Asian Legal Review

Penang’s youngest executive councillor Fahmi Zainol has been charged at the Magistrate’s Court in the Malaysian state with voluntarily causing hurt to his wife.
The 35-year-old, who is the Pantai Jerejak assemblyman, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to him before Magistrate Chia Huey Ting.
Based on the charge sheet, he is charged with purposely causing injury to his wife, Nur Hidayah Abd Jabar, 35, at a house in Bayan Lepas at around 10pm on Sunday.
The charge was framed under…

When 22-year-old Fandi Ramadhan phoned home from detention last May, he told his mother he did not know there were drugs on the ship where he had recently started work as an engine-room oiler.
Indonesian prosecutors, however, allege he was aware of the illicit cargo and are now seeking the death penalty for him and five other crew members of the Thai-flagged vessel Sea Dragon, after authorities said they found nearly two tonnes of methamphetamines on board in what officials described as the…

New heat network enforcement powers must be applied proportionately to ensure that regulation of the sector in Britain helps support innovation and growth, experts have said.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Wednesday that scam centres were destroying his country’s economy and giving the nation a bad name – pushing back on allegations of government connivance.
The nation has emerged as a hotspot for crime syndicates running a multibillion-dollar fraud industry that sees scammers lure internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.
“The scam network, what we call the black economy, is destroying our honest economy….

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, sales director Sabir Ansari relied on Deliveroo almost daily for burgers and pasta delivered to his door in Singapore.
Over time, the 31-year-old said, it became harder to justify the service’s costs as rival platforms like Grab and Foodpanda offered more food options and aggressive promotions that made “delivery fees way cheaper”.
“It was a no-brainer,” he said.
For Deliveroo, that kind of calculation among consumers became increasingly consequential.
On…

Businesses in Singapore should begin preparing for the upcoming increase to minimum salaries for foreign workers which is set to take effect from the beginning of 2027.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung marked Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s state visit with an AI-generated video animating their shared past as factory workers, before the two men embraced as heads of state.
Lula arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a three-day trip – his first to South Korea in 21 years – with the two countries agreeing at a summit on Monday to elevate ties to a strategic partnership.
The 11-second clip, posted to Lee’s social media account on Monday, begins with…

Malaysia’s Communications Ministry has ordered an investigation and immediate action following a social media post showing the desecration of the Koran.
Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the government strongly condemned the act, describing it as disrespectful, insulting to Islam and a challenge to the sensitivities of Malaysia’s multiracial society.
He said enforcement action had been directed under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
“The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has…

A recent judgment by the Constitutional Court of South Africa has clarified when a third party can intervene during mergers under the Competition Act.

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Sabah early Monday morning is the strongest to hit Malaysia in over a decade.
Malaysian Meteorological Depart­ment Director General Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said that based on the department’s records, the previous strongest earthquake in the country occurred on June 5, 2015, in Ranau, Sabah.
The 6.0-magnitude temblor in Ranau claimed 18 lives and is still regarded as one of the most notable earthquakes in the country’s history.
According to…