Asia - South China Morning Post

Malaysian consumers and small business owners have welcomed the government’s decision to introduce subsidised diesel at 2.10 ringgit (50 US cents) per litre (0.3 gallons) nationwide from July 1, although some are seeking greater clarity on fuel allocations under the MyKad-based scheme.

Malaysian Tamilan Tow Truck Association president Matheva­anan Mohanaraja said the effectiveness of the initiative would ultimately depend on how much subsidised diesel each identity card holder was entitled to...

Australian police seized a record 2.7 tonnes of cocaine hidden in plastic tubs buried underground on the outskirts of Sydney, detectives said on Monday.

It was the largest cocaine haul in Australian history, a joint organised crime investigation force said in a statement.

Police allege a Sydney-based organised crime group arranged for a foreign vessel to offload the cocaine in northern Queensland before moving it to Sydney for distribution.

“Investigations into the origin of the drugs remain...

Canada is deploying two frigates and a submarine to the world’s largest multinational naval exercise this week, in what analysts describe as both a display of Indo-Pacific seriousness and a pointed rebuttal to Washington’s “freeriding” charge.

HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Regina and submarine HMCS Corner Brook are slated to join the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Rimpac) from Wednesday to July 31, which is expected to draw more than 25,000 military personnel from 31 countries, including Australia,...

China-Asean relations are usually described in two ways. One emphasises danger: the South China Sea, US-China rivalry, military pressure and risk of Southeast Asia being pulled into China’s orbit. The other emphasises opportunity: trade, infrastructure, investment, supply chains and shared growth.

Both are true. Neither is enough.

I recently joined a study tour by the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary China and the World to Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. During the trip, I was...

The spectacle of US President Donald Trump thanking China for staying “neutral” with regard to the US-Israeli war against Iran would have been unthinkable a year ago.

Yet at the Group of Seven summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 17, he credited Beijing – alongside Moscow – with preventing a full-blown catastrophe. His observation that China “could have sent in an oil ship with six destroyers alongside of it, on each side” but chose restraint, captured the essence of Beijing’s strategic...

Three fully laden India-linked supertankers have re-emerged in the Gulf of Oman, adding to increased reports of traffic moving both ways across the northern and southern routes of the Strait of Hormuz, while conflicting narratives over the status of transits persist.

The Desh Vibhor, Desh Vaibhav and Sanmar Herald were observed in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea on Sunday, after having been last seen signalling their attempt to cross the Strait of Hormuz late on Friday, according to...

The South Korean government and defence players are making last-ditch efforts to win Canada’s next-generation submarine project worth up to 60 trillion won (US$39.14 billion), as Ottawa is expected to select a preferred bidder by the end of this month.

Under the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, the Royal Canadian Navy’s ageing fleet of four Victoria-class submarines will be replaced with 12 new 3,000-tonne diesel-electric vessels. The comprehensive contract includes long-term maintenance,...

Within a week of its release, Netflix’s new Korean drama Teach You a Lesson, directed by Hong Jong-chan, topped the platform’s global non-English rankings for the week of June 1 to 7.

Adapted from the popular webtoon Get Schooled (2020), the 10-episode series about a government-backed vigilante unit trying to fix the wrongs in schools has quickly become a highly rated breakout hit.

Described in a Forbes article as “one of the most addictive feel-good dramas of the year”, the series has exploded...

Theatre chain Golden Village (GV) and film distributor Clover Films have added eight more screenings of Dear You in its original Teochew language in Singapore.

The additional screenings will take place from June 25 to 29 at GVmax at GV VivoCity. Tickets will go on sale at 3pm on June 22 via GV’s box office counters and online channels.

The move comes after all eight of the Chinese film’s previously announced Teochew-language screenings, held from June 18 to 21, sold out.

Directed and co-written...

Danny Loong did not fully grieve his father’s death until he became a parent himself.

For two decades after his father’s passing, Loong remembered him mostly as a provider and disciplinarian: a man who pushed hard, cared quietly and offered little by way of tenderness.

“He would ask me, ‘How come you’re not this, or that? How come you’re not studying hard enough?’ So when he passed away, I missed him, but I somehow couldn’t really grieve for him,” said Loong, 54.

“It was only after I had my own...