It is easy to be critical of Singapores seemingly never-ending property cooling measures. Since 2009, the government has intervened at least 15 times in an effort to take the heat out of the city states residential real estate market. Despite this, average prices of second-hand private properties as well as those built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), Singapores public housing authority, keep hitting new highs. Even historically cheap suburban areas are no longer a budget...

The death toll from the collapse of a school in Indonesia last week has climbed to 54 people as rescuers have cleared nearly all of the debris, rescue authorities said on Monday, in the countrys deadliest disaster this year. Piles of concrete caved in on hundreds of mostly teenage boys after the collapse of the Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the Indonesian town of Sidoarjo, in East Java province, trapping and later killing them. Using excavators, rescuers late on Sunday cleared 80 per...

The United States is deepening its military presence in the Philippines with a planned upgrade to a naval base in Palawan, a strategically vital island facing the South China Sea that already hosts American-funded boat hubs and airstrips. While some observers view the growing American presence as a pragmatic move to enhance the Philippines defence capabilities, others caution that the strategy risks creating a precarious dependency under a transactional US administration and leaves Manila...

Six years after Nusantara was unveiled as Indonesias future capital and a symbol of national transformation, President Prabowo Subianto has redefined its purpose, prompting debate over the fate of the megaproject and the legacy of his predecessor. Under a presidential regulation Prabowo signed in late June, but made public only in September, Nusantara has been reclassified as Indonesias political capital a phrase absent from existing legislation. The regulation, which outlines development...

Indonesia has revoked a suspension on TikToks local operating licence after the social media platform shared data requested by the government. The company provided data related to TikTok Live traffic escalation and monetisation activity during the period of August 25-30, according to Alexander Sabar, a director general at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs. As the obligations are met, the ministry ends the licence suspension, Sabar said in a statement on Saturday, adding that...

As the worlds two largest economies drift further apart, Malaysias top trade official has reached a sobering conclusion about what that means for Southeast Asia: businesses must build not one, but two kitchens to survive. Our factories, our companies have to start preparing for having two kitchens, Tengku Zafrul Aziz told This Week in Asia an allusion to the reality that firms must now simultaneously cater to both American and Chinese demands and their increasingly divergent rules. The...

A wave of fake news and conspiracy theories has taken aim at the Philippine military, with viral claims of coup plots, foreign interference and high-level defections spreading rapidly on social media. Observers warn the campaign is fuelling political instability by exploiting public outrage over recent major corruption scandals. Several trace the effort to a network of loyalists and influencers aligned with former president Rodrigo Duterte, the chief political rival of President Ferdinand ..

The Philippine military is now 3D-printing drones in preparation for future warfare and strengthening foreign partnerships, with Manila recently being recognised by Indo-Pacific defence ministers as a frontliner in keeping the region free and open. Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff General Romeo Brawner Jnr told the Foreign Correspondents Association on Friday that the 3D initiative had been in place since last year, acknowledging it was still not on a large or sophisticated scale as the objective...

As the Philippines grapples with the fallout of a deadly earthquake and two destructive typhoons in less than a fortnight, analysts have criticised officials for their poor disaster management, comparing the damage with the flaws exposed by the ongoing flood-control scandal. The latest disasters have highlighted shortcomings ranging from weak enforcement of building codes to chronic underfunding of related scientific programmes, according to the analysts. Those weaknesses were on full display...

The death toll in an Indonesian school collapse rose to 13 on Friday, officials said, but dozens were still believed buried under the rubble without signs of life days after the disaster. Distraught families have been waiting anxiously near the site in the town of Sidoarjo, on Indonesias island of Java, hoping to receive any news of their loved ones since the building collapsed on Monday. On Friday some argued with rescuers, angrily calling for them to speed up the desperate rescue operation,...

As the milestones to limit global heating crumble and America the worlds second-largest consumer of fossil fuels abandons climate goals, policymakers from Asia have gathered at Bangkoks Climate Action Week to discuss ways people can protect their region from the coming storm. Climate scientists have warned global temperatures are likely to exceed the 1.5 degree Celsius rise above pre-industrial levels at some point over the coming five years. That is well on track to hit 2 degrees,...

Indonesia said it had suspended TikToks registration status as an electronic system provider after it failed to hand over all data relating to the use of its live stream feature, though the social media app was still accessible to users on Friday. Alexander Sabar, an official at Indonesias communications and digital ministry, said in a statement that some accounts with ties to online gambling activities used TikToks live stream feature during recent national protests and monetised...

A Thai gunman was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the murder of a Cambodian opposition politician in Bangkok, a judge said. French national Lim Kimya, a former opposition lawmaker in Cambodia, was shot dead on January 7 by Ekkalak Paenoi as the ex-MP visited Bangkok with his wife. Cambodian opposition figures have accused the countrys powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting. This week, Lim Kimyas widow called for a full accounting of who was behind it. The actions of...

As Singapore welcomes the return of the Formula One Grand Prix from Friday to Sunday, with road closures downtown and shopping centres brimming with fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite drivers, the high-octane buzz is once again in full swing. Now in its 16th year, F1s inaugural night race has become one of the city states flagship international events. But with each edition costing more than S$100 million (US$78 million), the economic payoff is increasingly being viewed through...

For over a decade, commentators have warned of Chinas looming economic decline. Today, the challenges are real: US-China trade frictions, weak household consumption, an overstretched property sector and a shrinking workforce. Making money in China may feel harder than before. Yet to see China solely through the lens of stagnation is to miss the profound transformation under way. Far from collapsing, China is restructuring. More importantly, it has nurtured a generation of entrepreneurs and...

An Australian scholar and writer, arrested in Thailand on a defamation charge he said originated with the Malaysian government, claimed on Thursday that he was a victim of broader collaboration among Southeast Asian countries to silence critics. Independent scholar and writer Murray Hunter, 66, said that he believes he was improperly arrested by Thai police on Monday for articles he had written about Malaysia in 2024 on his online Substack newsletter, and questioned how his case falls under ..

The United States is expanding its influence over the US$4 trillion global cryptocurrency industry amid favourable regulation under the Trump administration and the growing use of US dollar-backed stablecoins, according to participants at this years Token2049 event in Singapore. The US is on a path to becoming the worlds crypto capital, said Bo Hines, the former executive director of the White Houses Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, at a fireside chat on Thursday to conclude the...

Indonesia is racing to contain the fallout from a radioactive contamination scare after traces of caesium-137 were detected in shipments of cloves and frozen shrimp to the United States, prompting import blocks on two major exporters and urgent clean-up efforts in an industrial zone west of Jakarta. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first detected the radioactive isotope in frozen shrimp in August, followed by a second detection in cloves in late September. While both samples were ..

A Singapore district court on Thursday denied bail to the brother and girlfriend of an alleged syndicate leader. The syndicate purportedly led a group based in Cambodia that targeted Singaporeans in scams and laundered the proceeds in Malaysia. The losses from the scams amount to tens of millions of dollars, a prosecutor told the court in seeking no bail for the pair. Ng Wei Kang, 33, and Christy Neo Wei En, 29, both Singaporeans, have been remanded since September 11. They face one charge ..

The issuer of XSGD the only Singapore dollar-backed stablecoin and one of the worlds major non-US dollar stablecoins said its commitment to strict regulatory compliance and emphasis on cross-border payments could serve as a model for stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong. In an interview with the South China Morning Post on Thursday in Singapore, CEO Liu Tianwei said StraitsX was working with regulators and traditional financial institutions to support cross-border payments an approach that may...

Rescuers detected no more signs of life at a collapsed Indonesian school where 59 people were believed missing days after it gave way, an official said on Thursday, raising fears that no more survivors would be found. Part of the multi-storey Al Khoziny Boarding School on the main island of Java suddenly collapsed on Monday as students gathered for afternoon prayers. After days of rescue operations, 59 people were still feared buried under the rubble after at least five people had been...

Malaysias Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has prioritised pragmatism over ideology in sticking to his guns on inviting US President Donald Trump to attend the Asean summit this month, observers say. They add that the move aligns with the long-standing practice and principles of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with Kuala Lumpur as chair taking a low-risk decision to maximise the member states trade aspirations with America and engage Trump on regional issues. Mahathir Mohamad, former...

In an era marked by geopolitical rifts and economic volatility, Asean shines as a beacon of stability and potential, according to Malaysias trade minister. Tengku Zafrul Aziz offered a robust defence of the 10-nation blocs consensus- driven approach at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore on Thursday, insisting that its slow deliberations were a strength, not a weakness. Addressing an audience of business leaders, government officials and investors, Zafrul argued that the Association...

Indonesias well-intentioned free meals programme for schools has come under fire again not for food poisoning, but for ingredient choice. In West Kalimantan, where 25 students fell ill last week, critics are biting in their assessment of one of the dishes served fried shark. Over 6,000 students have reportedly come down with food poisoning since January's launch of the nutritious lunch scheme, which aims to cover more than 80 million children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers by...

For decades, cross-border trade in the Asia-Pacific has been denominated in US dollars. Given the currencys relative stability and accessibility, small and medium-sized businesses, merchants and manufacturers looking to expand across borders traditionally conducted international trade in the US dollar. For instance, a Shenzhen manufacturer in China paying its Indonesian supplier would convert yuan to US dollars for the payment, which when received will be converted to Indonesian rupiah, and...

World Liberty Financial, a venture backed by the family of US President Donald Trump, took centre stage on Wednesday at the worlds largest cryptocurrency event in Singapore, as Trumps eldest son and his business partner promoted the firms USD1 stablecoin and its potential for dollarising the world. At Token2049, World Liberty Financial co-founders Donald Trump Jnr and Zach Witkoff, who serves as CEO, received rock star treatment from a cheering audience, as they touted the success of USD1,...

From farms and factories to hotels, Thai businesses are feeling the bite of a strong baht, which is eroding export margins and raising fears that holidaymakers will seek better value destinations elsewhere in Asia. The surging currency has added to the pile of problems for Thailands economy, which has slowed after two years of political instability. The baht has gained more than 8 per cent against the US dollar this year, rising from 34 to the dollar on January 1 to a high of 31.70 on ..

Celebrity sisters, a rapper and an actress are among the 34 Malaysians sailing with a seaborne mission seeking to break Israels blockade of Gaza and deliver urgent aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave. The Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail in August, aims to spotlight conditions in a territory where more than 65,000 people have been killed according to United Nations estimates. Last month, the UN described Israels actions in Gaza as genocide. The civilian-led convoy, comprising ..

Corporate leaders should reject rising protectionism and nativist instincts by taking an active role in shaping global integration, Singapores Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Wednesday, as top figures at the Milken Institute Asia Summit warned of risks from technological disruption, geopolitical fragmentation and zero-sum thinking. Opening the summit in Singapore, Chan said business leaders should not be bystanders in times of upheaval but instead help steer political discourse and...

The worlds largest cryptocurrency conference, Token2049, kicked off in Singapore on Wednesday, attracting a record-breaking 25,000 attendees amid growing adoption of digital assets by institutions and individuals globally, partly driven by a friendlier regulatory environment in the US. Participants from more than 160 countries formed a queue stretching hundreds of metres outside the Marina Bay Sands convention centre in the morning. The two-day event features five simultaneous forums and...

Singapores High Court has dismissed a bid by foreign liquidators to sue Standard Chartered Bank and BSI Bank in the city state over transactions alleged to be linked to the scandal-hit Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, according to a judgment on Wednesday. Representatives of the liquidators did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Standard Chartered said the bank welcomed the courts decision. Liquidators began legal proceedings against the London-headquartered bank in...

As the Philippines coastguard struggles to patrol vast, contested waters with a handful of ageing planes and helicopters, a single politicians larger private fleet has become a lightning rod for public anger over corruption and the chronic underfunding of the countrys defence forces. At the heart of the scandal is Zaldy Co, who until January chaired the powerful House Appropriations Committee a position that granted him sweeping powers over the national budget. The discovery of six...

Malaysias government is facing allegations of muzzling free speech after the social media account of a leading independent news portal was suspended shortly after publishing a story critical of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Prominent online news outlet Malaysiakini revealed that its Facebook pages were temporarily taken down late on Tuesday, hours after it had released an investigative report into the prime ministers own social media use. The report alleged that more than 260 suspicious ..

At least 91 students remain trapped in concrete rubble almost two days after an Islamic school building in Sidoarjo, Indonesia, collapsed on them, authorities said after reviewing attendance records and reports from anxious families of those missing. More than 300 rescuers desperately worked to free survivors on Wednesday morning, after the structure fell on top of hundreds of people, mostly teen boys, who had been performing afternoon prayers on Monday in a prayer hall at the century-old Al...

At least 69 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit a central Philippine province late on Tuesday night. The magnitude-6.9 earthquake that hit at about 10pm trapped an unspecified number of residents in collapsed houses, nightclubs and other businesses in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province, officials said. Rescuers scrambled to find survivors on Wednesday. Army troops, police and civilian volunteers backed by backhoes and sniffer dogs were ..

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is facing growing unrest from retired generals, with some veterans even urging active commanders to withdraw support for the president, according to multiple senior military sources. At the centre of the discontent are two flashpoints: allegations that billions of Philippine pesos have been lost to fictitious flood-control projects and proposed pension changes that former officers say would leave them worse off than their civilian counterparts. The...

Barely had the ink dried on a long-awaited trade pact between the European Union and Indonesia before Brussels proposed another one-year delay to its long-awaited anti-deforestation law. The move drew fierce criticism from environmental groups, who see the move as a capitulation to global trade interests. On September 23, the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA), set to take effect in 2027, was concluded after nearly a decade of negotiation. The...

With Singapores population at a high of more than 6.1 million, fuelled by foreign worker influx, more assurance should be given to locals on public infrastructure integrity and that they will remain the core of the labour market, according to analysts. On Monday, the National Population and Talent Division released its annual report stating that the city states population grew by 1.2 per cent in the past year to 6.11 million as of June, with the increase driven by growth in the non-resident...