https://www.scmp.com/rss/328488/feed en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk The refund is small – 10 Singapore cents (8 US cents) per bottle – for each return under Singapore’s Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS). But the uproar is big. Since BCRS reverse vending machines became fully operational on October 1, Singapore’s social media has been flooded with videos and posts criticising people for raiding bins and holding up others by returning containers by the bag-load. A recent controversy was sparked by a post on October 28 showing two town council workers... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3373303/can-or-not-2-migrant-workers-singapore-using-recycling-machine-sparks-debate https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3373303/can-or-not-2-migrant-workers-singapore-using-recycling-machine-sparks-debate Wed, 04 Nov 2026 13:45:38 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Organisers of Malaysia’s first Hyrox fitness competition agreed on Wednesday to exclude the event from a partnership with beer brand Carlsberg after Muslim entrants threatened to pull out and authorities warned they would withhold approval over the alcohol sponsorship. The tie-up had angered some participants who said it conflicted with both their faith and the event’s promotion of fitness, highlighting tensions over alcohol marketing in Muslim-majority Malaysia. “We understand why this has... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3373229/malaysias-debut-hyrox-event-jeopardy-over-beer-sponsorship https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3373229/malaysias-debut-hyrox-event-jeopardy-over-beer-sponsorship Wed, 04 Nov 2026 06:25:17 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan For over three decades, Dolores Balladares Pelaez has lived and worked in Hong Kong without once returning to the Philippines for Undas, the annual two-day observance honouring the dead. This year, she is arranging prayers from afar for her late father and four siblings, but will once again miss the gathering back home. On Thursday morning, the 56-year-old domestic helper called her mother and niece in Laguna province to discuss hiring a prayer leader to visit the family home. Her sisters-in-law... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372721/far-home-close-grief-why-millions-filipino-migrants-dread-undas https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372721/far-home-close-grief-why-millions-filipino-migrants-dread-undas Sun, 01 Nov 2026 04:00:13 +0000 David D. Lee David D. Lee A little-known South Korean music act has climbed the charts with a viral hit that has caught listeners off guard – not just for its sudden popularity, but because its vocals were generated entirely by artificial intelligence. Meomuru’s single, “Have You Become the Adult You Dreamed Of?”, climbed to No 2 on Melon’s Top 100 – South Korea’s flagship streaming chart – earlier this week. The track’s popularity has turned Meomuru into one of the country’s most-talked-about acts. The song was created... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372767/south-koreas-latest-chart-sensation-has-secret-singer-isnt-human https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372767/south-koreas-latest-chart-sensation-has-secret-singer-isnt-human Sun, 01 Nov 2026 02:00:14 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall A village that sent hundreds of men to one of imperial Japan’s most notorious wartime units is being demolished to make way for a runway at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Unit 731 carried out lethal experiments on captives, many of them Chinese, to develop biological weapons during the second world war. Around 300 of its roughly 3,000 personnel came from Kamo, a neighbourhood in Shibayama town, Chiba prefecture, east of the capital. Its founder and commander, Lieutenant General Shiro... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372753/dark-past-japans-unit-731-buried-under-airport-expansion https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372753/dark-past-japans-unit-731-buried-under-airport-expansion Sat, 31 Oct 2026 01:30:07 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has been urged by critics to play the latest instalment in the blockbuster Call of Duty video game franchise to better appreciate the need for defences against an invasion by the North. The call from opposition lawmakers follows the release on Friday of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, a first-person shooter depicting a full-scale surprise attack by North Korea on the South. Players fight North Korean troops as Park Hyun-jun, a private in the South Korean... