Asia - South China Morning Post

From political gaffes and diplomatic stumbles to courtroom fury and security breaches, many of Singapore’s viral moments in 2025 showed how quickly everyday incidents in the city state could turn into national focal points. Passionate online discussions have revealed deep concerns about power, accountability and how the country sees itself – and is seen by others.

Locker-room rage

Singapore’s acting sports minister came under fire after he was caught calling the Hong Kong men’s football team...

Two people have been arrested in Malaysia after a viral video showing a man wearing a headscarf while drinking alcohol at a hair salon triggered religious sensitivities in the Muslim-majority country.

The 28-second clip widely shared across social media showed a man wearing a green headscarf drinking a can of beer, prompting public anger over what many viewed as a mockery of Islamic practices.

Alcohol is considered haram, or forbidden, in Islam, and the headscarf is commonly associated with...

Traveller safety and outdated facilities remain pressing issues that could undermine Malaysia’s tourism ambitions if left unaddressed, according to Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing.

Tiong said many attractions lack basic infrastructure upgrades, particularly in destinations frequented by repeat visitors.

“Some foreign visitors tell us that when they came 10 years ago, the facilities were like this, and 10 years later, nothing has changed,” he added.

While Malaysia has produced...

A decision by a court in Switzerland this week to hear a climate lawsuit brought by four Indonesian fishermen against cement giant Holcim has been welcomed by campaigners as an important step for climate justice, even as they warned the legal fight could still stretch on for years.

On Monday, the Cantonal Court of Zug ruled that it would admit the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed to a full assessment on its merits.

The complaint accuses Holcim, a Swiss company based in the town of Zug, of...

Seoul has been putting its weight behind lowering the temperature on stalled US-North Korea denuclearisation talks. The issue remains fraught with tension: Washington has grown increasingly sceptical of the prospect of Pyongyang’s complete denuclearisation and attempts to engage North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have met with limited success.

For Pyongyang, any discussion of its nuclear programme appears to be a red line. Kim has brooked no compromise on the issue, which is domestically important...

A US federal judge on Tuesday upheld President Donald Trump’s US$100,000 fee to process H-1B visa applications, while also acknowledging it could “inflict significant harm on American businesses and institutions of higher education”.

In a 56-page opinion, US District Judge Beryl Howell wrote that the president has “broad statutory authority” to address “a problem he perceives to be a matter of economic and national security”.

The US$100,000 application fee announced in September gave companies...

A senior resident doctor at a government hospital in Shimla, the capital of India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh, has been suspended and charged by police after a viral video appeared to show him repeatedly striking a patient inside a ward, triggering an investigation and widespread public backlash.

The mobile phone footage, filmed by an attendant at the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital on Monday and widely shared on social media, shows a masked doctor punching a man lying on a...

South Korea and the US have agreed to pursue a separate agreement to formalise Seoul’s right to build nuclear-powered submarines, and working-level talks will begin early next year, the Asian country’s national security adviser said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after visiting Washington, Wi Sung-lac said he discussed the issue and other security arrangements with senior US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

His trip was aimed at...

Thai marines have rescued five starving animals – two lions and three bears – abandoned in cages at a bombed-out Cambodian casino complex amid a deepening border fight between the neighbours.

Security forces were conducting a sweep of the seized building on Sunday in Trat province when they made the grim discovery, prompting them to send a veterinary team to the site the following day.

Officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) evaluated the condition...

A Philippine cabinet minister has claimed that fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co intends to build a five-storey basement within a luxury home to store money, as more revelations of the widening flood-control corruption scandal surface.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla made the claim at a press conference on Tuesday, saying government checks of applications to a private village association and building permits suggested the Forbes Park property in Makati – one of Metro Manila’s most exclusive...