The majority of the 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London were likely from Vietnam, a community leader from the rural, rice-growing community, where many of the victims are believed to have come from said on Saturday.The discovery of the bodies – 38 adults and one teenager – was made on Wednesday after emergency services were alerted to people in a truck container on an industrial site in Grays, Essex.Police have said they believe the dead were Chinese but Beijing said the…
Singapore travellers give Hong Kong a miss over Diwali long weekend
Hong Kong has typically been a top destination for a long weekend break for Singaporeans, but many are giving the city a miss this weekend as anti-government protests continue into their 21st week.Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights, falls on Sunday and Monday is a public holiday in Singapore.For the first time since opening some five decades ago, Singapore-based tour agency Nam Ho Travel does not have any tour bookings to Hong Kong for the long weekend. During previous long weekends, it…
South Korea’s Daum to close comments after K-pop star Sulli’s death
Major South Korean portal Daum will temporarily close its comments sections on entertainment news, operator Kakao Corp said on Friday, after the death of a K-pop star who had opposed cyber bullying.Sulli, a former member of top South Korean girl group f (x), who had spoken out against cyber bullying, was found dead on October 14 aged 25, with police saying she had been suffering from severe depression.Her apparent suicide prompted an outpouring of grief and calls to rein in the cyber bulling…
Chinese in Malaysia told not to protest amid ‘investment scam’ anger
The Chinese embassy in Malaysia has warned its citizens not to engage in street protests following reports that scores of its nationals had staged a demonstration outside the building claiming they had lost their life savings to a local investment company.“The embassy understands that there are many Chinese nationals who are still in Malaysia because of the case, and reminded [these people], who are on a tourist visa, not to demonstrate as it is illegal,” the embassy said in one of two…
Japan braces for two more destructive storms, two weeks after chaos of Typhoon Hagibis
Two weeks after Typhoon Hagibis wreaked havoc across much of eastern Japan, the country is bracing itself for two more storms set to slam into Tokyo and the surrounding regions.The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued warnings for gale-force winds and heavy rain on Thursday evening in Tokyo and the surrounding regions, while Typhoon Bualoi is already battering the Ogasawara Islands, south of Tokyo, with strong winds, heavy rainfall and high waves.The death toll from Hagibis stands at 84, with…
Grab-a-crab? Anger at Singapore restaurant’s arcade-style claw machine
A restaurant in Singapore suspended a bizarre promotional stunt on Thursday where customers use an arcade-style machine with a mechanical claw to catch live crabs after it sparked uproar online.A video of the pink machine, containing the creatures and emblazoned with a picture of a smiling red crab under the phrase “come and catch me”, went viral after being posted this week.Similar to machines where people pick up soft toys, the game sees customers pay S$5 (US$3.67) to use a joystick to move…
A look at Asia’s biggest student-led protests from South Korea to Thailand to Hong Kong
As a college student, Lee Kyung-lan grew adept at assembling Molotov cocktails using paint thinner and soju bottles and learned that wearing a mask stuffed with toothpaste-laden tissue made tear gas more bearable, even if it wouldn’t help with blistering on her skin.Week after week, she took to the streets with classmates and chanted at the top of her lungs: for democracy, for direct elections, for constitutional reform. The students sketched out battle plans against riot police on pieces of…
Vietnam orders car importer to ditch navigation maps showing ‘nine-dash line’ in South China Sea
Vietnam has ordered a vehicle importer to remove navigation apps that show maps reflecting Chinese territorial claims that are rejected by Hanoi, adding to a wave of resistance against maps showing the “nine-dash line”.The country’s automobile registrar told the importer based in northern Vietnam to take the app out of Chinese-made cars it distributes in the country, said Nguyen To An, head of motor-vehicle quality in the registration office.The maps showed the nine-dash line reflecting China’s…
Chinese worker dead in Indonesian high-speed rail project in Jakarta
A fire broke out on a pipeline operated by Indonesian state oil and gas company Pertamina in West Java province on Tuesday, killing a Chinese construction worker, a local fire official said.Local media said the fire had broken after drilling work was carried out as part of the construction of a China-funded US$6 billion high-speed railway project linking Jakarta and Bandung, the capital of West Java.The railway is currently China’s only Belt and Road project in the country.Pertamina halted fuel…
Ex-CEO won’t be caned in Singapore for sexual assault on son’s 9-year-old friend at Halloween sleepover
Two months after losing an appeal against his conviction and sentence for sexually assaulting his son’s nine-year-old friend during a Halloween sleepover in 2015, a former chief executive of a multinational company has been certified unfit for caning in Singapore.The 49-year-old foreign national, who returned to the High Court in a wheelchair on Tuesday, was last year sentenced to 14 years’ jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane. He lost his appeal in August.However, prison doctors found…