https://www.scmp.com/rss/323052/feed Find out what Asia’s movers and shakers are up to ­– and how they spend their private time en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Her father is in custody at The Hague, her alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has collapsed into bitter rivalry and she is fighting to halt impeachment proceedings before the Supreme Court. Despite all of that, Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio is still, by a distance, the early favourite to be the country’s next president. A new survey by Manila-based pollster WR Numero found 36 per cent of Filipinos would vote for Duterte-Carpio if the 2028 election were held today – a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349553/sara-duterte-leads-early-2028-philippine-presidential-poll-rivals-struggle-unite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349553/sara-duterte-leads-early-2028-philippine-presidential-poll-rivals-struggle-unite?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2026 04:00:13 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles The International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to issue a written decision by April 28 on whether former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte will stand trial on charges of crimes against humanity over his war on drugs. However, even if the judges decide to proceed with the trial, observers predict that the proceedings will progress at a “glacial pace”, potentially taking years to reach a ruling. Duterte, who governed the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was surrendered to the ICC in March... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349504/will-philippine-ex-president-duterte-stand-trial-icc-and-how-long?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349504/will-philippine-ex-president-duterte-stand-trial-icc-and-how-long?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:30:08 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Frustration and desperation are growing in Japan amid a search for an 11-year-old boy who disappeared more than two weeks ago in a rural part of Kyoto prefecture, with 700 police officers scouring abandoned properties in the mountains surrounding the town of Nantan. The lack of sightings and clues has triggered speculation – a good deal of it sensationalist – on the boy’s fate and focused renewed attention on the number of children who go missing every year in Japan. The father of Yuki Adachi... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349417/frustration-speculation-mount-japan-search-missing-boy-drags?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349417/frustration-speculation-mount-japan-search-missing-boy-drags?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:38 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan A Malaysian court has granted an application by anti-corruption officials to issue an arrest warrant for two sons of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, after they failed to comply with repeated requests to turn up for questioning over their family’s wealth. Daim and his clan have been at the centre of a years-long probe into alleged abuse of power and corruption by the country’s elites, who critics have accused of colluding with two-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to enrich themselves... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349326/malaysian-corruption-watchdog-secures-arrest-warrant-tycoon-daims-sons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349326/malaysian-corruption-watchdog-secures-arrest-warrant-tycoon-daims-sons?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 04:16:14 +0000 Kolette Lim Kolette Lim A 38-year-old woman has been charged over her involvement in an accident which killed a six-year-old Indonesian girl and severely injured her mother at a popular tourist district in Singapore. The woman, who cannot be named due to a gag order, was handed two charges on Wednesday. One was for driving without due care and attention causing death, and the other for driving without due care and attention causing grievous hurt. If found guilty of the first charge, she could be jailed up to three... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349318/woman-charged-over-singapore-crash-killed-indonesian-girl-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349318/woman-charged-over-singapore-crash-killed-indonesian-girl-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 02:48:55 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s tougher deportation drive is deepening fear among asylum seekers and long-term foreign residents, rights groups say, warning that the government’s push to remove more undocumented migrants is clashing with its duty to protect refugees. Official figures show a record 318 foreign nationals were forcibly deported from Japan under escort in 2025, up 30 per cent from a year earlier, as authorities ramped up the Zero Illegal Foreign Residents Plan (Zero Plan), a government drive launched last... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349313/japans-deportation-drive-strikes-fear-asylum-seekers-foreign-residents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349313/japans-deportation-drive-strikes-fear-asylum-seekers-foreign-residents?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 01:30:11 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof A daughter of Malaysia’s late former finance minister Daim Zainuddin was charged in a Kuala Lumpur court on Tuesday over allegations that she failed to declare shareholdings to anti-corruption investigators, in the latest escalation of a long-running probe into the wealth of one of the country’s most prominent political families. The case against Asnida Abdul Daim is part of the investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into assets linked to her father, a two-time finance... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349239/malaysias-op-godfather-probe-reaches-daims-daughter-asnida-pleads-not-guilty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3349239/malaysias-op-godfather-probe-reaches-daims-daughter-asnida-pleads-not-guilty?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:10:16 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau A defamation lawsuit filed by Singapore cabinet ministers K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng against financial news outlet Bloomberg on Tuesday opened with heated exchanges over an article that mentioned their personal property transactions. According to statements of claim filed in the High Court, Shanmugam, who is coordinating minister for national security, and Tan, who is manpower minister, said parts of the article, titled “Singapore mansion deals are increasingly shrouded in secrecy”, were... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349204/singapore-ministers-defamation-suit-against-bloomberg-property-article-starts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349204/singapore-ministers-defamation-suit-against-bloomberg-property-article-starts?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 02:07:27 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam has said he wished the United States had kept controversial blogger and child sex convict Amos Yee, warning that foreign media and rights advocates have mistaken a repeat offender, who was deported back to the city state, for a free-speech icon. Yee, who is listed on a US Department of Homeland Security website as among the “worst of the worst criminal aliens” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested, was deported from the US on March 19... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349183/singapores-shanmugam-deported-blogger-amos-yee-i-wish-americans-had-kept-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349183/singapores-shanmugam-deported-blogger-amos-yee-i-wish-americans-had-kept-him?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:20:26 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Singapore police have confirmed that a body recovered from the sea off the Indonesian island of Karimun is that of a 37-year-old man who has been missing since March 27 after a collision between two boats. The police said on Sunday that Indonesian authorities had found the body of Chua Muhammad Syafidi floating in the sea off the island to the southwest of Singapore at about 3pm on March 30, according to The Straits Times. “The body, believed to be the missing person from the collision between a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349121/singapore-police-say-body-found-missing-man-boat-collision?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3349121/singapore-police-say-body-found-missing-man-boat-collision?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 04:48:58 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The day that Taiki Hirokawa stabbed his former girlfriend to death in a Pokemon store in Tokyo had started like any other, his mother told police. She and her son had breakfast together and nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Hours later, security camera footage caught 26-year-old Hirokawa walking straight into the store, pulling out a knife, going behind the counter where Moe Harukawa, 21, was serving customers, and repeatedly slashing her in the neck and chest before turning the knife on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348976/japans-knife-crime-wave-lays-bare-tragic-cost-youth-mental-burnout?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348976/japans-knife-crime-wave-lays-bare-tragic-cost-youth-mental-burnout?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Malaysia has given the family of missing pastor Raymond Koh access to a long-classified government report after dropping a legal challenge, but questions remain unanswered over his case, according to rights groups and lawyers. The situation surrounding Koh has revived memories of other Malaysians who are believed to be victims of enforced disappearances in the country. Koh has not been seen after the then 62-year-old was abducted in broad daylight in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, on February 13,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348987/malaysia-drops-appeal-abducted-activists-case-family-still-seeks-answers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348987/malaysia-drops-appeal-abducted-activists-case-family-still-seeks-answers?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:41:39 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A New Zealand doctor has sent the US embassy in Wellington an invoice for his clinic’s fuel bills, saying that President Donald Trump and his administration should take responsibility for starting a war that has sent oil prices spiralling. Shane Dunphy asked the embassy to reimburse him for the NZ$2,790.95 (US$1,600) in petrol vouchers he gave staff at Onslow Medical Centre in the capital so that they could travel to work, The Guardian newspaper reported. “Because of the current fuel crisis,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348977/new-zealand-doctor-bills-us-embassy-rising-fuel-costs-payment-expected-within-7-days?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348977/new-zealand-doctor-bills-us-embassy-rising-fuel-costs-payment-expected-within-7-days?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:25:40 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof An Indonesian woman who spent nearly 15 years on death row in a Malaysian prison for drug trafficking has returned home after receiving clemency, in a case rights groups say highlights the exploitation of poor migrant women in cross-border drug operations. Ani Anggraeni, also known as Asih, boarded a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta late on Thursday after being freed from custody. In a video message shared with This Week in Asia while en route, the 66-year-old said she was still struggling to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348886/indonesian-grandmother-freed-malaysian-death-row-returns-home-feels-unreal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348886/indonesian-grandmother-freed-malaysian-death-row-returns-home-feels-unreal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 04:49:18 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A Malaysian minister visited and provided financial aid to the widow of a motorcyclist who was killed in a drink-driving accident that threatened to inflame racial tensions in the country. Transport Minister Anthony Loke visited the family of the late Amirul Hafiz Omar, 33, on Sunday, accompanied by Road Transport Department Director General Aedy Fadly Ramli. He gave Amirul’s 32-year-old widow, Nor Nadia Abdul Majid, money from his own pocket to help the family with expenses. “However, no amount... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348794/malaysian-minister-offers-personal-aid-family-man-killed-drink-driving-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348794/malaysian-minister-offers-personal-aid-family-man-killed-drink-driving-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 08:30:25 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof A parking dispute in Kuala Lumpur has expanded into a wider debate over entitlement, public humiliation and online bullying in Malaysia, after a woman who damaged a car blocking her own issued a public apology that many said looked coerced. The row began on Tuesday in Wangsa Maju, a densely populated suburb of the Malaysian capital, where videos shared on Threads showed a woman unable to reverse out of her parking spot after a red Perodua Ativa was left double-parked behind her car for about an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348751/malaysian-womans-apology-damaging-double-parked-car-triggers-outcry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348751/malaysian-womans-apology-damaging-double-parked-car-triggers-outcry?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 04:16:48 +0000 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar The firing of an Indonesian immigration officer at a Batam seaport, following reports of extortion of foreign tourists, has raised questions about the prevalence of such practices across the country’s entry points. Batam, in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province, is a popular destination for visitors from nearby Singapore as it boasts scenic beaches an hour’s ferry ride from the city state. The island’s appeal has recently been marred by allegations of extortion by immigration officers at Batam... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348544/extortion-widespread-indonesias-entry-points-officers-firing-sparks-concern?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348544/extortion-widespread-indonesias-entry-points-officers-firing-sparks-concern?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 09:40:54 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran A Filipino singer’s Golden Buzzer moment on Britain’s Got Talent has quickly become a fresh rallying point for Southeast Asian pride under the #SEAblings banner, as audiences in the region increasingly champion one another’s artists on the global stage. Matty Juniosa, a 27-year-old from the Philippines, drew a standing ovation after performing Prince’s “Purple Rain” on the British television competition on Sunday, earning the coveted Golden Buzzer from acerbic judge Simon Cowell and a direct... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3348538/filipino-singer-matty-juniosas-golden-buzzer-win-stokes-seablings-southeast-asian-pride?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3348538/filipino-singer-matty-juniosas-golden-buzzer-win-stokes-seablings-southeast-asian-pride?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 09:31:22 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof For years, Malaysians watched singer-actress Bella Astillah’s heartbreak unfold in public. Her tribulations – a troubled marriage, cheating scandal and very public split – struck a chord with many, underscoring the stigma that divorced women face in a conservative Muslim-majority society. When lawmaker Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, 33, proposed to her – first on Mount Kinabalu and later at a formal engagement ceremony in Kuala Lumpur – it resonated with many Malaysians who felt Bella was... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348466/bella-astillah-and-syed-saddiqs-new-chapter-captivates-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348466/bella-astillah-and-syed-saddiqs-new-chapter-captivates-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 02:16:59 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof A horrific road crash in Malaysia’s port city of Klang that left a motorcyclist dead on Sunday has spiralled into racially charged commentary after initially being treated as a drink-driving case. Police said the crash happened at about 11.40am on Jalan Raya Barat, when an allegedly speeding Honda City driven by a local man in his twenties overtook several vehicles, crossed into the opposite lane and struck a motorcycle coming from the other direction. The rider, a local man in his thirties, was... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348378/drink-driving-death-malaysia-spirals-race-baiting-inflames-ethnic-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348378/drink-driving-death-malaysia-spirals-race-baiting-inflames-ethnic-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:30:26 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones A Thai undertaker’s extreme mission to prove he was not hoarding fuel went viral over the weekend after he brought a coffin containing a body to a petrol station to convince attendants the extra fuel he needed was for cremation, not black market resale. Thais have been pressed into energy-saving mode by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has throttled oil and gas supplies to much of Asia. Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul insists there is enough fuel for over three months, while the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348358/thai-undertaker-brings-corpse-petrol-station-prove-fuel-need?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348358/thai-undertaker-brings-corpse-petrol-station-prove-fuel-need?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:50:34 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong The death of one of South Korea’s most notorious police officers, known for his torture methods on prisoners, has revived painful memories of human rights abuses during the country’s era of military-backed authoritarian rule. Lee Geun-an, dubbed the “torture expert”, succumbed to multiple organ failure on Thursday at the age of 88. He had faced lifetime criticism for never expressing remorse and referring to himself as a “patriot”, once comparing his interrogation methods to “art”. Survivors of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348204/death-south-korean-torture-expert-reopens-authoritarian-era-wounds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348204/death-south-korean-torture-expert-reopens-authoritarian-era-wounds?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 01:30:10 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Even as the Philippines thrashes through the throes of an energy crisis born of the Iran war, Filipinos themselves largely appear uninterested in blaming the man who started it. Instead of Donald Trump, public ire has instead coalesced around Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and his administration for failing to quell soaring prices. Fuel costs have rocketed across the archipelago since the United States and Israel first struck Iran on February 28, following the near-total closure of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348025/trump-stays-popular-philippines-despite-iran-war-fuel-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3348025/trump-stays-popular-philippines-despite-iran-war-fuel-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 12:32:13 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof A Malaysian minister on Wednesday denied he was the unnamed politician at the centre of fresh allegations in the country’s so-called corporate mafia controversy, amid wide speculation over the individual’s identity. Ramanan Ramakrishnan, human resource minister, and vice-president of the ruling People’s Justice Party (PKR), rejected claims he had taken 9.5 million ringgit (US$2.4 million) in exchange for “helping resolve” the alleged matter. The controversy gained traction following news reports... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347884/minister-caught-malaysias-corporate-mafia-saga-denies-us24-million-bribe-claim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347884/minister-caught-malaysias-corporate-mafia-saga-denies-us24-million-bribe-claim?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 11:15:52 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A Chinese national accused of raping and strangling a woman during a violent home invasion appeared in a New Zealand court on Wednesday to face charges, seven months after he was extradited from Singapore. Zhang Xuesong reportedly fled to China following the alleged March 2024 Auckland break-in, complicating efforts to arrest him as no extradition treaty exists between the two countries. The 41-year-old subsequently visited Singapore, where he was returned to New Zealand last September. Zhang,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347853/man-extradited-singapore-new-zealand-faces-rape-home-invasion-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347853/man-extradited-singapore-new-zealand-faces-rape-home-invasion-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 08:40:19 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong A Philippine prison was supposed to contain Park Wang-yeol. Instead, according to South Korean investigators, it became his office from which an alleged drug trafficking empire was run, complete with a “VIP” lifestyle, a Telegram alias and a girlfriend summoned to his cell on demand. On Wednesday, after nine years of failed extradition attempts, that arrangement finally came to an end. Bearded, silent and dressed in casual clothing, the 48-year-old arrived at Incheon International Airport near... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347820/south-korean-sugar-cane-killer-extradited-philippines-over-drug-empire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347820/south-korean-sugar-cane-killer-extradited-philippines-over-drug-empire?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 06:29:22 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow A state-sponsored forced labour programme that has escalated in recent years generates up to US$500 million annually for North Korea, according to a report by a global rights group. The report also warns that workers are trapped in “brutal” conditions where they are subjected to “control, abuse and coercion”. Published on Wednesday by Global Rights Compliance – an international human rights foundation – the report contains first-hand testimonies from North Koreans exploited in the programme and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347778/rights-group-exposes-north-koreas-forced-labour-scheme-reaps-us500-million-annually?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347778/rights-group-exposes-north-koreas-forced-labour-scheme-reaps-us500-million-annually?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:03:29 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele In a quiet suburb of the Malaysian city of Klang, Farouk* scrolls through his phone, replaying videos of a toddler learning to walk, laugh and reach out to steady himself – milestone moments of a son whom he is forced to love through a screen. “He is now two years old, but I have never held him,” the 26-year-old Rohingya man said. “I have only seen him twice from afar at the gate.” Farouk’s wife gave birth in a Malaysian immigration detention centre a day after the family were arrested in early... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347559/malaysias-rohingya-spend-another-eid-torn-their-families?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347559/malaysias-rohingya-spend-another-eid-torn-their-families?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysian police are on a hunt for thieves who stole 30 urns from a funeral home in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan, in a bizarre case with possible links to a cross-border criminal group holding the ashes of deceased for ransom. The Xiao En memorial park reported the incident in late February, when it discovered that at least 15 urns had gone missing from a columbarium. Police later revised the figure to 30. The cemetery groundsmen received a WhatsApp call from a foreign-registered number... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347126/funeral-urns-stolen-ransom-malaysia-trigger-police-hunt-cross-border-gang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347126/funeral-urns-stolen-ransom-malaysia-trigger-police-hunt-cross-border-gang?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 06:10:04 +0000 Alan Robles Alan Robles Philippine police have foiled a school shooting and rescued seven students radicalised by “foreigners” online to stage an attack in Laguna province near Manila, amid growing calls for stronger parental safeguards against digital threats. Officers rounded up the suspects – five boys and two girls, aged 12 to 17 – on February 2 after receiving a tip-off about an alleged plot they intended to carry out a fortnight later, the Philippine Star reported. The teens, who were turned over to social... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347111/philippine-police-thwart-roblox-linked-school-shooting-plot-7-teens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347111/philippine-police-thwart-roblox-linked-school-shooting-plot-7-teens?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:22:21 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Distrust in Australian police among Queensland’s Indian diaspora is set to deepen after an officer was caught on body camera hurling expletives at an Uber driver, leading the victim to sue the force in federal court. The officer said, “f*****g Indians, mate, they are a bunch of f*****g perverts” to a colleague in 2023, before they charged the man with committing an indecent act for allegedly masturbating in public, court records showed. A court later quashed the charges because two witnesses... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347022/australian-police-officers-pervert-remark-against-indian-driver-sparks-outrage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347022/australian-police-officers-pervert-remark-against-indian-driver-sparks-outrage?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 08:50:45 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Shigeaki Mori, the Japanese atomic bomb survivor whose hug with then US president Barack Obama at a 2016 remembrance event in Hiroshima went viral globally, has died at the age of 88, just days after warning that the world seems on the brink of another nuclear catastrophe. Tributes have been coming in since Mori died in Hiroshima on Saturday, with many pointing out that as well as being a survivor of the world’s first atomic weapon, he was also a keen amateur historian who attracted attention in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346998/japanese-atomic-bomb-survivor-who-hugged-obama-hiroshima-dies-88?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346998/japanese-atomic-bomb-survivor-who-hugged-obama-hiroshima-dies-88?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 07:12:20 +0000 Bibek Bhandari Bibek Bhandari Nepal’s prime minister-in-waiting came to power on a promise of change. Now he faces the monumental challenge of taking on a system weighed down by corruption and poor governance while meeting the towering expectations of the millions who backed him and his anti-establishment party. Balendra Shah – a rapper, engineer and former mayor of Kathmandu popularly known as Balen – handily defeated former prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli in the election on March 5, with his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346981/nepal-voted-change-can-its-rapper-engineer-pm-deliver?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346981/nepal-voted-change-can-its-rapper-engineer-pm-deliver?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 05:40:30 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele The arrest of a 17-year-old stateless teenager during a school outing to buy Eid clothes at a Sabah mall for allegedly failing to show valid residence papers, has returned scrutiny to Malaysia’s treatment of undocumented people. Niko Ansboy, a student at Borneo Komrad, an alternative school for stateless children, was waiting outside a store during a school trip to the 1Borneo Hypermall when police detained him on Sunday. He was stopped by officers patrolling after the Kota Kinabalu District... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346779/arrest-stateless-teen-malaysia-highlights-plight-sabahs-1-million-non-citizens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346779/arrest-stateless-teen-malaysia-highlights-plight-sabahs-1-million-non-citizens?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:49:26 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles The Philippines ranks among Asia’s most gender-equal societies by several international measures. Yet ask Filipino women where they truly belong and most will still tell you: at home. A new survey has found that 83 per cent of Filipino women agree “being a housewife is just as fulfilling as working for pay”, up from 70 per cent when the same question was posed in 1994. The findings, released by independent pollster Social Weather Stations earlier in March to coincide with National Women’s Month,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3346760/most-filipino-women-think-womans-place-home-survey-finds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3346760/most-filipino-women-think-womans-place-home-survey-finds?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 10:30:11 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Lingan bin Man pulls up to the fishing jetty in the early afternoon, guiding his small boat towards a narrow strip of wooden planks as waves crash against the dock. On board are his wife and toddler. Together, the Malaysian family inspects the day’s catch: 2kg (4.4lbs) of clams after three hours at sea. “I can sell this for US$7,” the 52-year-old said. For fishermen in Kampung Sungai Kurau, a village on Pulau Carey, an island in Selangor state, this has become the new normal. Members of the Mah... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3346725/malaysias-us6-billion-megaport-imperils-mah-meri-way-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3346725/malaysias-us6-billion-megaport-imperils-mah-meri-way-life?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 09:00:12 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran For many of those rescued from Southeast Asia’s scam compounds, escape is not the end of the ordeal. They leave behind the locked gates, surveillance and violence, but often return home carrying injuries, trauma and the stigma of having been forced to scam others. Just as difficult is what comes next: trying to explain the experience to the people waiting for them. “Some of them are not able to tell their family members or their community what has happened,” said human rights advocate Andrey... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346532/southeast-asias-scam-compound-survivors-suffer-stigma-and-silence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346532/southeast-asias-scam-compound-survivors-suffer-stigma-and-silence?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji When the alert arrives on his phone, Yashwant Deshmukh knows exactly what to do. The Dubai-based political analyst moves away from the windows, waits for the second message confirming the missile has been intercepted, and then goes back to work. “It has become a drill,” he said. For the roughly 9 million Indians living and working across the Gulf, the war on Iran has shattered one of the region’s most durable illusions: that cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama would remain apart from... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346524/iran-war-fallout-puts-9-million-indian-workers-line-fire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346524/iran-war-fallout-puts-9-million-indian-workers-line-fire?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 08:00:12 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Two votes. That was the margin by which Malaysia’s prime minister, a man with a supermajority in the 222-seat lower house, failed to pass a bill his own coalition had spent weeks publicly championing. After the numbers were read out, the cameras cut to Anwar Ibrahim. He was mid-laugh, chatting with his deputy. The bill, defeated on March 2, was supposed to be a quick win – a term-limit proposal capping any prime minister at two terms or 10 years in office, chosen precisely because it was... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346522/graft-and-gridlock-anwars-malaysia-reformist-cracks-widen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3346522/graft-and-gridlock-anwars-malaysia-reformist-cracks-widen?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 02:30:08 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji India’s Supreme Court has allowed the parents of a 31-year-old man to withdraw life-sustaining treatment after more than a decade in a vegetative state, a ruling experts say could shape how the country implements its legal framework for passive euthanasia. The decision in the case of Harish Rana is widely seen as one of the clearest real-world applications of the principle that patients have a right to die with dignity under India’s constitution. Rana, an engineering student, had been in a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3346540/indian-man-13-year-vegetative-state-allowed-die-supreme-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3346540/indian-man-13-year-vegetative-state-allowed-die-supreme-court?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:23:40 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall They were killed by American bombs. They were held at gunpoint by Japanese guards who fired indiscriminately into the crowded holds and when the ship finally went down, many were left to drown. Eight decades later, the United States is coming back for them. Hundreds perished when the Japanese “hell ship” Oryoku Maru was sunk in Subic Bay in December 1944. Now, the Pentagon has launched a multi-year mission in waters off the Philippines to retrieve their remains. As many as 250 Americans are... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346424/us-returns-wwii-dead-japans-hell-ship-tomb-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346424/us-returns-wwii-dead-japans-hell-ship-tomb-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 02:30:08 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele The Iranian women’s national football team arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday after leaving Australia, where several members of the delegation had sought asylum, as a viral social media video fuelled unverified claims that some players might want to remain in the Southeast Asian country. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Kuala Lumpur-based governing body for Asian football, confirmed the team was currently staying at a hotel in the Malaysian capital while onward travel arrangements were... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346386/iranian-womens-football-team-lands-malaysia-video-fuels-fresh-asylum-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346386/iranian-womens-football-team-lands-malaysia-video-fuels-fresh-asylum-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:59:49 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has ordered an investigation after watching a viral video showing an employee from the Migrant Workers Office in Bahrain telling off overseas Filipino workers (OFW) stranded in the kingdom due to the escalating Iran war. “The president was not pleased with this. He became angry on behalf of our OFWs because of the mistreatment by some public servants,” the presidential palace’s press officer Claire Castro said, according to the Inquirer on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346328/philippines-marcos-angry-over-mistreatment-bahrain-based-ofws-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346328/philippines-marcos-angry-over-mistreatment-bahrain-based-ofws-official?