Asia - South China Morning Post

A labour saga in Singapore involving migrant workers going unpaid for months after a contractor fled the country has raised questions about wage policies for unskilled staff, even as authorities respond with the city state’s characteristic speed and efficiency.

Last week, hundreds of migrant workers in services such as air conditioning, plumbing and construction showed up at the Ministry of Manpower building in a rare labour confrontation in the city state.

On Sunday, Minister of State for...

Malaysia’s push to attract Chinese tourists is increasingly being shaped by the same forces influencing their itineraries: short-form videos, lifestyle apps, online personalities and newly opened routes from cities beyond China’s largest travel hubs.

Tourism Malaysia confirmed the focus in a statement, saying its Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign in China encompassed “digital marketing, key opinion leader (KOL) collaborations, short-video content and themed initiatives”.

The agency’s response...

Malaysia has set up a special task force to tackle potential disruptions on the causeway linking Johor to Singapore ahead of a state election next month.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said ensuring smooth cross-border movement is his ministry’s “highest priority” as tens of thousands of Malaysians are expected to return home to cast their votes in the Johor state election on July 11.

“We are not taking any chances. We have Plan A and Plan B ready to go. That is the directive I have...

South Korea rolled out sweeping chip and AI megaprojects on Monday, as President Lee Jae Myung pledged to cement overwhelming industry leadership with investments worth more than US$576 billion over several years.

The announcement marks ⁠Lee’s boldest push yet to align South Korea’s AI and chip ambitions with ‌his pledge to narrow regional disparities and revive economies beyond the Seoul metropolitan area.

Lee was joined by the leaders of ‌Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world’s two...

Australia and Vanuatu signed a sweeping economic and security agreement on Monday that bars the establishment of any foreign military base on the Pacific island.

Vanuatu is at the centre of strategic rivalry between China and US allies in the South Pacific, and Australia has expressed concern that Beijing is seeking a permanent security presence in the region.

The agreement commits Australia to greater economic support for Vanuatu, whose largest external creditor is China, and it stops a foreign...

She has a young woman’s voice, a friendly face and a police chief’s badge. Her name is “AIko” and she may be Japan’s most unconventional weapon in a war against fraud that cost the country a record US$2 billion last year.

AIko – a blend of the abbreviation for artificial intelligence and “ko”, the Japanese feminine name suffix – made her public debut in late May on Osaka Prefectural Police’s YouTube channel, warning viewers about the tactics used by scammers posing as police officers,...

Ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return ⁠to Bangladesh this year, brushing ⁠aside a death sentence handed down ⁠in absentia and denouncing the ruling as “illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated”.

Hasina, 78, who fled to India after a student-led uprising ousted her government in August 2024, said in an interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV that she was undeterred by the risk ‌and would overcome “every obstacle and every conspiracy” to return home.

“I want to...

People in the Philippines are flocking to install solar power on rooftops and escape the burden of soaring electricity prices, making it the world’s biggest spender on solar panels since the war in Iran started.

Top power distributor Meralco has raised prices by 10 per cent since the Middle East conflict began in late February. Now, a median household spends around 12 per cent of monthly ‌income on electricity, assuming it consumes 200 kilowatt-hours – around the monthly average for three...

Earlier this year, a screenshot of a domestic airfare went viral in the Philippines for all the wrong reasons.

The flight was from Manila to Batanes, the country’s remote northern tip. The price: 27,000 pesos (US$440) – enough to fly to Taipei or Hanoi, check into a decent hotel and still have money for dinner.

That disconnect sits awkwardly alongside Manila’s latest effort to rev up domestic travel.

On Friday, the Department of Tourism launched “Discover More to Love”, a campaign of discounted...

Vietnam is increasingly using broadly written laws to arrest activists, dissidents and others that authorities consider a threat to the Communist Party’s rule, according to a new analysis released on Monday by a human rights group.

The 88 Project, which focuses on rights issues in Vietnam, documented 56 such arrests last year, the third consecutive year of increases and double the number in 2022. The report included only arrests where the defendant could be identified by name and the case...