A Malaysian programme to attract wealthy foreigners to live in the Southeast Asian nation has drawn 251 applications from Hong Kong residents so far this year, compared with 193 approved from the city last year, a government official said.Property consultants said interest in the “Malaysia My Second Home” (MM2H) initiative has surged among residents of the Asian financial hub, rattled by anti-government protests that began more than 11 weeks ago.Hongkongers scout properties in Malaysia as…
WhatsApp said to be in talks to launch mobile payments service in Indonesia amid rapid e-commerce growth
Facebook’s messaging service WhatsApp is in talks with multiple Indonesian digital payment firms to offer their mobile transaction services, in a bid to tap the nation’s fast growing e-commerce sector, people familiar with the matter said.Indonesia could become the second country worldwide where WhatsApp introduces such services, as it awaits regulatory approval from India, its biggest market by users, that has been delayed due to local data storage rules.But unlike in India where it plans to…
Sri Lanka’s new army chief is a general accused of human rights abuses during the civil war
Sri Lanka’s president on Monday appointed a general accused of grave human rights abuses in the final stages of its long civil war as the country’s new army chief – a move the United Nations says may affect contributions to UN peacekeeping missions.The new commander, Major General Shavendra Silva, who was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, was in charge of the 58th Division which encircled the final stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels in the last stages of the civil war in 2009…
In sleepy Mawlamyine, Myanmar youths can’t wait to leave as city becomes shadow of its former self
Mawlamyine (or Moulmein) in Myanmar is one of those Southeast Asian cities like Sandakan (Malaysia), Bacolod (Philippines) and Songkhla (Thailand) – where the past looms large but the present seems faded and unpromising. The kinds of places that young people yearn to leave in search of jobs and money. Home to just under 300,000 residents, the capital city of the three-million-strong Mon State has a slightly forlorn, neglected air. After all, its glory years were well over 150 years ago,…
1MDB scandal: Court in Malaysia postpones former PM Najib’s biggest trial
The second trial of Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund was on Monday delayed by a week to allow his first trial to end.Najib faces a total 42 charges of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering in five separate criminal cases brought since his election defeat last year. Najib, 65, denies wrongdoing and accuses the new government under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of seeking political vengeance.Chief…
Hong Kong protests are driving money into Thailand’s ultra-luxury condos, developer says
Two months of increasingly chaotic protests in Hong Kong are driving investment money out of the city and into Thailand’s ultra-luxury condominiums, according to one of the biggest developers in the Southeast Asian country.Some 40 per cent of the condos in a 52-storey Bangkok tower that opened last week have already been sold to buyers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, according to Keerin Chutumstid, an executive at Bangkok-based Magnolia Quality Development Corp, which owns…
A Chinese Toy Story: why do adult men buy designer toys?
Don Tang is proud of his toys. So much so that the Shanghai resident, 32, puts them on display both in his home and in the office of the company he runs.And there are plenty to display. Tang, 32, has some 100 collectibles and the number is growing all the time. Each month he sets aside 2,000 yuan (US$280) to buy the top trending toys, newest releases, or one-of-a-kind items – either from physical stores, online or at toy conventions in China.But the toys are not connected to his work as the CEO…
In Malaysia, hopes for racial unity as Independence Day approaches. The reality? Growing division
August in Malaysia usually sees a month-long swell in patriotic feel-good sentiment as the nation looks forward to Independence Day celebrations on the 31st – but this year, instead of nationalistic cheer, bubbling racial issues are causing turbulence among citizens and within the multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition.The recent racially charged public furore over issues such as the presence of controversial Indian Muslim preacher Zakir Naik in Malaysia, the introduction of Arabic-Malay…
Death of destitute North Korean mother and child sparks national soul-searching in wealthy South Korea
By the time Han, a North Korean defector, and her six-year-old son were found at their rented flat in southwestern Seoul, they had been dead for weeks.The building manager who found the bodies made the grim discovery only after being alerted to a strange smell. The water to the flat had been cut off due to unpaid bills, and the fridge was empty but for some chili flakes.The 42-year-old mother, who fled poverty in North Korea a decade prior, had made her last withdrawal of 3,858 won (US$3) from…
Beloved baby dugong ‘Mariam’ dies in Thailand with plastic-lined stomach
A sick baby dugong whose fight for recovery won hearts in Thailand and cast a spotlight on ocean conservation has died from an infection exacerbated by bits of plastic lining her stomach, officials said on Saturday.Mariam washed up in shallow waters off southwestern Thailand months ago and photos of her nuzzling playfully next to rescuers quickly went viral.The dugong show: 24-hour webcast shows star Thai sea cowsThe discovery soon after of another orphaned dugong brought the sea cows celebrity…