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This Week in Asia /

Lifestyle & Culture

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K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop

Fame and celebrity

Indonesians walk on a pedestrian bridge in Jakarta. Photo: EPA-EFE

Top of the world: why Indonesian workers are happiest in Asia-Pacific

While a survey shows that 82 per cent of Indonesian workers are happy, it also flags increasing burnout among them.

15 Mar 2026 - 4:00PM

New flats in Singapore set to soar above 60 storeys – will they be the norm?

12 Mar 2026 - 6:46PMvideocam

North Korea cancels Pyongyang marathon weeks before race, with no reason given

9 Mar 2026 - 7:18PMvideocam

A forgotten theatre lane in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown gets a new lease on life

The restored lane, once home to an early theatre scene, is part of Kuala Lumpur’s broader effort to revive its historic Chinatown.

9 Mar 2026 - 12:00PMvideocam

Pedestrians now walk through Jalan Sang Guna to access Chinatown. Photo: Ushar Daniele

Malaysia slashes gym licence fees by 80% to fight urban obesity

Faced with some of Southeast Asia’s highest obesity rates, officials are dangling a regulatory ‘carrot’ to gym operators – but will it work?

9 Mar 2026 - 3:37PM

Fire safety upgrades stall at Japan’s castles, shrines and temples

Work has yet to begin at about 30 per cent of priority heritage sites nearly 7 years after the blaze that destroyed Okinawa’s Shuri Castle.

9 Mar 2026 - 3:53PMvideocam

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1 holy month, 1 year’s income: Malaysia’s Ramadan bazaar boom

Rents have doubled, ingredient costs keep climbing, yet for the stallholders at Malaysia’s bazaars, no other month comes close.

8 Mar 2026 - 4:00PM

Asyraf Ahmad (left) sells drinks at his Ramadan stall after switching his business model from food. Photo: Ushar Daniele

Why Vietnam’s new AI law makes it proving ground for Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia’s first law on AI could raise the bar from voluntary guidelines to binding legal frameworks across the region, analysts say.

8 Mar 2026 - 6:43PMvideocam

Electric & new energy vehicles

Iran war oil shock accelerates Southeast Asia’s EV revolution

Southeast Asia was already going electric. Then war broke out in the Middle East and it started going faster.

8 Mar 2026 - 10:00AMvideocam

In Vietnam’s Da Nang, South Korean tourism boom meets growing resentment

The coastal city has become a hub for Korean tourists and businesses, but workers and residents say the boom has also exposed frictions.

8 Mar 2026 - 9:59PMvideocam

A couple runs along the seafront next to the beach in Da Nang, central Vietnam, last year. Photo: AFP

Japan’s manga industry faces a ‘#MeToo moment’ after Shogakukan scandal

Prominent creators pull their work as the publisher launches a probe into how a convicted author returned under a pen name.

6 Mar 2026 - 11:00AMvideocam

Japanese manga volumes at a bookstore in Manila. Photo: Joh Batten

‘We will go to war’: why #SEAblings became a Southeast Asian rallying cry

The hashtag went viral following a row over a South Korean band’s concert in Kuala Lumpur in January and protests in Indonesia last year.

5 Mar 2026 - 4:58PM

How Southeast Asia’s coffee chains are brewing cross-border success

Home-grown brands such as Zus Coffee are betting on cultural fluency, halal positioning and digital tools to make further inroads.

5 Mar 2026 - 4:47PM

Muslims in Japan were falsely blamed for illegal buildings. Then came the fires

It started with social media posts falsely blaming Muslims for building violations. Then came the fires.

4 Mar 2026 - 1:15PMvideocam

The aftermath of a fire on Saturday at Ebetsu Masjid, a mosque in the city of Ebetsu, central Hokkaido, Japan. Photo: Facebook/Kamran Khan

‘Social morals are dying’: Japan’s under-20s are getting high like never before

The relaxed attitude towards ‘fashionable’ drugs has been cited as one reason for more young Japanese arrested for cannabis offences.

4 Mar 2026 - 8:00AMvideocam

People take part in a march in Tokyo in 2023 calling for the legalisation of cannabis. Photo: AFP

‘Too high a cost’: why some Singaporeans are forgoing parenthood

As the city state battles a record low fertility rate, analysts say deeper anxieties and rising opportunity costs continue to shape decisions.

3 Mar 2026 - 7:00PM

Malaysian student charged with desecrating Koran in viral video

The viral post showing a man stepping on the Koran and mocking the Prophet Mohammed has triggered 82 police reports and a national outcry.

3 Mar 2026 - 3:30PMvideocam

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She married 2 men at once in Thailand – and her mother is fine with it

The two Austrian grooms each paid a 1 million baht dowry, then celebrated by leaping into a pond.

4 Mar 2026 - 2:29AM

Dujduan Ketsaro with her two grooms, Roman and Macky. Photo: Facebook

How the Unification Church is facing fallout in Japan from Shinzo Abe’s murder

Critics have called the group a ‘money-making business’, with many people having lost huge sums of money from its ‘spiritual sales’.

3 Mar 2026 - 4:04PM

Food and Drinks

Party sober? Asia’s bars and drink giants shift gears as Gen Z ditch alcohol

As young Asians turn more health-conscious and watch their spending, drinks giants and bars are planning more low- and no-alcohol options.

2 Mar 2026 - 4:08PM

‘Time for us’: the Malaysian rapper putting her country on the SXSW map

Zamaera is taking five Malaysian artists to Texas next month after asking herself a simple question: why doesn’t Malaysia have a stage yet?

1 Mar 2026 - 2:00PM

Zamaera at last year’s South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. Photo: Handout

Thai tourism looks to US$1 billion future as Tomorrowland picks up beat

Around 150,000 young ravers are expected to flood Pattaya for the world’s largest electronic music festival in December.

27 Feb 2026 - 5:01PM

Fireworks thrill festivalgoers at Tomorrowland, the world’s largest electronic music festival. Photo: Facebook/Tomorrowland

Malaysia’s ‘ridiculous’ push to curb LGBTQ apps tests limits of digital control

Officials are examining legislative steps to curb apps like Grindr, though removal from global stores is beyond direct state control.

27 Feb 2026 - 8:30AMvideocam

Cash-for-tips scheme in Japan sparks debate over migrant rights

Backers argue tougher measures are needed to curb unauthorised employment, but migrant advocates fear unintended social consequences.

26 Feb 2026 - 4:26PM

Row over speakers on Indonesian ‘island of 1,000 mosques’ sparks debate on rules

A New Zealander’s disruption of a prayer session over the use of loudspeakers at a mosque has prompted some to call for a law on their use.

25 Feb 2026 - 6:31PMvideocam

Officials inspecting a mosque’s speakers in Jakarta. Photo: AFP

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