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This Week in Asia /
Lifestyle & Culture
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India
India’s weight-loss drug price war begins as key patent expires
Generic slimming drugs are expected to flood a market where one in four adults are currently either overweight or obese.
20 Mar 2026 - 1:55PM
Japan
Japan gets tough against teachers’ sexual misconduct, voyeurism after arrests
19 Mar 2026 - 4:26PM
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Malaysia
‘Even sultan would think twice’: the US$460 cake testing Malaysia’s sweet tooth
18 Mar 2026 - 12:34PM
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.
18 Mar 2026 - 3:50PM
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A high school girl uses her smartphone in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: AFP
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.
17 Mar 2026 - 6:30PM
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.
16 Mar 2026 - 6:30PM
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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.
16 Mar 2026 - 12:00PM
A Jollibee fast-food restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Photo: Eugene Lee
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.
15 Mar 2026 - 4:00PM
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.
12 Mar 2026 - 6:46PM
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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.
9 Mar 2026 - 7:18PM
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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.
9 Mar 2026 - 12:00PM
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Pedestrians now walk through Jalan Sang Guna to access Chinatown. Photo: Ushar Daniele
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?
9 Mar 2026 - 3:37PM
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.
9 Mar 2026 - 3:53PM
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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.
8 Mar 2026 - 4:00PM
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.
8 Mar 2026 - 6:43PM
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A girl checks her phone next to Communist Party and Vietnamese flags in Hanoi on February 27. Vietnam’s new artificial intelligence law went into effect on March 1. Photo: AFP
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 - 10:00AM
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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.
8 Mar 2026 - 9:59PM
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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.
6 Mar 2026 - 11:00AM
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Japanese manga volumes at a bookstore in Manila. Photo: Joh Batten
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.
5 Mar 2026 - 4:58PM
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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.
5 Mar 2026 - 4:47PM
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.
4 Mar 2026 - 1:15PM
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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.
4 Mar 2026 - 8:00AM
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People take part in a march in Tokyo in 2023 calling for the legalisation of cannabis. Photo: AFP
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.
3 Mar 2026 - 7:00PM
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.
3 Mar 2026 - 3:30PM
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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.
4 Mar 2026 - 2:29AM
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