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This Week in Asia /

Lifestyle & Culture

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K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop

Fame and celebrity

Two customers bite Burger King’s Whopper hamburgers after the chain’s first Tokyo store officially opened in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 2007. Photo: AP

Burger King in Japan dangles US$250,000 to lure rival franchisees

Meanwhile, Philippine fried chicken chain Jollibee has announced a record operating income and is accelerating its global expansion.

24 Apr 2026 - 2:40PM

The Philippines

This retiree in the Philippines downloaded an app. Then he lost his life savings

24 Apr 2026 - 10:41AMvideocam

South Korean army removes poster depicting controversial hand gesture

23 Apr 2026 - 5:51PM

Subsidies for dating apps latest tactic to battle low birth rates in rural Japan

Kochi prefecture says residents aged between 20 and 39 can receive a US$125 subsidy to use certified matchmaking apps.

22 Apr 2026 - 9:00AM

A couple admires the autumn leaves in Japan. Japanese youth are increasingly turning to matchmaking apps to find life partners. Photo: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Work from home may not save as much energy as Southeast Asia hopes

Remote work for civil servants sounds like an easy solution in an energy crisis. Analysts aren’t so sure.

24 Apr 2026 - 5:15PM

The Philippines

Meet the Filipino spouses turning their migration journeys into viral content

Women make up 90 per cent of Filipino marriage migrants, moving mainly to the US, Canada, Japan and Australia.

19 Apr 2026 - 3:00PM

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The Philippines

BINI made history at Coachella. Can the Philippines build on it?

The Filipino girl group’s desert debut proved P-pop’s pedigree. Now Manila needs to find the budget to back the talent already going global.

19 Apr 2026 - 12:00PMvideocam

BINI perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 10. Photo: Reuters

Southeast Asia wants children off social media. Will it work?

Indonesia is leading a regional push to ban children from social media platforms. Enforcement is another matter, however.

19 Apr 2026 - 10:00AMvideocam

Crowned in Bangkok, constrained at home: Malaysia’s first Mr Bear winner

Gavin Chow’s victory highlights the contrast between Bangkok’s queer visibility and the pressures still facing LGBTQ people in Malaysia.

21 Apr 2026 - 10:19AMvideocam

Indonesia’s Surabaya cracks down on absentee fathers for dodging child support

The city’s child support laws have drawn overseas interest, including Australia, as single mothers urge more help for their legal redress.

17 Apr 2026 - 6:05PMvideocam

People queue in line to buy necessities at a market in Surabaya. More than 8,000 men have been denied access to public services in the city for failing to pay child support. Photo: AFP

Bali wants illegal rentals to be legitimate as operators flag red tape

Authorities want to help unregistered accommodation providers secure permits to plug the tax collection gap.

16 Apr 2026 - 5:48PMvideocam

Tourists walk at a shopping area in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. Photo: EPA

7 French tourists arrested after viral Songkran clash with van driver in Phuket

Police said the group of revellers blocked traffic, sprayed water at the driver and ignored orders to disperse.

16 Apr 2026 - 3:20PM

Deepfakes, cloned voices: the new AI threat facing Malaysia’s creators

Experts question whether Malaysia’s laws are keeping pace with the harm spread by AI, and call for stronger legal protections for artists.

15 Apr 2026 - 7:37PM

Japan’s Narita Airport expansion revives row over forced land sales

Authorities are considering forcing the sale of land owned by holdout farmers, recalling disputes that sparked violence during the 1960s.

15 Apr 2026 - 4:22PM

Runways at Narita International Airport in Japan’s Chiba prefecture in 2024. Photo: Kyodo

Japan’s rural rail crisis hits new low as JR East cuts toilet paper service

JR East’s decision to remove toilet paper at some unmanned stations underscores the financial pressures on rural rail services.

13 Apr 2026 - 5:55PM

Oshikiri station in Japan’s Niigata prefecture no longer has toilet paper service. Photo: Handout

Songkran is here. So is Thailand’s worst energy crisis in years

Soaring costs for fuel and ice fail to dampen the mood as a wave of ‘revenge travel’ provides a much-needed economic boost.

13 Apr 2026 - 3:50PM

Solo in Seoul? South Korean capital offers helpers for US$4 an hour

The city’s ‘companion service’ aims to help single-person households move house or visit hospital.

13 Apr 2026 - 2:28PMvideocam

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Was Penang ‘robbed’ from Kedah? Malaysian states face off in sovereignty row

A grievance dating back hundreds of years resurfaces as Kedah state lays claim to the country’s richest island.

13 Apr 2026 - 1:27PM

George Town on Penang Island, Malaysia. The city won won Unesco World Heritage status in 2008. Photo: Shutterstock

‘Making a racket in Chinese’: Japan’s cherry blossom season stirs cultural rift

A report claims residents of Dazaifu in Fukuoka prefecture complained about groups ‘making a racket in Chinese’ at a popular hanami spot.

9 Apr 2026 - 10:21AMvideocam

Lute awakening: traditional Malaysian strings have many players but few makers

While young musicians are increasingly drawn to the old instruments, few want to take up the tedious task of crafting them.

5 Apr 2026 - 2:42PM

Malaysian bookshop hits on novel idea to hook readers addicted to ‘brain rot’

BookXcess’ ‘Brain Un-Rot Library’ turns 100 books into short TikTok clips similar to the type of videos blamed for wrecking attention span.

13 Apr 2026 - 7:25PM

Malaysians read an average of 24 books a year in 2022-23, according to the National Library. Photo: Shutterstock

Cultural capitals: Southeast Asia seeks soft power to outlast the buzz

The region’s creators are going global, but the structures to sustain them are still catching up.

4 Apr 2026 - 9:50AMvideocam

Illustration: Mario Rivera

The Philippines

Philippines weighs social media ban for minors, but will it be enough?

Analysts warn that restricting access alone will do little to fix the algorithms that expose young users to harmful content.

2 Apr 2026 - 8:00PMvideocam

Bali rocked by spate of murder cases – is Indonesian island more dangerous now?

The cases allegedly involving foreign suspects have spurred concerns that gang disputes have moved from other countries to the island.

2 Apr 2026 - 6:30PMvideocam

Litterbugs in Shibuya to be fined on the spot as visitor numbers surge

The initiative, which will see offenders fined US$12.50, reflects a broader rethink of the ward’s earlier decision to remove public rubbish bins.

1 Apr 2026 - 11:14AMvideocam

Aluminium cans, bottles, and other trash stashed next to a vending machine in Shibuya. Photo: Shutterstock

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