Asia - South China Morning Post

Early in the morning on June 18, a message from an unknown account slipped into the TikTok inbox of a flight attendant in Bangkok with a series of questions: “Are you flying to Australia? Do you do carry-for-hire? What is your rate?”

The 30-year-old, who flies ‌for a regional budget carrier, ignored the message and forgot about it – until Tuesday, when a Thai Airways flight attendant was charged with importing more than one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin into Australia hidden in several tote...

Almost anywhere you look these days, you can find claims from political, academic and other various sources that China’s supposed overproduction and exports of manufactured goods pose unfair advantages. These sources may also claim such unfair advantages justify protectionist countermeasures. But it is difficult to counter one’s own folly.

For decades, the US, much of Europe and even Japan, long proud of its manufacturing skills, have prided themselves on becoming “post-industrial” and...

When Chelsea Wang travelled to Seoul with two friends in late April, they barely visited any of the city’s palaces or tourist attractions.

Instead, their three-and-a-half-day itinerary revolved around duty-free shopping, beauty treatments, hair salons and cosmetics stores.

Wang arrived with a shopping list of her own: a backpack she estimated would cost at least 500 yuan ($70) less than in China, and a bottle of perfume at a similar discount.

One of her friends, Wu, a 28-year-old white-collar...

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a major tourism drawcard, has avoided being listed as endangered despite the United Nations reporting “utmost concern” about mass coral bleaching and the impact of climate change.

Canberra welcomed on Saturday the draft decision by Unesco to maintain the World Heritage status of the 2,300km-long (1,426-mile) reef stretching along the coast of Queensland state.

Unesco has been monitoring the reef annually since 2021, when it warned it was at risk of being placed on...

The life-size robotic elephants in Prasanth Prakashan’s backyard workshop have ears that flap, tails that swish and trunks that squirt water.

But that’s about all they have in common with their real-life counterparts revered across India as manifestations of the divine. The animatrons, crafted from fibreglass, iron and rubber, are intended to take the place of live elephants in Hindu temples.

The change pleases animal welfare activists but upsets those who passionately believe real elephants are...

How many crises does it take to change the way the world trades? For Asia, the answer appears to be three.

First Covid closed the factories that fed the logistics networks, then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine choked off Black Sea grain exports and sent energy prices spiralling.

Now, the US-Israel war on Iran may have hammered the final nail in the coffin of “just in time” supply chains that some economists say are no longer fit for purpose.

“Taken together, they show that serious disruption is now...

For 19 seasons, the Malaysian Grand Prix made Sepang International Circuit one of Asia’s premier racing venues.

Sepang opened in 1999 as an emblem of a Southeast Asian nation that was on the up at the time. But the government ended its support for the Formula One (F1) race in 2017, closing a high-speed era that brought the eyes of tens of millions of people across the world to Malaysia.

For home-grown drivers, however, their motorsport dreams have not reached a chequered flag since F1 left...

Five years into her marriage to a finance executive, Clare* is still doing the sums on leaving behind a life unencumbered by the high price of parenthood.

At 31, the Singaporean doctor instead finds herself wondering if she will feel different about their “dink” (dual income, no kids) lifestyle in another three years.

“The thought of having kids also feels more like an obligation just to complete the nuclear family,” she said. “I see so many more disadvantages about having children, rather than...

Adli Hakimi knows the first obstacle in Johor’s state election is not the ballot box, but the Causeway.

The 26-year-old nurse is among Johor’s workers based in the city state – often called “SGD fighters” online for earning stronger Singapore-dollar wages – who are weighing leave, shifts and border queues before polling day on July 11.

For Malaysia, the challenge is keeping immigration glitches and Causeway congestion at bay so that these voters can take part in one of the country’s most closely...

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday said Malaysia would maintain its legal pursuit of Jho Low even if the fugitive financier were to receive a US presidential pardon.

Low, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, was charged in 2018 with conspiring to launder billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund and violating anti-bribery laws in Malaysia.

He also reportedly used the stolen loot to gain access to Hollywood A-listers and buy luxury homes, a superyacht and fine art...