Asian Legal Review

Malaysian police said a popular ethnic Chinese rapper has been detained over complaints that his latest music video featuring dancers wearing dog masks and performing “obscene” moves insulted Islam and could hurt racial harmony.
It was the second time in two years that Wee Meng Chee, popularly known as Namewee, has been investigated over his music videos.
Police said in a statement that Wee was detained Thursday after they received four public complaints that his video marking the…

The way that proposed new driverless car laws have been worded in the UK would lead to “trench warfare” over liability for accidents involving such vehicles, a UK peer has warned.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said a court order that barred former premier Nawaz Sharif from leading the ruling party and placed the timing of Senate elections into question hinders democracy and relieved past “dictatorial decisions”.
The Senate ballot will go ahead as scheduled on March 3 after the Supreme Court nullified decisions made by Sharif in his capacity as president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, including candidate tickets in his name, Abbasi…

By Jessica Lin
Indonesian President Joko Widodo (also known as Jokowi) has proven himself to be a true Metallica fan.
The 56-year-old leader reportedly paid 11 million rupiah (US$805) to redeem a limited-edition boxed set of Metallica’s Master of Puppets presented to him by Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen last year.
According to Jakarta Post, Jokowi had declared the gift to Corruption Eradication Commission which decided the double-vinyl album was a part of state…

A number of pension schemes suspected of being linked to cold-calling are currently under investigation by police and The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

By Muhd Amirum Faiz Ahmad A man, said to be a mental patient, spent an hour driving a stolen ambulance around the Malaysian city of Kuching before he was finally apprehended near a shopping mall. In the, the man, 36, had managed to sneak into a private ambulance, which was dropping off another patient at the Sarawak General Hospital before gunning the engine and fleeing with the vehicle. Deputy Kuching police chief Superintendent Abang Junaidi Abang Annuar said they eventually managed…

Japan donated over 10,000 ballot boxes for Cambodia’s 2018 election on Wednesday, the first international aid for the vote after European Union and the United States withdrew their support following the dissolution of the main opposition party.
Rights groups and members of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) have urged foreign backers, including Japan, to halt funding for Cambodia’s National Election Committee (NEC) following a Supreme Court decision to dissolve the…

A former BBC television presenter engaged by the company through a personal service company (PSC) should be taxed as an employee under the employment intermediaries legislation, a tax tribunal has ruled.

The eldest son of US President Donald Trump has arrived in India to help sell luxury flats and lavish attention on wealthy Indians who have already bought units in Trump-branded developments.
Donald Trump Jnr posed for photos Tuesday morning with Indian developers, who are building the complexes in four cities.
Later in the week, he is expected to make a speech about Indo-Pacific relations at a New Delhi business summit, sharing the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Trump…

By Jonathan Loh
An Islamic religious teacher has called for a near dictatorial level of control by the government over online media access to support the suppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) sentiment among the Malaysian community 
Ustaz Hanafiah Abd Malek said in a report by The Malay Mail Online that the Malaysian government should adopt North Korea’s strict control of the internet to handle the LGBT community. 
Hanafiah cited examples of North Korea…