Advertisement
Advertisement
This Week in Asia /

Lifestyle & Culture

Related Topics:
K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop
Asia travel
Fame and celebrity
A Malaysian couple hold hands. A new study has found that 60 per cent of respondents from Malaysia agreed with the statement that “a wife should always obey her husband”. Photo: Shutterstock
Malaysia

Should wives always obey? Most in Malaysia and Indonesia say yes

A new study also shows 64 per cent of respondents in Singapore agree that efforts to give women equal rights with men ‘have gone far enough’.

5
Singapore

‘Super-aged’ Singapore’s secret to growing old well? Stay busy

Ageing society

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

videocam
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.

A group of women walk on a street in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. About a quarter of India’s adult population is either overweight or obese. Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images
A group of women walk on a street in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. About a quarter of India’s adult population is either overweight or obese. Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images
Japan

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

Sexual offences involving mostly male teachers targeting students remain high despite stricter rules against the menace in recent years.

videocam
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.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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.

videocam
A high school girl uses her smartphone in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: AFP
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.

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.

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.

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.

Indonesians walk on a pedestrian bridge in Jakarta. Photo: EPA-EFE
Indonesians walk on a pedestrian bridge in Jakarta. Photo: EPA-EFE
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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?

A man runs on a treadmill with a view of Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock
A man runs on a treadmill with a view of Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Shutterstock
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.

videocam
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.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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.

videocam
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
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.

videocam
5
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.

videocam
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.

videocam
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.

4
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
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.

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.

videocam
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.

videocam
5
People take part in a march in Tokyo in 2023 calling for the legalisation of cannabis. Photo: AFP
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW