While industry can transform lives, create jobs and churn out vital products, we are becoming increasingly aware of the pollution and destruction it leaves in its wake. Moreover technological and digital innovation could easily decimate what we once considered to be immutable and enduring industries. Indonesia’s Cilegon region, 100km west of Jakarta, is one of Southeast Asia’s largest industrial hubs – comparable to Malaysia’s Southern Johor, Vietnam’s Vung Tau, Singapore’s Jurong and…
Robert Mugabe still in Singapore hospital after four months, Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa reveals
Zimbabwe’s ex-leader Robert Mugabe remains hospitalised in Singapore where he has been receiving medical care for four months, his successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Monday.Mnangagwa said in a statement that the 95-year-old Mugabe had been receiving medical care for an undisclosed ailment, and was responding well to treatment.“Founding president and founding father of our nation (comrade) Robert Mugabe remains detained at a hospital in Singapore where he is receiving medical…
How Myanmar’s ancient city of Mandalay has embraced rapid technological change
Once a seat of kings, the city of Mandalay in northern Myanmar has endured turbulent chapters in its 162-year history – the fall of the country’s last royal dynasty and decades of colonial rule. Now, officials are attempting to transform the former royal capital into Myanmar’s first “smart city”.In a country where officials still largely labour with pen and ink, surrounded by stacks of mouldering papers, authorities in Mandalay are tapping social media and new technologies such as artificial…
Malaysia confident of finalising code of conduct for South China Sea that will be ‘respected by superpowers’
Malaysia is confident it can reach an agreement with China to settle tensions in the South China Sea after its neighbours warned that incidents in the disputed waters had “eroded trust”.The country is “very hopeful” that a code of conduct for the area will be completed within the three-year deadline or earlier, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said.“We are very hopeful that within three years or perhaps even earlier we can come up with a better understanding of things,” Saifuddin…
Australia to be sued over mining project’s ‘unmerciful’ destruction of Indigenous land
The Australian federal government is facing a lawsuit over damage done to Indigenous land by a decades-old mining project.Gumatj leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu revealed on Saturday that he and his people were taking legal action against the commonwealth, seeking compensation for the loss of native title over the minerals exploited by mine operator Nabalco and its successor, Rio Tinto, as well as the destruction of key dreaming sites.The suit is expected to use the historic precedent set by the…
Hope for Baby Jane: cancer-stricken Filipino domestic worker on road to recovery
Baby Jane Allas, the Filipino domestic worker who was fired in February after being diagnosed with stage-three cervical cancer, has now undergone surgery that may rid her of the disease.The 38-year-old single mother of five is currently recovering from the medical procedure in hospital.“I was told that it went really well and that we can expect her full recovery soon,” said Mary Ann – Allas’ sister, who is also a domestic worker in Hong Kong – on Friday afternoon, just a few hours after the…
Tandoori Junction’s smoky milk tea in Pakistan finds fans – from Chinese to Russians
It’s midnight in Islamabad. Most of the shops in the Pakistani capital’s upscale Jinnah Super Market are closed. But there’s an inexplicable rush at Tandoori Junction, an open-air tea stall at the heart of the market. Nearly a hundred people, including foreigners, are seated in small groups on low stools, sipping on piping hot milk tea served in clay terracotta mugs. Dozens queue patiently nearby for their turn to get a seat at the stall, owned by Sanaullah Javed, a former chartered…
Hongkongers scout properties in Malaysia as political turmoil rumbles on
The ongoing demonstrations in Hong Kong have resulted in a spike in interest in Malaysian property and private international school enquiries.A check with four property consultancies and a couple of international schools suggest that interest rose towards late June and early July this year. SK Brothers Realty (M) Sdn Bhd general manager Chan Ai Cheng said there has been growing interest in Malaysian properties from Hong Kong investors.“The interest is growing and I have heard that there has…
Japan removes South Korea from trusted export list, with Seoul vowing a ‘firm’ response
Japan decided to remove South Korea from a list of trusted export destinations amid escalating tensions between the two US allies that threaten to damage security ties and global supply lines.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet voted Friday to strike its neighbour from a so-called “white list” of countries that benefit from less stringent checks and the removal will take place on Aug. 28, the government said.Explained: what’s driving Japan’s escalating feud with South Korea?Trade…
China ‘taking control’ of vital Mekong river through dam-building spree, Mike Pompeo warns
China is taking control of the flow of Southeast Asia’s most important river through a dam-building “spree”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Wednesday, as water levels along the Mekong reach record lows.The famous waterway starts in China and twists south through parts of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, feeding 60 million people through its basin and tributaries.But environmental groups fear Beijing-backed dams straddling the river upstream will destroy fish stocks…