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This Week in Asia /

Lifestyle & Culture

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

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

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Malaysia

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

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
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.

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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Electric cars inside BYD’s first EV factory in Thailand. Observers say this year has proved a turning point for EV uptake across Southeast Asia. Photo: Reuters
Electric cars inside BYD’s first EV factory in Thailand. Observers say this year has proved a turning point for EV uptake across Southeast Asia. Photo: Reuters
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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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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A social media post using #SEAblings and an illustration over a row following South Korean rock band Day6’s concert in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: X/Boju
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
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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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.

People walk across the Jubilee Bridge at the Marina Bay waterfront in Singapore in November 2025. Photo: AFP
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
A pupil learns to read Arabic during a Koran memorisation lesson. Photo: EPA
Thailand

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.

Japan

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’.

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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.

Funkytown, a cocktail bar in Bangkok, offers non-alcoholic versions of its signature cocktails, including Green Curry. Photo: Funkytown
Funkytown, a cocktail bar in Bangkok, offers non-alcoholic versions of its signature cocktails, including Green Curry. Photo: Funkytown
Malaysia

‘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?

Thailand

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.

Malaysia

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.

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Malaysia is considering new laws to curb LGBTQ dating apps like Grindr. Photo: Reuters
Japan

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.

People walking at JR Mito station in Ibaraki prefecture in eastern Japan. Photo: Kyodo
People walking at JR Mito station in Ibaraki prefecture in eastern Japan. Photo: Kyodo
Indonesia

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.

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The Philippines

Philippine Supreme Court ruling adds momentum to same-sex marriage debate

Advocates hailed the ruling as a breakthrough, though observers said its reach remains limited without congressional action.

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Japan

Future of Japan’s ‘naked festival’ in doubt after 3 men left unconscious

Organisers said they would review safety rules after six men collapsed during the annual scramble for good-luck talismans.

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Participants at the Saidaiji “naked festival” gather inside the temple hall before sacred talismans are thrown in Okayama City on Saturday. Photo: Kyodo
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