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372272/south-koreas-president-urged-play-call-duty-war-wake-call https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372272/south-koreas-president-urged-play-call-duty-war-wake-call Tue, 27 Oct 2026 06:58:14 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Filipinos split on Marcos’ sea handling amid row over Chinese envoy’s remarks Filipinos are almost evenly divided over the Marcos administration’s handling of the maritime dispute with China, even as nearly three in four favour diplomacy over confrontation, according to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3372227/why-paper-straws-are-worse-plastic-japans-silver-divorce-rise-7-asia-highlights https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3372227/why-paper-straws-are-worse-plastic-japans-silver-divorce-rise-7-asia-highlights Tue, 27 Oct 2026 04:30:07 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele The death of a 21-year-old delivery rider at an underground gig in Malaysia, now being investigated as murder, has highlighted concerns over crowd safety and regulatory flaws in the country’s independent live music scene, industry players say. Police reclassified the case on Sunday, four days after the man died from head injuries sustained at the gig in the southern state of Melaka, where the event was reportedly held without the necessary permits and local authority approval. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372143/suspected-murder-man-malaysian-underground-gig-raises-safety-concerns https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3372143/suspected-murder-man-malaysian-underground-gig-raises-safety-concerns Mon, 26 Oct 2026 06:53:49 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran At this time of year, Fatima Ramos would normally be preparing her balikbayan boxes. Overseas Filipinos typically fill these boxes with gifts, clothes, food and household items to send to their loved ones back home in the Philippines for Christmas. Ramos has previously sent the tax-exempt parcels to her family and Philippine charity organisations from Abu Dhabi, where she is a domestic worker. Now back in the Philippines, Ramos is seeking answers about the parcels she sent last year, some of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371982/overseas-filipinos-feel-heartache-over-missing-parcels-loved-ones-demand-answers https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371982/overseas-filipinos-feel-heartache-over-missing-parcels-loved-ones-demand-answers Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:00:20 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s centuries-old festivals are facing renewed scrutiny after a series of fatal accidents in recent weeks, raising questions over how communities can preserve their cultural traditions without putting lives at risk. Three people have been killed and more than a dozen injured in accidents at autumn festivals across the country in recent weeks. Meanwhile, organisers of another major festival, where two men died in February, have cancelled next year’s event, citing public safety concerns. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371913/danger-death-and-devotion-japans-festivals-face-crisis-after-fatal-accidents https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371913/danger-death-and-devotion-japans-festivals-face-crisis-after-fatal-accidents Sat, 24 Oct 2026 01:30:16 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan Singapore’s recent parliamentary debate over primary school admissions has put a familiar parental strategy in the city state under the spotlight – parents moving house to improve their children’s chances of getting into popular schools. Speaking with This Week in Asia, property agents say some families in Singapore have been approaching them with the intention of buying or renting particular residences at least two years before their children’s primary school admission. Living close to a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371554/southeast-asian-families-tying-house-move-top-schools-spur-privilege-worries https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371554/southeast-asian-families-tying-house-move-top-schools-spur-privilege-worries Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:24 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Calls to boycott a Malaysian Chinese-owned coffee-shop chain over its omission of Malay text from its menu have reignited arguments over race and national identity, as political parties jostle to court the country’s majority ethnic group ahead of the next general election. The Oriental Kopi boycott marks the latest saga fuelling ethnic grievances that politicians have been seen to capitalise on by portraying themselves as defenders of Malay identity. It comes ahead of the November 14 election in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371474/how-malaysian-coffee-shop-menu-became-latest-political-battleground https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371474/how-malaysian-coffee-shop-menu-became-latest-political-battleground Tue, 20 Oct 2026 07:00:35 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong As South Korea seeks to attract more visitors to tap into the global popularity of K-pop, a lawmaker has warned that taxi overcharging of foreign tourists could tarnish the country’s image, with official figures pointing to a perceived lack of punishment against offenders. Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Mo Gyeong-jong cited Seoul city government data on Sunday showing only 204 of 6,481 complaints of taxi overcharging involving foreign tourists between 2021 and August this year resulted in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371437/south-koreas-seoul-wants-put-brakes-taxi-overcharging https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371437/south-koreas-seoul-wants-put-brakes-taxi-overcharging Tue, 20 Oct 2026 01:30:08 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau Stored in a climate-controlled environment within what is commonly known as the “Fort Knox of Singapore” rests the skull of a triceratops which once roamed the Earth 66 million years ago. The jagged edges of its frill and horns are largely intact, and according to its owner, Chaw Wei Yang, 26, it is one of the most complete triceratops skull fossils ever found. Chaw, who runs Fine Art Storage Services (FASS) located inside Le Freeport, formerly known as Singapore Freeport, along with his... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371164/dino-mite-treasures-inside-singapores-fort-knox-storing-playthings-ultra-rich https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371164/dino-mite-treasures-inside-singapores-fort-knox-storing-playthings-ultra-rich Sun, 18 Oct 2026 02:00:07 +0000 Aisyah Llewellyn Aisyah Llewellyn Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga each chose Singapore as their only Southeast Asian stop on recent world tours. Fellow American singer Olivia Rodrigo played Thailand and the Philippines, but likewise skipped Indonesia. Next weekend, however, Jakarta is finally getting the big international headline act it has been craving – in the form of Ye. The controversial American rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, is set to play Indonesia’s capital next Saturday, marking the only Southeast Asian appearance on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371180/shunned-west-ye-hands-indonesia-rare-mega-tour-coup https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371180/shunned-west-ye-hands-indonesia-rare-mega-tour-coup Sat, 17 Oct 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Airline employees in Japan are experiencing a surge in abuse incidents from customers linked to delays or cancellations of flights or from being refused boarding due to late check-in, according to a survey. Some 30 per cent of ground staff or cabin crew reported bearing the brunt of passengers’ anger over such matters in the past year, according to the survey by the Japan Federation of Aviation Industry Unions released last month, rising from 7 per cent in its previous survey in 2023. In... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371187/air-rage-incidents-japan-surge-led-late-check-flashpoint https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371187/air-rage-incidents-japan-surge-led-late-check-flashpoint Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:00:13 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Digangana Mukherjee, a mother of a six-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, has banned television at her home in the Indian city of Mysore because she does not want her children to become addicted to watching content on screen. A year ago, when her son’s school started using a smart classroom board that streamed online content, she and her husband decided to enrol him in a school where teachers used chalk on a slate board, and the pace of lessons was slower. Now, she is happy that the Indian... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371153/indias-proposed-social-media-ban-under-18s-wins-parents-backing https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3371153/indias-proposed-social-media-ban-under-18s-wins-parents-backing Fri, 16 Oct 2026 10:00:13 +0000 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar A debate over tipping culture has erupted across the Indonesian resort island of Bali and beyond, triggered by a politician’s unfavourable comparison of domestic and foreign tourists. In a social media video, I Gusti Arya Wedakarna urged domestic tourists to “normalise giving tips in touristy places”, which he said was part of the island’s “ethics”. “Perhaps that’s the psychological reason why Balinese people are more excited about serving foreigners,” said Wedakarna, an Indonesian Regional... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370887/bali-tipping-row-call-indonesian-tourists-pay-triggers-backlash https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370887/bali-tipping-row-call-indonesian-tourists-pay-triggers-backlash Wed, 14 Oct 2026 09:57:27 +0000 Kolette Lim Kolette Lim For Singaporean civil servant Clare*, finding a suitable lifelong partner has been an uphill battle. Swiping on dating apps soon became a chore after multiple unsuccessful first dates, so when the government launched its own platform, the 32-year-old was all for it. “It’s like: ‘Why not?’, and I think it does have a few screening procedures so it might save you some trouble like having to deal with impersonators or people who do not match with their advertised profiles,” she said. Singapore... