People
Hair today, gone tomorrow? China smuggling cuts into India’s human-hair trade
Renowned for its wigs and hair extensions, India is the world’s largest exporter of human hair. But processing jobs have been drying up in the South Asian nation, as China-linked smugglers run rampant.
Is South Korea’s war on ‘killer’ exam questions an answer to student stress?
Officials are cracking down on after-school study centres and targeting ‘killer questions’ as part of education reforms ordered by President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Taylor Swift to only play Singapore in Southeast Asia. Who and what’s to blame?
Singapore is the only Southeast Asian stop for the US singer, to the disappointment of many fans in the region who cannot afford to fly there to see her.
Chinese tourists in Thailand face jail for stepping on coral, touching starfish
Thai social media users directed their ire at ‘wild Chinese tour groups’, while others blamed diving instructors for not telling guests about the laws.
Obsessed by TV killings, South Korean woman stabs victim to ‘give murder a try’
The 23-year-old also scored high points in psychoanalysis tests, with results similar to the country’s most infamous serial killers, investigators said.
LGBTQ in Asia’s Muslim-majority nations ‘rightfully paranoid’ amid Pride Month
Across Asia’s Muslim nations, Pride Month has remained muted, with LGBTQ events an easy target for religious hardliners and opportunistic politicians.
Pink Dot: Singapore’s LGBTQ activists eye ‘long road’ to equality
Attendees at the event – now in its 15th year – turned up to send a clear signal of the long road ahead for LGBTQ rights in the country even after Singapore last year repealed the archaic Section 377A law.
Blind singer who wowed Simon Cowell gives hope to Indonesians with music dreams
She won Indonesia’s Got Talent at age 8. Now, Putri Ariani is seeking to dominate the US version of the show, having already wowed Simon Cowell.
‘Crossing the line’: Jocelyn Chia saga shows limits of Asia’s sense of humour
From India to Singapore, some comics say the business of humour is an increasingly risky one, as the line separating ‘offensive’ and ‘illegal’ becomes blurred.
South Korean babies found dead in freezer in search for 2,236 ‘missing’ infants
The authorities are investigating the possibility of widespread infanticide after case comes to light of a mother accused of strangling two of her babies, then placing their bodies in her freezer.
Why Indonesians say Dutch recognition of 1945 independence is a ‘huge insult’
Dutch PM Mark Rutte’s statement, which ‘would not change any existing legal grounds’, is seen as the Netherlands avoiding its responsibility to make reparations for its colonial rule over Indonesia.
Forget UK, North America — Asia is most important to New Zealanders, poll finds
New Zealand’s affinity with Asia could be explained by similarities in cultures and values, says executive director of non-profit organisation that conducted the annual survey.
As Coldplay sells out 6 shows in Singapore, Malaysians lament hardline opposition
Extended run is a major boost for Singapore’s 55,000-seat National Stadium, which was criticised for being a white elephant unable to attract top-tier events
‘Totally groundless’? South Korea investigates secret Chinese ‘police stations’
China’s embassy in Seoul slammed allegations that three ‘so-called secret police stations’ had been set up in South Korea. One analyst said Seoul was fed up with ‘letting Chinese agents operate without restraints’.
‘I come here to be myself’: fetish parties never a drag at Tokyo’s Department H
Department H is a monthly fetish event at the Tokyo Kinema Club, with themes ranging from April Fool’s Day and sumo wrestling to ‘June brides’.
Brewing change: India’s tea pickers turn to beauty to fend off sex traffickers
Since selling her bicycle at 15 to fund a beauty course so she could teach others about make-up, West Bengal’s Sukla Debnath has helped train more than 5,000 women to know rights and avoid falling prey to traffickers.
Indonesia’s shoppers snap up second-hand clothes as ‘thrifting’ crackdown looms
The crackdown could devastate Indonesia’s informal gig sector, which accounts for around 60 per cent of the country’s economy according to the World Bank.
US urges softer tack towards Asian nationals tricked into becoming scammers
An annual human trafficking report by the US urges governments to protect survivors of trafficking from ‘inappropriate punishment and further victimisation’.
Harvey Norman Ossia founder George Goh to run for president in Singapore
Entrepreneur George Goh says it is time for a ‘truly independent person’ to be the country’s president as he questions whether PAP heavyweight Tharman Shanmugaratnam is the right man for the job.
700kg ‘ice’ haul sparks fears of Japanese yakuza links with Chinese triads
The drugs are believed to have come from China, raising concerns Chinese gangsters could seek to gain a greater foothold in Japan.