCH: Widodo’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2091624/whos-afraid-islamists-not-widodo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2091624/whos-afraid-islamists-not-widodo?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Apr 2017 01:00:30 +0000 On paper, Indonesia seems doubly disadvantaged by the new dispensation in Washington DC. It is the sort of emerging Asian economy that Donald Trump’s base believes is stealing jobs from Americans. And it is home to the world’s largest population of Muslims, who the same constituency distrusts as a threat to peace and security. The president of Indonesia, though, is sanguine about the prospects for working with the United States. Joko Widodo revealed that he had a phone call of seven to eight... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2091535/why-indonesias-widodo-thinks-he-can-deal-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2091535/why-indonesias-widodo-thinks-he-can-deal-donald-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Apr 2017 11:00:30 +0000 States involved in the South China Sea dispute should engage in “concrete cooperation” well before any code of conduct is developed, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has proposed. In an exclusive interview with This Week in Asia ahead of his visit to the Asean summit on Saturday, Widodo said that such cooperation would be an important step towards ensuring peace in the disputed waters. “In the transitional period before we have the code, the building block of trust is very important. I stress,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2091549/exclusive-widodos-peace-formula-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2091549/exclusive-widodos-peace-formula-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Apr 2017 02:30:45 +0000 Indonesian President Joko Widodo wants Chinese investors in his country to build a name as long-term partners that create jobs for locals, the way Hong Kong firms have done. In an exclusive interview with This Week in Asia ahead of his visit to the city on Sunday, he highlighted the phenomenal growth of Chinese investments in Indonesia, which rose more than 300 per cent from 2015 to US$2.7 billion last year. Watch: Widodo speaks to SCMP about Chinese investment “I have conveyed to investors... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2091496/widodo-wants-chinese-keep-coming-investors-not-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/geopolitics/article/2091496/widodo-wants-chinese-keep-coming-investors-not-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Apr 2017 08:45:15 +0000