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370656/can-singapore-engineer-love-dating-apps-public-service-private-romance https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370656/can-singapore-engineer-love-dating-apps-public-service-private-romance Tue, 13 Oct 2026 01:55:26 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan Growing up in a Malay family in Singapore, Hafeez Hassan feared dogs. He never expected to mourn one like a sibling. “Maybe that is what I have been grieving all along … The experience of loving something that I was taught I was not supposed to love,” he said. Even as an adult, walking his former partner’s husky Pieces in public made Hafeez anxious that a relative might see him, or that he might be judged for being close to an animal whose saliva and waste are regarded as ritually impure by many... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370372/hidden-heartbreak-losing-pet-singapore-and-malaysia https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370372/hidden-heartbreak-losing-pet-singapore-and-malaysia Sat, 10 Oct 2026 04:00:18 +0000 David D. Lee David D. Lee A decade after the shutdown of Soranet – a sprawling online hub for secretly filmed and non-consensual sexual videos that became a symbol of South Korea’s digital sex-crime crisis – the country is still struggling to stamp out similar networks and copycat sites that have emerged in its wake. Their prevalence reflects the difficulties of deterring such illegal activities, policing the online space and changing societal attitudes towards women. Last month, a man was detained over an alleged... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370222/south-korea-struggles-curb-sexual-exploitation-sites-10-years-after-soranet-scandal https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370222/south-korea-struggles-curb-sexual-exploitation-sites-10-years-after-soranet-scandal Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:23 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Bhavya Gupta was a Grade 4 student when the 2012 horrific gang rape and murder of a medical college intern who was on a private bus in New Delhi, which sparked nationwide outrage and led to the execution of four attackers, prompted her teacher to mention the case in class to raise awareness about women’s safety. “My teacher gathered all the girls in the classroom and told us about it, and after that our school uniform changed from skirts to pants. I also remember adults around me talking about... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370079/14-years-after-nirbhaya-gang-rape-horror-has-india-progressed-womens-safety https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3370079/14-years-after-nirbhaya-gang-rape-horror-has-india-progressed-womens-safety Wed, 07 Oct 2026 12:03:42 +0000 Joseph Sipalan Joseph Sipalan Malaysia was aflush with Formula One fever this weekend, rekindling talk of permanently bringing the race back to the Southeast Asian nation after a long hiatus – despite days of traffic chaos that left thousands of fans stranded for hours. More than 260,000 people flocked to Sepang International Circuit in Selangor state for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was originally meant to be held in April but had to be postponed and relocated away from the Persian Gulf island nation due to security... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369773/malaysia-eyes-permanent-f1-comeback-despite-travel-chaos-bahrain-gp https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369773/malaysia-eyes-permanent-f1-comeback-despite-travel-chaos-bahrain-gp Mon, 05 Oct 2026 07:08:26 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Final-year students invited to recruiters’ apartments for help with their applications. Coffee dates with alumni who promise to explain how the company works. Inappropriate interview questions about boyfriends, marriage plans and sex lives. For young women in Japan, looking for a job has long entailed submitting themselves to the skewed power dynamics of the recruitment process. And before Thursday, no official legal safeguards existed to protect these jobseekers from such... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369593/name-and-shame-japans-tame-answer-jobseeker-sex-harassment https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369593/name-and-shame-japans-tame-answer-jobseeker-sex-harassment Sun, 04 Oct 2026 01:30:14 +0000 David D. Lee David D. Lee Like many films released during Chuseok, South Korea’s national mid-autumn harvest festival, The Assassin(s) shot right to the top, selling more than a million tickets in its first four days. But the box-office success of the film about the 1974 assassination attempt on former president and military leader Park Chung-hee was quickly overshadowed by calls to halt screenings, as well as a police complaint against the film’s director and producers. Park loyalists and conservative politicians are... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369548/why-film-about-dictator-has-south-korea-war-itself https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369548/why-film-about-dictator-has-south-korea-war-itself Sat, 03 Oct 2026 01:30:13 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau When the time came to renew his certificate of entitlement (COE), Andrew Tan hit the brakes on coughing up an eye-watering S$112,000 (US$87,400) to keep his car on Singapore’s roads for another 10 years. Instead, the 49-year-old business consultant decided in May to go without a car for the first time in two decades. High COE prices, rising running costs and the hassle of parking and congestion are prompting more Singaporeans to reconsider car ownership, as the land-scarce city state expands... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3369591/going-car-lite-why-more-singaporeans-are-quitting-driving https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3369591/going-car-lite-why-more-singaporeans-are-quitting-driving Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:17 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau Singapore’s biggest crackdown so far on fake online reviews has exposed how businesses exploit the appeal of five-star ratings to game the system, with experts warning generative AI will make fake reviews more rampant and consumers need to be more discerning about what they read online. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) has taken action against 45 companies – including a funeral parlour, a law firm and an aesthetics clinic – after finding they bought reviews from a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369495/singapores-crackdown-fake-reviews-exposes-business-buying-social-proof https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369495/singapores-crackdown-fake-reviews-exposes-business-buying-social-proof Fri, 02 Oct 2026 01:30:18 +0000 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar Indonesia is pursuing plans to make public schools free at all levels, stretching from kindergarten to university, but mounting pressure on the state budget could hinder the government from pulling off the massive undertaking, analysts have said. President Prabowo Subianto summoned his ministers last week to discuss a plan to “accelerate the implementation of free education in public schools”, according to a statement released by cabinet secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya on September 23. “Free... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369356/indonesia-targets-free-public-schooling-amid-funding-concerns https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369356/indonesia-targets-free-public-schooling-amid-funding-concerns Wed, 30 Sep 2026 11:00:25 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Shivanjali Singh has worked hard to raise two healthy, athletic children in India, but worries about their ability to resist the lure of junk food constantly surrounding them. Her children, aged 14 and 10, are national-level skaters and have grown up on home-cooked food and drinks such as coconut water rather than fizzy drinks and crisps. Yet Singh, who lives in Noida in the National Capital Region, sees sugary drinks and unhealthy snacks everywhere from school surroundings to sports... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369325/can-india-curb-childhood-obesity-banning-junk-food-near-schools https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369325/can-india-curb-childhood-obesity-banning-junk-food-near-schools Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:35:27 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Kolette Lim Iman Muttaqin Yusof,Kolette Lim American rapper Macklemore lost his spot on British pop star Ed Sheeran’s US tour after speaking up for Palestinians, but in Malaysia it was Sheeran’s music which ended up being pulled from the airwaves. In neighbouring Singapore, British band Massive Attack faced a different kind of fallout, barred from returning after members displayed a Palestinian flag during a July concert. The contrasting cases highlight the competing pressures on foreign artists in Southeast Asia, where political... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369248/gaza-stage-concert-activism-meets-malaysia-singapore-red-lines https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369248/gaza-stage-concert-activism-meets-malaysia-singapore-red-lines Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:15 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Tens of thousands of people thronged Apple stores in India this month to snap up the newest iPhone models – the 18 Pro and Pro Max – but the frenzy has kicked off public debate in the country about affordability and consumer debt. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at 164,900 rupees (US$1,700) and goes up to 179,000 rupees, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at 179,900 rupees and maxes out at 329,900 rupees. Apple also unveiled the iPhone Duo, its first-ever folding smartphone, essentially setting a new... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369235/sell-family-jewels-latest-iphone-india-craze-dials-debate https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369235/sell-family-jewels-latest-iphone-india-craze-dials-debate Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:44:10 +0000 Resty Woro Yuniar Resty Woro Yuniar For 28-year-old Indonesian professional Evelyn Clarissa Siregar, asking strangers to help fund her MBA in Singapore was a gamble: she knew the request was unconventional but hoped putting her dream out in public might open a door. Instead, her appeal for more than S$100,000 (US$78,000) to fund her business programme at Singapore Management University (SMU) drew fierce online criticism, with some labelling her entitled and questioning her plans. “I never expected the backlash to become this big,”... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369210/singapore-or-bust-how-indonesian-students-crowdfunding-plea-shows-degree-desirability https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369210/singapore-or-bust-how-indonesian-students-crowdfunding-plea-shows-degree-desirability Tue, 29 Sep 2026 10:18:04 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran The Philippines has 20,000 teaching vacancies to fill, a budget hearing has revealed, with sector insiders warning that the gap signals a mounting education crisis. Those in the industry are calling for transparency in the teacher hiring process, including clear figures on budget allocation and positions filled amid problems of mismatch and improper targeting of job applicants. At a House of Representatives plenary session last week, Antonio Tinio from the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369126/philippines-struggles-fill-20000-teaching-jobs-we-are-facing-learning-crisis https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369126/philippines-struggles-fill-20000-teaching-jobs-we-are-facing-learning-crisis Tue, 29 Sep 2026 08:00:07 +0000 Kolette Lim Kolette Lim Singaporean Najwa Alhabshi remembers spending her teenage years poring over literary classics such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and George Orwell’s 1984. The books introduced her to ideologies, philosophies and the American dream while expanding her vocabulary. But as work commitments grew, the pages of her books started yellowing. Finding time to read became harder, and her smartphone screen eventually took over. “I think I just fell out of reading,” the 35-year-old tutor said.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369039/southeast-asias-falling-literacy-can-cash-and-gamification-fix-it https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3369039/southeast-asias-falling-literacy-can-cash-and-gamification-fix-it Mon, 28 Sep 2026 07:17:11 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Stories of the manananggal, a creature said to split its body in two, and the tiyanak, which takes the form of an infant, are part of the folklore many children grow up hearing in the Philippines. Now, they are among the mythological creatures featured in DreamWorks’ animated film Forgotten Island, which opened in the Philippines on Wednesday and two days later in the United States. The film, described as the first major Hollywood production to showcase Filipino culture and mythology, offers a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368924/forgotten-no-more-filipino-folklore-finds-footing-global-stage https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368924/forgotten-no-more-filipino-folklore-finds-footing-global-stage Sun, 27 Sep 2026 04:00:30 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof In a village on the outskirts of Kota Bharu, in Malaysia’s deeply conservative northeastern state of Kelantan, Rozi* has learned to ignore what people say about her daughter. She had known for years that Hana* was different. As a child, Hana preferred girls’ clothes and spent most of her time with girls. Later, after leaving Kelantan to study, she began transitioning and eventually returned home, living openly as a woman. Rozi, 58, struggled to accept it at first, but what troubled her more was... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3368824/malaysia-mothers-love-offers-her-trans-daughter-refuge https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3368824/malaysia-mothers-love-offers-her-trans-daughter-refuge Sun, 27 Sep 2026 01:30:12 +0000 Iman Muttaqin Yusof Iman Muttaqin Yusof Malaysians on social media are offering increasingly outlandish solutions to a months-long royal tussle in Negeri Sembilan state, from making rival claimants sleep on a bed of nettles for a week to putting the entire state through Islamic spiritual healing. The dispute has left Negeri Sembilan with two men claiming the throne, a state government at odds with the palace and no clear legal route to settle the fight. One social media user suggested reviving adat perpatih – the customary law of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368471/malaysians-joke-their-way-through-negeri-sembilan-royal-row https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368471/malaysians-joke-their-way-through-negeri-sembilan-royal-row Wed, 23 Sep 2026 05:19:17 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Kuala Lumpur is making it easier and cheaper to bring international music stars to the city, hoping that a bigger concert calendar can help Malaysia capture more of Southeast Asia’s booming live-music economy. But as more global acts come to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian musicians are asking whether the concert boom is creating more opportunities for local artists too. Fuad Alhabshi of Malaysian rock band Kyoto Protocol said local bands once routinely benefited when major international acts came... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368456/malaysias-local-acts-feel-left-out-live-music-boom-missing-middle https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368456/malaysias-local-acts-feel-left-out-live-music-boom-missing-middle Wed, 23 Sep 2026 04:03:02 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A 3.5-metre-long shark that wandered into a Busan waterfront channel has become an unlikely internet celebrity in South Korea, drawing nearly 20,000 spectators over the weekend as authorities opted to leave the animal alone rather than risk provoking it. The shark was first spotted on Friday in the waterway at North Port Waterfront Park, where it has remained for at least four consecutive days despite repeated efforts by the public to catch a glimpse of it. South Korea’s National Institute of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368283/south-korea-gets-new-internet-star-busan-shark-sighting-goes-viral https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368283/south-korea-gets-new-internet-star-busan-shark-sighting-goes-viral Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:53:18 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk South Korea has surpassed its 2027 target of attracting 300,000 international students a year ahead of schedule, and universities must now find ways to retain and develop them, a new rankings assessment has shown. First launched last year and described as the country’s most internationalisation-focused assessment to date, The Korea Times University Rankings assess institutions on seven indicators, including the ratio of exchange and international students to total enrolment, diversity of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368268/south-korea-beats-foreign-student-target-struggles-keep-them https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3368268/south-korea-beats-foreign-student-target-struggles-keep-them Mon, 21 Sep 2026 10:30:36 +0000 David D. Lee David D. Lee In Silicon Valley and beyond, the architects of artificial intelligence are increasingly warning about the risks it poses to humanity. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wants the industry to slow down. A former engineer at his company, who also worked at its rival OpenAI, told reporters after quitting earlier this month that he was “genuinely frightened” unchecked AI development might mean “we could all die in the immediate future”. Even Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist known... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3368031/south-korea-wants-free-ai-all-society-ready-it https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3368031/south-korea-wants-free-ai-all-society-ready-it Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:14 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Richardson Mojica is no stranger to thoughts of ending it all. The 40-year-old university professor and mental health advocate was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and depression in his early 20s. He finds fulfilment in his job, yet suicidal ideation has always lingered. “We call it passively suicidal – you don’t want to live, but you don’t want to stop everything,” he said, revealing that he had survived a self-inflicted attempt on his life months ago. Survival is a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3367229/man-break-down-unpacking-philippines-male-suicide-crisis https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3367229/man-break-down-unpacking-philippines-male-suicide-crisis Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:08 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Indonesia is demanding that Netflix pay an estimated 75 billion rupiah (US$4.3 million) in royalties accumulated since its launch in the country or risk being shut down. The National Collective Management Organisation (LMKN), a government-supported agency overseeing the country’s royalty system, said the streaming platform had not paid music royalties since entering the Indonesian market 10 years ago, the Jakarta Globe reported. “The amount is estimated at around 75 billion rupiah, which Netflix... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3367031/indonesia-orders-netflix-pay-us43m-music-royalties-or-face-shutdown https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3367031/indonesia-orders-netflix-pay-us43m-music-royalties-or-face-shutdown Thu, 10 Sep 2026 07:58:27 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk Grab Singapore has apologised after a new promotional series formatted like popular Chinese microdramas raised concerns over personal boundaries and passenger safety in the city state. Titled I Fell In Love With My Grab Driver, the video campaign stars local actress-model Regina Lim as Emily, a widow stretched thin by the demands of her children and mother. The campaign’s trailer, released on Friday, shows Emily meeting Grab driver Henry – played by Singaporean actor-singer Glenn Yong – when he... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3367013/grab-singapore-apologises-over-microdrama-ad-raised-passenger-safety-fears https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3367013/grab-singapore-apologises-over-microdrama-ad-raised-passenger-safety-fears Thu, 10 Sep 2026 06:13:13 +0000 Jean Iau Jean Iau While the announcement last week of the closure of a 40-year-old mall in Singapore’s Marina Bay district for redevelopment has caused an outpouring of sentiment among shoppers and tenants, experts say the prime real estate has to be updated into a mixed-use site to survive in the city state. Last Monday, property developer Singapore Land Group (SingLand) said in a statement that Marina Square, which was completed in 1986, would close on March 31 for a redevelopment that would include features... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366678/singapore-malls-shopping-only-are-going-out-style https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366678/singapore-malls-shopping-only-are-going-out-style Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:28 +0000 Vincent Tan Vincent Tan At Raffly Langi’s family longhouse in Sarawak, on Malaysian Borneo, the tuak rice wine did not come in a branded bottle or a tasting flight. His aunt has brewed the drink for Gawai, the harvest festival celebrated by Dayak communities, an umbrella term for indigenous groups in Sarawak whose longhouses have long been centres of family, rituals and communal life. She made it from steamed glutinous rice and a cake called ragi, prepared with rice flour, yeast and spices to kick-start fermentation.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366427/young-malaysians-brew-goal-traditional-tuak-drink-become-national-success https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366427/young-malaysians-brew-goal-traditional-tuak-drink-become-national-success Sun, 06 Sep 2026 05:00:10 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall In all his five decades of living in Hokkaido, Makoto Watanabe cannot recall ever being confronted by a cockroach. But he admits being alarmed by reports that the despised insects are taking advantage of global warming to gain a foothold in a part of Japan where winters were previously considered too hostile for large colonies to emerge. “When I was a university student in Tokyo 30 years ago, I used to see them in my accommodation and I absolutely hated them,” Watanabe told This Week in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366338/cold-comfort-japans-hokkaido-battles-cockroach-surge-amid-global-warming https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366338/cold-comfort-japans-hokkaido-battles-cockroach-surge-amid-global-warming Sun, 06 Sep 2026 04:00:07 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele Yap Yee Lin has been serving espresso at a Starbucks in Malaysia since 2012, longer than many of his colleagues have worked anywhere. But it was only last year, after 13 years with the company, that he was promoted to shift manager at a branch in Kuala Lumpur’s Bangsar Village II. The wait says less about Yap, who is deaf, than it does about how rare that kind of promotion still is for deaf workers in the Southeast Asian nation – and how much has had to change around him to make it... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3366408/hired-then-what-malaysias-deaf-workers-push-past-entry-level-jobs https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3366408/hired-then-what-malaysias-deaf-workers-push-past-entry-level-jobs Sun, 06 Sep 2026 02:00:09 +0000 David D. Lee David D. Lee For a few seconds during Blackpink member Jennie’s headline set at Tokyo’s Summer Sonic festival last month, it looked like something had come undone. She turned away from the crowd, adjusted herself and then, the moment was gone. But online, the clip never disappeared – and more than 10 million views later, it has become the latest test of South Korea’s fight against AI-enabled sexual abuse. Fans were quick to cry deepfake, dissecting the footage frame by frame for signs of possible AI... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3366411/viral-jennie-clip-tests-limits-south-koreas-ai-deepfake-laws https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3366411/viral-jennie-clip-tests-limits-south-koreas-ai-deepfake-laws Sun, 06 Sep 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Aidan Jones Aidan Jones The Amazon deliveries stopped reaching the USS Abraham Lincoln in February as it entered the conflict zone with Iran. A few weeks later – much to the chagrin of the sailors on board – even that most American of meals, the hamburger, was compromised by supply shortages when burger buns ran out. But as they unwind on their first shore leave in 286 days, the 5,000 crew of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier are finding out what tens of thousands of their forebears already knew: Pattaya will... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366424/how-us-military-presence-spurred-pattayas-rise-thailands-city-pleasure https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3366424/how-us-military-presence-spurred-pattayas-rise-thailands-city-pleasure Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:32:45 +0000