Asia

Tokyo – Even though Japan has entered its third state of emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic, life seems almost normal in Tokyo and other prefectures like Saitama. In Kawagoe, known as Little Edo, near Tokyo, businesses continue, albeit with shortened hours compared with pre-pandemic times. Arcades with their UFO claw machines, izakayas (Japan’s […]

Sometimes, the tricks we play have a way of backfiring. A pair of influencers in Bali are learning this particular lesson—the hard way.  Irate netizens are calling for the foreign couple’s deportation after they posted a video showing the woman entering a supermarket with a mask painted on her face instead of wearing an actual […]

KUALA LUMPUR — Strong and decisive leadership decisions, and calls for an immediate cessation of violence must be top priorities for Asean leaders meeting in Jakarta this weekend, or they risk seeing Myanmar relegated to the region’s first failed state, said the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar. The Advisory’s chairman, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, […]

Malaysia’s former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad warned Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah on Tuesday (Apr 20) that the Covid-19 state of emergency is turning the Malays against the king. He asked the king to lift the royal order for the emergency issued in January. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Dr Mahathir, […]

Singapore—The Ministry of Health (MOH ) announced on Tuesday (Apr 20) a longer quarantine for travellers from India following a worsening pandemic situation there. All travellers from India will be required to serve an additional seven-day stay-home notice (SHN) at their place of residence in addition to the 14-day SHN at dedicated SHN facilities imposed […]

In the wake of a record antitrust fine slapped on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd by China, Mr Jack Ma’s fortunes increased by S$3 billion (US$2.3 billion), Bloomberg reported. The depositary receipts of Alibaba in the US rose by 9.3 per cent on Monday (Apr 12), marking its biggest increase in nearly four years, and causing […]

SINGAPORE – Veteran comedian Mark Lee’s eatery, Nam Heong, met with a two-hour-long queue after announcing its reopening following a long break during the circuit breaker. Nam Heong is popularly known for specialising in dim sum and noodle dishes of Ipoh delicacies. It was in 2019 that Lee decided to bring the diner chain to […]

A Chinese company with a history of dubious claims in its advertisements has found itself in hot water with authorities after it said that new hires would be getting high pay, cars, new homes, as well as be pursued by “beautiful girls or handsome boys” once they became part of its management training programme, the […]

Singapore— China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi after talks with his Singapore counterpart, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, is also meeting the foreign ministers of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines this week. However, questions are being raised because he is meeting his counterparts from the four Asean nations separately, according to an article in the South China Morning […]

Singapore—K-pop supergroup BTS has spoken out against anti-Asian discrimination, saying they themselves have been victims of such prejudice. BTS’ March 30 tweet in both Korean and English has been liked over 1.5 million times and shared over 800,000 times. #StopAsianHate#StopAAPIHate pic.twitter.com/mOmttkOpOt — 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) March 30, 2021 The hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate (Asian Americans and […]

Singapore—Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan called the crisis in Myanmar “an unfolding tragedy” in remarks to the press on Mar 26 after he met with Indonesian leaders in Jakarta.  “It’s not a happy topic. It’s a tragedy that is unfolding,” he said. He also expressed the belief that the crisis will not ease any time […]

SINGAPORE – This Friday (Mar 26), e-commerce platform giant Lazada is throwing a birthday bash unlike any other. The itinerary includes a livestream gaming session, shopping deals and an exciting virtual concert featuring superstar Katy Perry, K-pop group NCT Dream and a few of our homegrown artistes such as Jasmine Sokko and Nathan Hartono. To […]

Singapore—Anti-Asian violence has been growing in some parts of the world, with this week seeing the especially grievous killing of eight people in three spas in Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent. On Tuesday (Mar 16) research released by reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate showed that there were nearly 3,800 anti-Asian hate incidents in […]

Singapore—In a new interview with the BBC, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted that tensions between the two global superpowers, the United States and China, have escalated from five years ago. However, he said the possibility of military conflict is “not yet high”. But if the two countries continue with their hardline policies, they may […]

China’s export growth jumped to the highest in over two decades, official data showed Sunday, with imports also surging in a sharp bounceback from the coronavirus outbreak that had brought activity to a near halt. Electronics and textile exports such as masks contributed to the spike in outbound shipments, as demand for work-from-home supplies and […]