Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee producer – exporting an estimated US$3.5 billion of the commodity in 2018. They are second only to Brazilians, who exported US$5.2 billion worth of coffee in the same year.However, in 1986, the republic managed to grow only 300,000 60kg bags of coffee beans. In 2018, volumes had skyrocketed to over 30 million bags: a hundredfold increase.In comparison, Indonesia’s production only rose from 5.9 million bags in 1986 to just 10.2 million bags in 2018…
For Indonesia’s finance chief Sri Mulyani, what will a ‘bigger’ role in new Jokowi cabinet entail?
Indonesia’s no-nonsense, charismatic and popular finance chief Sri Mulyani Indrawati looks certain for a top spot in President Joko Widodo’s second-term cabinet. But less predictable is whether she will continue managing the books, or be put in charge of steering Indonesia’s US$1 trillion economy.Widodo earlier this month hinted at giving Sri Mulyani, who turns 57 today and is a mother of three, a “bigger responsibility” in his new team. Then, Ahmad Syafi’i Maarif, the former leader of the…
Japan protests as South Korea begins war games at disputed islands
South Korea Sunday began two days of war games to practise defending disputed islands off its east coast against an unlikely attack from Japan, further stoking tensions between the two neighbours.The annual drills come just days after Seoul terminated a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo, with the countries at loggerheads over Japan’s use of forced labour during World War II.The two-day exercise was to involve warships and aircraft, the South Korean navy said in a text message…
Tributes paid to British dad who died in fight over noise at Phuket beach resort
Tributes have been paid to a British father who is said to have died protecting his family at a hotel in Thailand after a fellow guest reacted angrily to a noise complaint, barged into their room and attacked him.Amitpal Singh Bajaj, from Southall in west London, was reportedly beaten up by a man staying in the room next door at the five-star Centara Grand Beach Resort on Karon Beach in Phuket, according to his wife.Thai police reportedly said Bajaj had complained to a tourist in the next room,…
Kashmiri protesters defy restrictions, clash with Indian security forces
Security forces used tear gas against stone-throwing local residents in Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar on Friday, after a third straight week of protests in the restive Soura district despite the imposition of tight restrictions.Paramilitary police tried to enter Soura, which has emerged as a centre of the protests, as hundreds of locals staged a protest march against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to withdraw autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir on August 5…
Is Chinese support for Pacific nations shaping their stance on Indonesia’s West Papua?
Indonesia’s restive province of West Papua was gripped by violence this week as protesters clashed with police, leading Jakarta to cut internet access and send almost 1,000 additional officers to quell the unrest.The latest demonstrations were against racist abuse suffered by West Papuan students, but a separatist movement in the region has also been simmering since 1969.In recent years, Jakarta’s Pacific Island neighbours have become bolder in their disapproval of the government’s handling of…
Chinese tourist jailed for shoplifting in Singapore after admitting it was ‘easy to steal from Gucci’
A tourist from mainland China was sentenced to nine weeks in jail in Singapore on Thursday for stealing luxury apparel worth S$18,750 (US$13,500) from The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Paragon shopping malls.Huang Shiyuan, 26, initially got away after stealing from the two Gucci stores in December last year.But two days later, the Chinese citizen was arrested while shoplifting from the Gucci store at MBS. She admitted that she had done it again because of her previous success, and…
US$16 billion ‘hoax’: reports of Chinese loan for East Timor gas project were politically motivated, says foreign minister
East Timor wants to cooperate with China in the oil and gas industry, but reports that Dili would borrow US$16 billion from China’s Export-Import Bank to finance one such project were a “hoax”, the country’s Foreign Minister Dionísio da Costa Babo Soares declared.Reports of the loan were “blown up by politically motivated people around the region”, Soares said, adding that East Timor actually needs much less to tap some of its last remaining oil and gas resources in the offshore Greater Sunrise…
Flights delayed in Malaysia as Kuala Lumpur airport battles systems outage
As many as 20 flights from Kuala Lumpur International Airport are delayed after check-in and baggage systems were disrupted from Wednesday night.Airlines impacted by the disruptions include Emirates, ANA and Malaysia Airlines.Both the main and the low-cost KLIA2 terminals were affected by disruptions that brought down the flight information display, check-in counters, baggage handling and Wi-fi connection, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. said in a statement.UPDATE: We would like to inform you…
Singapore universities pull plug on Hong Kong stints for students on government advice
Singapore’s education ministry has advised the city state’s six government-funded universities to postpone all trips to Hong Kong, with the institutions immediately pulling the plug on student exchange programmes due to begin next month.The ministry told This Week in Asia its guidance to the institutions covered student and staff trips, including “visits, exchanges and internships”, and was issued last Friday after Singapore’s ministry of foreign affairs updated its travel advisory for Hong…