Clean water and sanitation were recognised as basic human rights by the UN in 2010 but still, around two million citizens in Malaysia do not have enough access to fit-to-drink H2O.
Findings from Penang’s Centre for Marine Science and Coastal Studies will help justify the establishment of a seagrass sanctuary in Penang, where the state government has already created a multi-agency committee to support the planning and establishment of the sanctuary.
Artisanal fisherman once formed the foundation of societies and communities in Southeast Asia. Now, some have been forced to work odd jobs to earn money, after losing their livelihoods to severe storms and unpredictable weather.
While the landmark decision is at risk of being rolled back in the US, no such debates have roiled Asia, although a stigma persists in some places.
From next year, the city state will allow single women aged 21 to 35 to freeze their eggs. But fertility is a complex matter, as South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand’s experience shows.
Asia contributes 80 per cent of global ocean plastic. With the treaty, governments need to tackle pollution through the entire plastics supply chain, from production to disposal.
‘Children with learning difficulties are on the cliff – they have no friends, no services, no enrichment’.
Malaysia’s religious affairs minister recently rejected a bid to raise the minimum marriage age to 18 across the board, amid growing calls to put an end to child marriages.
Finger pointing in parliament as opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim raises spectre of the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance scandal of the 1980s.
For some families in Singapore and Indonesia, fish maw and fried food won’t be on the reunion dinner menu. In Thailand, pork prices have shot up by 80 per cent in six months.
The online craze, adopted by many Muslims, involves newlywed grooms filming removal of their brides’ head accessories, including hijabs; one Muslim cleric said a man videoing such an action was akin to ‘selling the wife’.
A Malaysian start-up has launched the world’s first unisex condom, but contraception use is lower in the country than elsewhere in Asean.
In Malaysia, meat is off the menu. In India, lamp oil is used for cooking. And in the Philippines, the cost of your pizza could feed 150 people.
The New Economic Policy is attracting mixed responses about its impact 50 years since Malaysia introduced it to enrich the lives of ethnic Malays and native groups.
Asia’s royal fascination continues to fuel fairy tale fantasies even as Japan’s Princess Mako holds low-key wedding
The country has a crucial but underappreciated role in global supply chains, one that was highlighted when carmakers like Toyota and Ford had to cut production.
The organisation’s work is sorely needed during the pandemic-fuelled economic crisis, but it has also been recognised by environmental activists for its efforts in reducing food waste – a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
Exhausted medical workers blame Muhyiddin Yassin’s government for mismanagement, and compare the situation to India’s surge in May.
The country’s Covid-19 task force is investigating incidents shared on social media of apparent underdosing and improperly administered shots.
When lockdowns put a stop to the national pastime of eating out, chefs and restaurateurs turned to food delivery apps and new entrepreneurs entered the scene. Now, the focus is on ‘pandemic proof’ models involving cloud kitchens and affordable dishes suitable for delivery.
The 23-year-old rising badminton star won the All England Open in March and is seen as a contender to win Malaysia’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
Promoting health and beauty brands can earn social media celebrities US$2,400 per post, but observers say more due diligence is required amid a string of incidents involving adulterants and a regulatory system straining to keep up.
