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This Week in Asia /

Lifestyle & Culture

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K-pop, Mandopop and other Asian pop
Asia travel
Fame and celebrity
Murals adorn a wall at 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace in Singapore. Photo: Kolette Lim
Singapore

What does Singapore lose when the wrecking ball swings?

Relentless reinvention, long inevitable in the land-scare city state, puts pressure on beloved ‘third spaces’.

Malaysia

Malaysia’s new university rules rekindle multilingualism debate

Malaysia

For those caught in China’s ‘involution’, RedNote offers a solution: Malaysia

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North Korea

Tears in North Korea as Kim meets footballers after historic title win

Naegohyang Women’s FC became the first North Korean side to win Asia’s top club title last month.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un congratulates the football players who won the AFC Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup in Pyongyang on Monday. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un congratulates the football players who won the AFC Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup in Pyongyang on Monday. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP
Vietnam

Vietnam detains Australian man who trashed Da Nang cafe

He destroyed bar equipment and furniture, and customers’ belongings, including laptops and mobile phones.

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Malaysia

Malaysia bars under-16s from social media as new rules come into force

Malaysia’s roll-out of strict age-gating rules follows on the heels of Australia and Indonesia in the push to protect children online.

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Indonesia

Jakarta deploys troops against muggers, stirring dark memories

While residents welcome tougher action on street crime, rights groups fear a return to authoritarian-era security crackdowns.

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Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) personnel march during anniversary celebrations in Banda Aceh in 2024. Photo: AFP
Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) personnel march during anniversary celebrations in Banda Aceh in 2024. Photo: AFP
India

Reel politik: India tells filmmakers to drop ‘China-bashing’ as ties warm

India’s diplomatic thaw with China is causing films about the 2020 Galwan Valley clash to be retitled, reshot or shelved entirely.

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Thailand

Badly behaving visitors push Thailand to remove 60-day visa entry

Only 54 countries and territories will get a 30-day visa exemption as authorities aim to curb illegal activities involving foreign tourists.

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Artificial intelligence

Southeast Asia is chasing the AI boom, but at what cost?

A regional dash for digital dominance risks running headlong into an energy crunch and an existential threat to jobs.

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Illustration: Huy Truong
Malaysia

Malaysia’s tourism-dependent Langkawi fears rising costs are deterring visitors

Businesses ranging from boat operators to restaurants are seeing a drop in international visitors to the island.

A paraglider being pulled by a fast speed boat along the coast of Langkawi, Malaysia. Photo: John Brunton
A paraglider being pulled by a fast speed boat along the coast of Langkawi, Malaysia. Photo: John Brunton
Thailand

Thailand’s Singha beer dynasty rocked by sexual abuse allegations

The kingdom’s most-watched family scandal in years has prompted a sacking, a televised confessional – and a warning from media regulators.

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South Korea

Reality deficit: how South Korea lost the plot on AI

A viral ‘baseball goddess’, a wolf that never was and a deepfake epidemic. Generative AI is rewriting South Korea’s reality.

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Singapore

Human intelligence remains critical in AI era: Singapore minister

Foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan cautions against overdependence on large-language models to solve every problem.

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Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan speaks at a joint press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
Japan

Japan’s ‘ibasho’ sense of belonging helps disaster survivors heal, study finds

Research into the 2011 earthquake and tsunami shows fostering social connection and purpose helps survivors rebuild and staves off dementia.

A family retrieve belongings from their destroyed home in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan, on April 10, 2011. Photo: EPA
A family retrieve belongings from their destroyed home in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan, on April 10, 2011. Photo: EPA
Indonesia

Why Indonesia is expanding under-16 social media ban to e-commerce

The plan aims to protect children from online scams and impulse buying, but experts say it could be a major compliance test for platforms.

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South Korea

‘Like whale bones’: South Korea’s war memorial sparks conflict over symbolism

Critics argue the Korean war memorial should not be in a space in Seoul long associated with pro-democracy protests and its imperial past.

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Singapore

Singaporeans refute lack of hunger stereotype, warn of ‘self-fulfilling bias’

A recruiter’s comment on Singaporean workers supposedly lacking drive has sparked a fierce debate on evolving career goals and pay.

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People visit the Merlion statue in Singapore. A recruiter’s comment on the lack of hunger among Singaporean workers compared with their foreign counterparts has sparked a fierce debate. Photo: AFP
People visit the Merlion statue in Singapore. A recruiter’s comment on the lack of hunger among Singaporean workers compared with their foreign counterparts has sparked a fierce debate. Photo: AFP
Japan

Divorced from reality? Japan’s joint custody reform divides parents

Critics call the legal change a ‘cosmetic’ fix for a system that still allows one parent to simply disappear.

South Korea

‘She was just a human’: the world forgot K-pop’s suicides. These fans never did

Years after three high-profile K-pop suicides shook South Korea’s idol machine, the grief – and guilt – remains.

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The Philippines

‘Foreigner won’: Filipinos divided over pageant winner’s US roots

Some social media users have questioned Bea Millan-Windorski’s win, while others say being Filipino is about ‘culture, history and belonging’.

Bea Millan-Windorski will represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe pageant in November. Photo: Facebook/Miss Universe Philippines
Thailand

How RedNote, WeChat are reviving Thailand’s Chinese tourism market

Thai businesses are asking online experts to help reel in young big spenders who prize authenticity over heavily advertised content.

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Diners tuck into “phad kaphrao” at Phed Mark, a Bangkok kitchen with a pop-up feel. Photo: Aidan Jones
Diners tuck into “phad kaphrao” at Phed Mark, a Bangkok kitchen with a pop-up feel. Photo: Aidan Jones
Japan

Japan’s hikikomori recluses are growing old. So are their carers

What happens to more than 1 million social recluses in the world’s fastest-ageing society when the last person who cared for them is gone?

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Malaysia

Art of the steal: Malaysia unveils recovered 1MDB masterpieces

A Picasso and a Miro are among four works on show, representing a fraction of the US$4.5 billion looted from Malaysia’s 1MDB fund.

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Japan

Japan army unit’s gun-toting AI-generated elephant logo gets trampled by critics

Officers created the logo using ChatGPT based on the ‘elephant’, ‘cool’, ‘blue flame’, and ‘mammoth’ keywords, a media report says.

A patch of Japan’s 1st Infantry Regiment was withdrawn after an uproar over its design deemed as out of place with the image of the country’s military. Photo: X
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