https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/521725/feed en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Hamzah Rifaat Hamzah Rifaat The appearance of K-pop singer G-Dragon on electronic billboards in major Chinese cities despite Beijing’s K-pop ban points at a contrast between political shadows clouding international relations and actual commercial linkages in East Asia. Amid tensions over Seoul’s military alliance with the United States and other issues, G-Dragon featured in eight McDonald’s products across more than 8,000 outlets in mainland China. The penetration and appeal of Korean cultural icons show how transnational... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3371868/east-asias-cultural-economies-are-bridging-politics-driven-divides https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3371868/east-asias-cultural-economies-are-bridging-politics-driven-divides Sun, 25 Oct 2026 08:30:06 +0000 Ling Tang Ling Tang I am a second-generation Shenzhener, born to parents who moved from Hunan province to Shenzhen city in the 1980s to seek opportunities. My father had a Master’s degree, a rarity then which afforded him the chance to look for work outside our province. Both my parents ended up with a state-owned enterprise. My mother went back to Hunan in the 1990s for my birth, so my grandparents could help with childcare, but I was brought back to Shenzhen before my first birthday. Since leaving the city at 17... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3355243/once-i-was-proud-shenzhen-miracle-now-im-not-so-sure https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3355243/once-i-was-proud-shenzhen-miracle-now-im-not-so-sure Sat, 30 May 2026 01:30:06 +0000 David Ho David Ho It may not seem like fans of Stranger Things, Bridgerton, Harry Potter and Star Wars would overlap much on a Venn diagram, but Comic Con has always been where such fandoms converge. The first-ever Hong Kong Comic Con (HKCC) is no exception, with stars including Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things), Katie Leung (Harry Potter, Bridgerton) and Daniel Logan (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones) expected at the event. But that’s not all. We are also hyped for the appearance of actors such... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3354745/inaugural-hong-kong-comic-con-unites-global-fandoms-star-studded-line https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3354745/inaugural-hong-kong-comic-con-unites-global-fandoms-star-studded-line Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:10 +0000 Cyril Ip Cyril Ip What comes to mind when you think of China, Japan and South Korea? This was a question posed in a second-year sociology seminar during my time at Bristol, and it has stayed with me ever since. We were split into three groups and given 10 minutes to create posters capturing our immediate associations. Japan came first. Sketches of anime, sushi platters and temples appeared. My classmates spoke with enthusiasm, drawing on travel memories or aspirations to visit. A country that, less than a century... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353463/how-deal-very-chinese-time-western-lives https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353463/how-deal-very-chinese-time-western-lives Fri, 15 May 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Later this month, Indonesian cinema-goers will finally get to see what audiences in Berlin saw in February: Jokor Anwar’s Ghost in the Cell. The horror-comedy, which had its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, has been celebrated by influential trade magazine Variety for rising above mere “escapist entertainment” to channel societal anxieties about corruption and environmental destruction. Yet it is only the latest example of Southeast Asia’s creative moment... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3348980/southeast-asia-seeks-soft-power-outlast-us300-billion-buzz https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3348980/southeast-asia-seeks-soft-power-outlast-us300-billion-buzz Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:16 +0000 Paul French Paul French You could be forgiven for thinking that the UK has gone samurai mad of late. Director Michihito Fujii’s Last Samurai Standing remains high up the Netflix UK chart, Penguin Books is enjoying a massive bestseller in Shotaro Ikenami’s multi-volume The Samurai Detectives, and the FX miniseries retelling of James Clavell’s Shogun (originally a 1975 novel) was a surprise hit and won various awards. The samurai-inspired Assassin’s Creed Shadows was the fastest-selling video game in Britain in 2025,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3345076/gripping-london-samurai-exhibition-explores-japans-warrior-class-and-cuts-through-myths https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3345076/gripping-london-samurai-exhibition-explores-japans-warrior-class-and-cuts-through-myths Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:15:07 +0000 Yulu Ao Yulu Ao Labubu toymaker Pop Mart plans to establish its European headquarters in London, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met the company’s founder during a high-profile China visit aimed at rebuilding Britain’s economic ties with the world’s second largest economy. That plan was revealed at a closed-door CEO round table on Friday during the UK-China Business Forum, where Starmer met a group of Chinese business leaders that included Pop Mart founder and CEO Wang Ning. “London stands at the heart of the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/china-business/article/3341948/labubu-toymaker-pop-mart-picks-london-european-headquarters-rolls-out-new-stores