WTF is Up in Southeast Asia + Hong Kong

Indonesian celebrity preacher Abdul Somad can either be charismatic or controversial, depending on who you ask. But Singapore is apparently not a fan of his colorful preachings that they denied him and his party entry into the Little Red Dot, reportedly due to his "extremist and segregationist teachings," an affront to the city-state's multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Was the reaction a bit extreme or warranted? Coconuts Singapore's Carolyn Teo weighs in. Tune in!

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Other stories include:

Consumer Council finds traces of banned veterinary drug by-product in 3 sausage brands, prohibited fragrances in 4 hair mask models | Puppy 'charged' with getting lost by Lumphini cops | Vegetable seller beats powerful political family to become town's mayor in the Philippines | Feel free to take off your mask outdoors: President Jokowi | Scorching weather, sweating Singapore to continue | Ubud chef returns home after being scammed and left in limbo for days in Singapore

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

Things are looking grim for democracy in the Philippines. The specter of the Marcos dictatorship that had loomed over the past few decades has birthed, barring any last-minute surprises, the country's next president. How did Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. win by an unprecedented landslide? Did his challengers ever stand a chance? We spoke to political scientist Cleve Arguelles to make sense of the Filipino presidential election, and what a Bongbong presidency means for the country. Tune in!

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Other stories include:

Protesters storm election commission office amid impending Marcos win over reports of irregularities at polls | Royal Thai Army bans Lazada deliveries over royal offense | Two Yangon journalists in legal limbo after 9 months in Insein Prison | Singapore's national COVID tracking may return: minister | Podcaster Deddy Corbuzier down nearly 9 million followers on Instagram following gay couple interview backlash | Aussie model and marriage equality campaigner Ryan Channing dies in Bali | Scalpers jack up Mirror concert tickets to as high as HK$438,102

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

Did you know that we consume a credit card's worth of plastic each week? Or that we can easily save thousands of bottles by just carrying a water tumbler? There's a lot of chatter about plastic pollution, and people can't even seem to agree on the best way to reduce plastic! So we spoke to Filipina actress, UN Goodwill Ambassador for Environment Programme, and The Podcast of Plastic host Antoinette Taus as she sheds light on the plastic waste problem in Asia-Pacific. Tune in!

Other stories include:

Russian 'yogi' apologizes for posing naked on sacred Balinese tree, turns herself over to police | Shake Shack coming to Bangkok | Beaches & pools to reopen in Hong Kong on May 5, bars & karaoke lounges can open from May 19 | KPK nabs Bogor Regent Ade Yasin over bribery suspicion | Despite risk of expulsion, Iglesia ni Cristo members openly defy church leaders' endorsement of Bongbong Marcos-Sara Duterte tandem | Singapore publisher to recall Chinese books with pentagram | NUG's nuts cradled by 'ball lifter' exile media: Tat spox

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

Tragic news out of Singapore this week, as the state executed a mentally impaired Malaysian man despite multiple appeals and public protests. Singapore has resumed executing prisoners on death row after a two-year pause due to the pandemic, and we spoke with activist Kokila Annamalai who shared with us the struggles and the race against time to save them and uphold basic human rights. Tune in!

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Other stories include:

Singapore executes 'low IQ' prisoner despite desperate appeals | Bangkok cops fail to arrest 'royalists' who beat reporter | Tropical cyclone may form over South China Sea this weekend: HKO | Power to the People: Citizens, not officials, raise Robredo's and Pangilinan's hands | Major stonks for Mayora after Kopiko makes appearance at Elon Musk-Luhut Pandjaitan meeting | Aung San Suu Kyi convicted of corruption by junta court, gets 5 more years | 'Fearless child of God' faces deportation over butt-naked dance on Bali's Mount Batur: officials

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

This week on the Coconuts Podcast, we spoke to Perth-based journalist Kevin Ng, who wrote a gripping report on tailing the activities of a network of online sexual abusers targeting Chinese-Indonesian women. Just how many of these creeps are there? Are online platforms doing enough? Tune in to find out more.

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Other stories include:

At Coachella, teen rapper Milli feeds Thai pride with a bowl of mango sticky rice (Video) | HK actress embroiled in blackface controversy apologizes for 'insensitive' portrayal of Filipina domestic worker | Singapore church defends singing Christian on flight | Filipinos flood Twitter with 'Leni Withdraw' memes after lagging candidates gang up on Robredo | Bali officials deny reports regarding plan to increase visa on arrival fees | Suu Kyi lawyer dismisses talk of 'dialogue' with junta | Man who miraculously survived his car colliding with KRL Commuterline train may face legal consequences

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

We're back with Fresh Tunes Friday this week, and in the virtual guest chair was Serbian pop artist/fashion designer Didi J, who recently dropped her new single 'Murcielago' (yes, named after the supercar). She talks to us about what it was like collaborating with Iggy Azalea for the track, her previous collaborations with other global pop superstars like Shaggy, as well as her plans for world domination (and the hard work necessary to achieve it). Tune in!

