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This Week in Asia /

Lifestyle & Culture

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K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop
Asia travel
Fame and celebrity
Illustration: Huy Truong
Ageing society

Mortal combat: Southeast Asia fights fears of death to plan for the end

Birth rates are falling. Populations are ageing. In Southeast Asia, the business of dying has never been bigger.

India

India’s weight-loss drug price war begins as key patent expires

Japan

Japan gets tough against teachers’ sexual misconduct, voyeurism after arrests

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Malaysia

‘Even sultan would think twice’: the US$460 cake testing Malaysia’s sweet tooth

Sarawak bakery’s luxury treat sparks debate over its high price as Malaysians stock up on Eid sweets amid rising diabetes concerns.

The “Kek Lapis Sultan” cake is being sold for US$460 for a 5kg tray at a bakery in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo: Instagram/abgkju
The “Kek Lapis Sultan” cake is being sold for US$460 for a 5kg tray at a bakery in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo: Instagram/abgkju
Japan

Will Japan follow Australia’s lead and ban children from social media?

A new panel is studying how prolonged social media exposure affects young people, with youth suicide among issues likely to be addressed.

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Indonesia

Half of Indonesia is travelling for Eid as US$100 oil threatens state finances

A US$100 oil shock is ballooning fuel subsidies towards a deficit cap breach.

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The Philippines

Most Filipino women think a woman’s place is in the home, survey finds

A record 83 per cent of women in the Philippines now say they find domestic life as fulfilling as a career, a 30-year high.

Filipinos take part in a protest in Manila to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8. Photo: Reuters
Filipinos take part in a protest in Manila to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8. Photo: Reuters
The Philippines

Why Philippines’ Jollibee is Southeast Asia’s lone global food chain

The company is the only Southeast Asian name to make the top tier of a recent list of the world’s strongest restaurant brands, placing fifth.

Indonesia

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.

Singapore

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

Speaking about a project in the Chinatown area, a minister says the government would look for more opportunities to build taller flats.

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Public housing blocks in Singapore’s Chinatown area. Photo: Getty Images
North Korea

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

The race had been set for April 5 and would have marked the second year since Pyongyang resumed the event after the pandemic.

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Foreign runners take part in the Pyongyang marathon on April 6, 2025. Photo: Kyodo
Foreign runners take part in the Pyongyang marathon on April 6, 2025. Photo: Kyodo
Malaysia

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.

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Malaysia

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?

Japan

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.

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Flames engulf Shuri Castle in Naha, Okinawa prefecture, in October 2019. The fire destroyed several major structures at the Unesco World Heritage site. Photo: EPA-EFE
Malaysia

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.

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

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.

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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.

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Vietnam

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.

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

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.

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Asean

‘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.

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Singapore

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.

A Kenangan Coffee outlet at a shopping centre in eastern Singapore. The Indonesian chain has opened about 10 outlets in the city state. Photo: Kenangan Coffee
Japan

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.

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

‘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.

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Singapore

‘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.

Malaysia

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.

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A pupil learns to read Arabic during a Koran memorisation lesson. Photo: EPA
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