Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has stripped Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh of his role as the city state’s first Leader of the Opposition following Singh’s conviction for lying under oath to a parliamentary committee. Singh assumed the official role in 2020 following the general election where his party secured a record 10 elected seats in parliament. Then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong announced during a press conference that Singh will be provided with staff and...

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Hong Kong labour authorities have suspended the use of elevating platforms at a construction site where a 65-year-old worker died after getting trapped between the device’s railing and a wall. The Labour Department on Thursday said it was “saddened” by the death and had launched an investigation to identify the cause of the accident that took place at the Victoria Blossom housing project on Shing Fung Lane in Kai Tak on Wednesday afternoon. A spokesman said the department had issued suspension...

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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s back-to-back visits to China and Japan suggest a “pragmatic approach” to reset ties with both countries as tensions soar between Beijing and Tokyo, analysts said. Lee met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday during a two-day trip to Japan. Speaking to reporters after their summit in Nara – Takaichi’s hometown – Lee said there was “unprecedented turmoil” in the global political landscape and trade order. He stressed the need for South Korea and...

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Washington’s recent offer of US$45 million in funding to reinforce the Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire is a sign that the US is scrambling to regain the upper hand over China in mediating the rift between the Southeast Asian neighbours, according to analysts. Announcing the funding on Friday, Michael DeSombre, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the Thai and Cambodian governments would strive to implement the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords, signed last year when US...

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Malaysia is amenable to lifting its ban on Grok – but only if Elon Musk’s microblogging site X proves that its AI chatbot can no longer be used to generate sexualised images of women and minors, according to its communications minister. “X must prove that there will no longer be incidents of videos or images that can be misused by users. If that is settled, we can release the temporary ban,” Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Thursday. Over the weekend, Malaysia and Indonesia became...

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Chinese semiconductor start-up SpacemiT, fresh off an over US$86 million funding round, is gearing up for mass production of its new RISC-V chips, using an architecture rivalling Intel’s and Arm’s, which is seen as Beijing’s hope for achieving chip self-sufficiency. The Hangzhou-based company recently completed a series B funding round raising more than 600 million yuan from investors, including fellow Hangzhou firm Huaxia Hengtian, the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund...

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We have selected seven Lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘Umami, salty, stinky’: how 3 flavours define China’s Ningbo cuisine Located directly south of Shanghai across Hangzhou Bay, Ningbo is just a two-hour ride away from China’s biggest city on the high-speed rail. For many, the first thing that may come to mind is the city’s famous tangyuan (glutinous rice dumplings). But...

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For the very rich, a dream car like a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche used to cost 2.5 million ringgit (US$617,240) in Langkawi, a duty-free island in Malaysia’s Kedah state. They will now cost about 5 million ringgit. Industry players say the federal government’s move to abolish tax exemptions for luxury vehicles priced above 300,000 ringgit in Langkawi is expected to hurt the automotive sector and reduce long-term government revenue. Industry veteran Mohamad Azhar Mohd Jamil said the decision...

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Map applications used by seven of eight power bank rental platforms display inaccurate navigation or location data, which may cause delays and extra charges for users, Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has found. The Consumer Council on Thursday also found a significant variance in rental fees across different stations within the same platforms, with charges for a 30-minute rental differing by nearly 1.3 times and the daily cap on charges differing by more than 2.3 times. “When in urgent need of a...

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China is recruiting social workers for disputed islands in the South China Sea. According to a notice published on Monday, the government of Sansha, the authority set up to administer the disputed territories, said it was looking for 11 “community workers” to post on eight reefs and islands in the Paracel and the Spratly islands. The territories include Woody Island, the administrative centre of the disputed territories, and Mischief Reef, which is home to a large military base. The notice was...

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A 50-year-old Japanese woman, who was mocked for being “ugly” as a child, has shunned cosmetic surgery and spent 13 years taking more than 30,000 selfies to study make-up, skincare and fashion. The ridiculing left Kozue Sakurada with deep emotional scars, but her persistence has inspired countless people online. A male classmate once stared at her and repeated the word “ugly” to her face 10 times. Other boys even made up a parody of a children’s song to mock her large nose. By her early...

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Extra costs and the use of public resources may be incurred under the Hong Kong government’s proposed moves to increase professional scrutiny of building maintenance projects following the deadly Tai Po inferno, a lawmaker has said, calling for further discussion. Election Committee lawmaker Andrew Lam Siu-lo, a town planner by training, said on Thursday that expanding the Urban Renewal Authority’s (URA) role in such projects might require extra time and money, urging the government and...

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