Asia - South China Morning Post

The site of 38 Oxley Road was “more than just the home” of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew – it was where Singapore’s independence movement took shape, a government advisory board said on Monday.

The Preservation of Sites and Monuments Advisory Board assessed the site as having “strong national significance worthy of preservation as a national monument”, describing it as a foundational part of Singapore’s independence that is “not represented by any other site or monument”.

The site...

A Chinese historical film about Japan’s wartime atrocities has drawn criticism not for its subject matter, but over what many viewers have described as a clumsy portrayal of one of the darkest chapters of World War II.

731 – a drama centred on the Imperial Japanese Army’s notorious biological warfare unit that conducted experiments on Chinese civilians under the guise of disease prevention – premiered on September 18 to coincide with the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident, the false-flag...

A 69-year-old woman arrested for a 1999 murder in Nagoya, central Japan, told investigators that she had long feared being caught and felt depressed each year as the anniversary of the killing approached, police said on Monday.

Kumiko Yasufuku was arrested on Friday on suspicion of killing Namiko Takaba, then a 32-year-old housewife, at the victim’s flat 26 years ago. The suspect was identified by the victim’s husband as his former high school classmate.

“I felt uneasy, and my heart sank...

Roblox has pledged to improve safety through the use of artificial intelligence technology and human monitoring after a Malaysian boy allegedly stabbed his brother over a dispute linked to the online gaming platform.

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the company expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Malaysian government, particularly on data sharing and compliance with regulations.

In a social media post on Monday, Yeoh raised her concerns over child safety on the popular...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the development of a 600 million ringgit (US$143 million) super magnet manufacturing facility in the state of Pahang would strengthen the nation’s rare earth sector, state media reported.

In July, Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths and South Korea’s JS Link signed a deal to develop a 3,000-tonne (3,300-ton) neodymium magnet manufacturing facility near Lynas’ advanced materials plant in Malaysia’s Kuantan district.

Anwar said Malaysia’s trade minister would...

A wave of satire on American late-night television over South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s gift of a replica Silla-era gold crown to US President Donald Trump has provoked strong reactions in the country, highlighting lingering sensitivities amid recent strains in the alliance over tariffs and labour issues.

The ornate replica crown, presented during the South Korea-US talks on Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province, quickly attracted...

Students, white-collar workers and families filled the tables during a recent dinner rush at a branch of Saizeriya – a Japanese-owned chain of Italian restaurants – in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

In the same shopping district, a queue stretched outside a Sushiro conveyor belt sushi restaurant at 8pm. “We waited two hours for a seat, but it was worth it,” said one diner.

Such scenes present a contrast to China’s generally sluggish catering market, with analysts saying that budget...

Filipinos have placed higher levels of trust in the coastguard and the armed forces despite public rows between officials and pro-Duterte politicians over the country’s deepening ties with the US, according to the latest poll.

Among the 1,200 people surveyed by research firm OCTA in September, 75 per cent expressed satisfaction with the Philippine coastguard’s (PCG) performance over the past three months and 71 per cent said they trusted the outfit.

The results, released on October 22, also...

To stand out among the dizzying array of sweet treats that pack supermarket freezers from the likes of Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s, an ice cream brand needs more than just flavour, says Thai entrepreneur Danupon Umnouypreechakul. It needs a story that sings.

His company, Lamoon Group, is a boutique made-in-Thailand contender in an industry of global heavyweights. Its unique approach connects each flavour to the farmers who grow the ingredients, offering increasingly discerning – and higher...

The CEO of Singapore Telecommunications-owned Optus apologised to Australia’s parliament for an emergency number outage that was linked to four deaths but declined to stand down, citing a need for stability.

Stephen Rue started in the role a year ago following a massive cyberattack and separate half-day outage which resulted in the previous CEO leaving.

On September 18, Optus said a failure of its “000” emergency line affected thousands of people and four died as a result of the inability to...