https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/business/china-business/article/3341948/labubu-toymaker-pop-mart-picks-london-european-headquarters-rolls-out-new-stores Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:30:11 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Japan and South Korea have been drumming up attention on the world stage – and not just with their recent Nara summit on security and economic cooperation, which included their leaders engaging in a drumstick diplomacy session of K-pop hits. They have also been in the news for Japanese and Korean words that were recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), highlighting the ever-increasing impact of these cultures on the English language. The new words included in OED’s latest update in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340137/senpai-bingsu-ramyeon-new-korean-and-japanese-words-oxford-english-dictionary https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340137/senpai-bingsu-ramyeon-new-korean-and-japanese-words-oxford-english-dictionary Sun, 18 Jan 2026 08:15:08 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele For Sana Kok, anime has always been more than entertainment. The 28-year-old Malaysian still remembers the first series he caught on television as a child: the bright colours, larger-than-life characters and cinematic storytelling unlike anything else he had ever seen. By his teens, action-packed anime titles had become a fixture of his evenings. “Anime has some of the best storytelling out there,” said Kok, now a digital marketer who sees his childhood fascination reflected in a new wave of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3339415/soft-power-hard-cash-southeast-asias-billion-dollar-anime-obsession https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3339415/soft-power-hard-cash-southeast-asias-billion-dollar-anime-obsession Sun, 11 Jan 2026 05:00:10 +0000 SCMP SCMP Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest stories about China’s soft power this year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Labubu, soft power of a stealthy ‘ugly-cute’ sort, takes on America The Chinese-made dolls, a playful global megahit, give Beijing an opportunity to make inroads into deep US distrust. 2. ‘Huge shift’: why learning Mandarin is losing its appeal in the West Available figures suggest enthusiasm for learning Mandarin abroad is waning after... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3335844/labubu-blockbuster-films-was-2025-year-chinas-soft-power-went-mainstream https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3335844/labubu-blockbuster-films-was-2025-year-chinas-soft-power-went-mainstream Sun, 21 Dec 2025 03:00:11 +0000 Emily Chan Emily Chan The renowned European electronic music festival, Tomorrowland, made its China debut in Shanghai on Saturday. Held for the first time indoors, the electronic dance music (EDM) festival drew thousands of ravers to the Hero Dome. Many say the EDM genre has become mainstream in China’s music scene. https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/article/3333928/european-edm-festival-tomorrowland-makes-china-debut-shanghai https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/article/3333928/european-edm-festival-tomorrowland-makes-china-debut-shanghai Mon, 24 Nov 2025 08:17:28 +0000 Lauren James Lauren James A stumble on a step, a Yorkshire-lilted “ohh noh”, and world-famous Jarvis Cocker clatters down the stairs from The Listening Room. The frontman of 1990s Britpop phenom Pulp is mostly OK, but will headline Clockenflap the following evening a little less snake-hipped than usual, after breaking two ribs in this innocent attempt at returning to ground level after shopping for records. Rob Deal, the owner of the Tsim Sha Tsui emporium where Cocker, then pushing 60, had been browsing before his 2023... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3330450/how-did-jarvis-cockers-trip-hong-kong-record-shop-boost-vinyl-revival https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3330450/how-did-jarvis-cockers-trip-hong-kong-record-shop-boost-vinyl-revival Wed, 29 Oct 2025 07:15:08 +0000 Gavin Yeung Gavin Yeung Each considered an era-defining icon in their own right, four of the world’s most recognisable cartoon characters will be assembling, Avengers-style, against Hong Kong’s iconic skyline from October 25 to November 1. Organised by Hong Kong-based creative agency AllRightsReserved, the Water Parade at Victoria Harbour brings together colossal, floating, inflatable sculptures of timeless Japanese robot cat Doraemon, Sesame Street’s Elmo as reimagined by American pop artist KAWS, the McDonald’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3329384/giant-labubu-doraemon-elmo-and-grimace-are-coming-hong-kongs-harbour https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3329384/giant-labubu-doraemon-elmo-and-grimace-are-coming-hong-kongs-harbour Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa The Don Don Donki store in Causeway Bay is buzzing as always, and the Kuromi shelf is already picked clean. Joyce C stares at the empty space and sighs. Around her, shoppers scoop up other Sanrio items: Hello Kitty erasers, My Melody hair clips, Cinnamoroll stickers. “Whenever I go to Donki to buy Kuromi merch, it’s always sold out,” she says, half-exasperated, half-amused. The 22-year-old has been steadily building her Kuromi collection since she started working, but her attachment to the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3319390/discreet-charm-sanrios-hello-kitty-unleashes-power-cute https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3319390/discreet-charm-sanrios-hello-kitty-unleashes-power-cute Sat, 26 Jul 2025 23:00:09 +0000