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Other stories include:

Kinder recall widens as salmonella scare spreads in Singapore | Bangkok's biggest '420' fest delayed until cannabis no longer criminal in June | Epidemic of sexual harassment on Indonesian campuses continues due to culture of impunity | Owners face up to HK$10,000 fine and 6 months in jail if they refuse to surrender pet for disease control | Bali prison inmate ordered crystal meth hidden in milk via bike taxi app | In Japan, Filipinos close down the famous Shibuya Crossing to march for Leni-Kiko | Guard killed in attack on junta leader's compound

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

Hong Kong's divisive leader Carrie Lam made headlines when she announced that she was no longer seeking a second term. We wanted to know what that was all about, so Coconuts Hong Kong's Peace Chiu hopped on to give us the lowdown on Hong Kong's political landscape.

We've also got Coconuts Bangkok's Nicky Tanskul (sans croc head) bringing his own fresh energy to the podcast while Andra sips from coconuts away in paradise. Tune in!

Other stories include:

Who killed the Berawa beach dogs? | Police find woman caught red-handed stealing tourist's necklace near Asoke (Video) | Fined for watching too much porn? Cybersecurity watchdog warns about intricate phishing scam | Indonesian director Joko Anwar to make his Hollywood debut through 'Fritzchen' | Jollibee is opening its first Aussie branch in Sydney | 400+ rally against death penalty after Singapore executes prisoner | Junta sentenced 24 Yangon youths to death last month - including two boys

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

The Coconuts Podcast has had the honor to talk to Singapore's most cherished activist icons, Constance Singam, as she shares stories of her work that has turned tides in Singapore, the country's evolving civil rights movement, and why her re-issued memoir is a must-read for today's young Singaporeans. Tune in!

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Other stories include:

A woman scorned: Wife sells cheating husband's items on Facebook live | Male performer in OnlyFans star's videos may be charged: police | Man gets punched and kicked over 30 times in Mong Kok, bystanders just look on | Buleleng police officer went full monty at traffic stop | Thailand will not lift ban on vaping, citing health threat | Booze ban lifted, masks optional as Omicron subsides: PM Lee | ASSK quarantined after associates contract COVID-19: report

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

We've all read news reports and seen the images of the horrors that have unfolded in Ukraine. But few know what it's like to cope with the constant fear of imminent death that comes with living in a war zone like Filipina travel blogger Krysten Boado, who has elected to stay with her loved ones in Ukraine. Amid the endless doom, Krysten also shared with us about the things that instill hope and keep her going. Tune in!

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Other stories include:

The quirks of Mandalika GP: Rain shaman, litter dominate post-race discussions | No, an American reporter did not interview Prayuth | Foreign domestic worker YouTuber draws fans with humorous, spot-on videos about struggles of working in Hong Kong | Baby dies in utero after pregnant woman 'left unattended' at NUH: husband | 'They don't need to feel sad': Indonesian woman smiles from ear-to-ear after slitting her children's throats | Ariana Grande shares clips of 137k-strong Pinoys singing 'Break Free' at Leni-Kiko Pasig rally | Singapore's 'Rave Republic' cancels Naypyidaw show over human rights abuses

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!

It's another Fresh Tunes Friday! We're talking to newly signed Universal Music Singapore's YAØ, who's gotten us into the groove with his newest single "Lose Face." The artist dishes on his take about the Asian concept of "losing face," his retro musical influences, and other tidbits like whose album he would save in a fire. Tune in!

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Other stories include:

Hong Kong Police tell British activist to take down website for breaching national security law or face jail time | Singapore 'samurai' arrested after attacking man and cars with sword (Videos)

| Skeletal remains of Spanish man found in dilapidated Nusa Dua house | Fantastic name of Myanmar junta's Sinopharm clone is revealed | Nusantara won't be built in a day. Try 15-20 years, Jokowi says | Philippines' beloved Shakey's - and its thin-crust pizza - has finally opened in Singapore | Will Lisa Blackpink face the same Thai charges for promoting alcohol? Very Unlikely.

The Coconuts Podcast delivers impactful, weird, and wonderful reporting by our journalists on the ground in eight cities: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon, and Bali. Listen to headline news and insightful interviews on matters large and small, designed for people located in - or curious about - Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

The Coconuts Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe today!