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:54:59 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Takato Ishida, the 36-year-old governor of Fukui, has sparked a fresh wave of online attention after new Instagram posts from his prefectural assembly revived the fascination that followed Ishida’s election earlier this year. Many of the reactions have focused less on policy than on Japan’s youngest sitting prefectural leader, with social media users repeatedly praising his appearance and describing him as unusually “handsome” for a politician. The attention first surged shortly after Ishida... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346240/japans-so-handsome-youngest-governor-36-sets-social-media-abuzz-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346240/japans-so-handsome-youngest-governor-36-sets-social-media-abuzz-again?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 11:01:26 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s corruption trial opened in Kuala Lumpur on Monday with a courtroom fight over the admissibility of TikTok videos, which prosecutors hope will link millions of ringgit in illicit funds to his Bersatu party. Among the most keenly observed cases involving Malaysia’s political elite in years, the proceedings come three years after Muhyiddin was first charged in connection with projects under his administration’s Covid-19 recovery efforts. Malaysian... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346110/muhyiddins-corruption-trial-opens-fight-over-tiktok-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346110/muhyiddins-corruption-trial-opens-fight-over-tiktok-malaysia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 09:49:38 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A Bangladeshi man who spent over three years on bail in Malaysia fighting local child pornography charges has been spirited to Alaska by the FBI to face what prosecutors describe as one of the most prolific child exploitation cases in US history. Zobaidul Amin, 28, was brought from Malaysia to the United States last Wednesday and made his initial appearance in a federal court in Anchorage the following day, where he pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts, according to the US Department of Justice... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346092/malaysia-had-him-bail-child-abuse-us-had-other-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346092/malaysia-had-him-bail-child-abuse-us-had-other-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 08:29:01 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Warissara* survived the crash. It was the next four hours that killed her. The 21-year-old had been riding home from her restaurant job on the night of February 20 last year, caught in heavy rain on a slick Bangkok road, when she came off her motorbike. Emergency responders who arrived at the scene found only a few visible scratches – and detected the smell of alcohol. She had no identification on her. The call was made: send her to the police station, not the hospital. She arrived at... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3346046/mistaken-drunks-left-die-thailands-police-have-deadly-blind-spot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3346046/mistaken-drunks-left-die-thailands-police-have-deadly-blind-spot?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:23:09 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is facing a fresh political test after the family of late former finance minister Daim Zainuddin sued his government over claims they were involved in a plot to topple the administration. The legal challenge is turning what began as a police investigation into a wider debate over whether Anwar’s reformist government is applying its principles consistently or selectively. Critics say the controversy risks complicating one of Anwar’s central claims since... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345982/malaysia-anwars-reformist-image-risk-daim-family-sues-over-zionist-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345982/malaysia-anwars-reformist-image-risk-daim-family-sues-over-zionist-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:29:58 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele A narrow lane behind Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, once home to one of the Malaysian capital’s earliest theatre scenes, is being given a second life. For decades, the street now known as Jalan Sang Guna faded into the background, its ageing shopfronts and infrastructure deteriorating as pedestrians drifted towards the brighter stretches of nearby Petaling Street, leaving the passage a short cut rather than a destination. Persistent drainage failures meant the lane was prone to flooding during heavy... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3345875/revived-alley-kuala-lumpurs-chinatown-tests-balance-between-heritage-and-renewal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3345875/revived-alley-kuala-lumpurs-chinatown-tests-balance-between-heritage-and-renewal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau When Joshua Tan turned up to Chinese New Year dinner last month, he hadn’t expected to spend the evening defending his career. He was 27 and freshly employed as a junior software engineer in Singapore. The questions from relatives were pointed: is your job safe? Can’t the computer just do it? It was an awkward conversation, equal parts interrogation and familial concern. But Tan knew the anxiety behind the questions was real. Not so long ago, he and his classmates had been so sought-after by... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3345747/singapores-workers-brace-ai-disruption-its-inevitable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3345747/singapores-workers-brace-ai-disruption-its-inevitable?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:09 +0000