Advertisement
Advertisement
This Week in Asia /

Lifestyle & Culture

Related Topics:
K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop
Asia travel
Fame and celebrity
People carry their belongings as they arrive for a free bus trip to their hometowns organised by the Jakarta provincial government in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Photo: AP
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

The Philippines

Why Philippines’ Jollibee is Southeast Asia’s lone global food chain

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
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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
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?

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.

Asyraf Ahmad (left) sells drinks at his Ramadan stall after switching his business model from food. Photo: Ushar Daniele
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
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
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
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.

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.

videocam
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.

Dujduan Ketsaro with her two grooms, Roman and Macky. Photo: Facebook
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’.

The logo of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, at the entrance of the Japan branch headquarters in Tokyo. Photo: AFP
The logo of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, at the entrance of the Japan branch headquarters in Tokyo. Photo: AFP
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.

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.

Fireworks thrill festivalgoers at Tomorrowland, the world’s largest electronic music festival. Photo: Facebook/Tomorrowland
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW