Asia - South China Morning Post

A “back to school”-themed Zumba session in Malaysia is being investigated by police and Islamic authorities after viral footage showing headscarf-wearing instructors dressed in revealing attire piqued conservatives’ anger.

The aerobics session, live-streamed on Saturday morning, quickly triggered a social media pile-on, with critics accusing the organisers of violating religious and public decency norms in the Muslim-majority country.

On Sunday, Selangor’s Islamic Religious Department (JAIS)...

Bangladesh’s student leaders, one of the main driving forces behind the mass protests that brought down former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024, now face an uncertain political future.

Despite their central role in the uprising, the youth movement has been granted only a small share of parliamentary seats under a new electoral alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami – an Islamist party that was long politically marginalised but has re-emerged as a central player.

Under the agreement, the student-led...

When Singapore’s trade minister Gan Kim Yong revealed that locals owned nearly 90 per cent of registered retail businesses in the city state while Chinese nationals came in second at a distant 3 per cent, the figures drew mixed reactions from the public and analysts.

The discourse online centred on what the statistics implied – critics felt that though the proportion of foreign-owned entities, especially from China, might be minuscule, most could actually be big brands with multiple outlets,...

Two Chinese nationals working in Malaysia are facing income tax bills amounting to 748,073.84 ringgit (US$184,595) and 842,118.84 ringgit, respectively, after their employer allegedly used their identities to submit false salary information to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).

Li Juan, 42, discovered the issue when she tried to extend her work permit, while the other victim, Chen Bi Ling, 40, who was married to a Malaysian, found out about it when she was extending her spouse’s visa.

Speaking at...

More than eight decades after her mother narrowly survived the sinking of the steamer Tsushima Maru, Tsugiko Taira says the wreck still speaks to her. She believes artefacts lying on the seabed could give new voice to one of the worst civilian maritime tragedies of World War II.

Taira’s reflections come as Japan’s government considers whether to retrieve items from the wreck for public display. Officials have conducted a survey and, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, will...

In 1900, most people lived without electricity, antibiotics or universal education. Today, life expectancy is decades longer, literacy and access to medicine are near universal in many regions, and hundreds of millions have entered the global middle class.

This progress was built through science, industry, public health, education and the hard work of ordinary people who believed tomorrow could be better. The question now is whether humanity can achieve a still more audacious goal: a world in...

Cyberscam networks in Cambodia have freed more than 400 Indonesians this month, Jakarta said on Monday, after Phnom Penh announced a fresh crackdown on the illicit industry.

Scammers working from hubs across Southeast Asia, some willingly and others trafficked, lure internet users globally into fake romances and cryptocurrency investments, netting tens of billions of dollars each year.

Some foreign nationals have left suspected scam compounds across Cambodia this month as the government pledged...

The first impeachment complaint against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr was filed on Monday, a move observers said may be aimed as much at pre-empting stronger challenges as at holding the president to account.

Filed by lawyer Andre de Jesus, the complaint accuses Marcos of constitutional violations, corruption and betrayal of public trust, citing alleged failures to veto unconstitutional budget provisions and address anomalous flood-control projects.

However, several political figures...

In Taruka village in central Nepal, locals celebrated a yearly ancient bullfighting tradition on January 15.

The event is held during the Hindu harvest festival of Maghe Sankranti which usually falls in January. But some animal activists warned that the activity amounted to animal cruelty.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has staked her political survival on a high-risk snap general election, wagering that her personal approval ratings can overcome the legacy of her scandal-plagued party.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Takaichi confirmed she would dissolve the House of Representatives on Friday – the opening day of the parliamentary session – paving the way for a nationwide vote on February 8.

“I will put my post on the line and seek the voters’ judgment on...