Silver linings: in Southeast Asia, ageing is big business

🔮 On Monday, Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam told local media the country would use “every legal and regulatory lever” at its disposal to “exert pressure where it matters – including on [companies’] bottom lines, including on their access to financing, and including on their standing with investors”.

🔮 Who will win?

🔮 Who will win?

🔮 From public service to private romance FirstDate is being piloted among government employees aged 21 to 35 amid Singapore’s efforts to raise its fertility rate “It’s like ‘Why not?’, and I think it does have a few screening procedures so it might save you some trouble like having to deal with impersonators or people who do not match with their advertised profiles,” said Clare, who requested not to use her real name.

🔮 Singapore must be able to say ‘no’ to US, China to preserve trust: Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan says Singapore must maintain trust with Washington and Beijing without becoming a proxy for either He also warned that the global landscape would remain unsettled if China and the United States failed to address their respective domestic issues.

🔮 With global acts also touring Asia, UK star Ed Sheeran’s concert fallout in the US raises the question of how the saga would play out regionally In Malaysia, where public support for the Palestinian cause runs deep, promoters must still weigh an artist’s politics against commercial considerations and concert rules.

🔮 Observers say that through resonating with the hosts, Chan managed to convey Singapore’s sterner message of a call for major powers to build trust instead of coercion, though there is a risk that linguistic bonds may raise the expectation for Singapore to sympathise with Beijing’s interests.

🔮 “I guessed that they might not have been doing that well since branches have been closing over the years, but I did not expect the whole chain to disappear just like that,” he said.

🔮 Only later would they realise the lessons were part of the trap.

🔮 Days of incessant rains that overwhelmed Bangkok’s creaking drainage system appeared to have let up on Sunday morning, leaving residents cautiously hopeful that the water may have stopped rising. But densely populated eastern Bangkok remains hard hit, with canals unable to drain the volume of water pouring out from inundated roads and homes.

🔮 Thailand’s Bangkok declares flood disaster across city as thousands flee from homes Rains have pounded the city since Wednesday, with no respite forecast until late Sunday as waters rise to at least two feet Entire Bangkok neighbourhoods were inundated on Saturday as the city government declared a flood disaster after the worst rains in years overwhelmed the Thai capital, submerging roads, cars and forcing thousands to leave their homes. Bangkok is flood-prone, especially during the monsoon season, but waters rarely linger for long.

🔮 National elections are due by February 2028, although Anwar has indicated an earlier vote could be considered.

🔮 The government will publicly release findings on alleged corruption and coerced takeovers involving senior officials within three months Public discontent has been compounded by allegations of a so-called “corporate mafia” involving officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), who were alleged to have coerced stake sales and corporate takeovers.

🔮 Royal row tests Malaysia’s constitutional order What began as a customary dispute over a throne has left an administration purged and a state in legal limbo Observers warn that the months-long constitutional crisis could create ripple effects well beyond the state’s borders, testing the entire nation’s systems of monarchy and government.

🔮 Malaysia budget: Anwar to boost welfare, keep subsidies amid inflation worries The US$112.5 billion budget comes as the Malaysian leader faces pressure to hold an early general election after several state poll defeats 3-MIN READ3-MIN Malaysia’s government will boost spending on social welfare while maintaining subsidies to rein in the cost of living under its 2027 Budget unveiled on Friday, as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim seeks to shore up public support while under pressure to call for an early general election.

🔮 The scourge of scams and financial crime could become worse with the adoption of agentic AI, which experts say could allow criminals to automate and scale their operations with unprecedented speed.

🔮 Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim is expected to roll out a populist budget on Friday aimed at placating voter concerns over the cost of living and access to essential services, experts say, as the prime minister seeks to shore up support ahead of a general election that could be called as soon as next year.

🔮 The ex-prime minister’s legal team also dismisses a ‘stupid question’ about ‘the billions’ donated by the Saudi royal family King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar last Friday decreed that Najib would be allowed to serve out the remainder of his sentence at home, on condition that he pay his 50 million ringgit (US$10.3 million) fine. The decision triggered widespread outrage among Malaysians over the purported preferential treatment for the corruption-tainted former prime minister and a fundraiser launched by his former ruling Umno party to settle the fine. Najib’s release into house arrest, however, was far from certain as he currently had no means to raise the funds on his own after the authorities froze access to all of his bank accounts, his lawyers said outside the Kuala Lumpur court complex on Friday.

🔮 “A state election will be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the state assembly,” commission chairman Ramlan Harun said in a statement late on Tuesday, adding that the commission would convene a special meeting soon to decide on the date of the election.

🔮 Anwar and PH’s reformist credentials took a hit on Friday after the Pardons Board announced that Najib would be allowed to serve out the remainder of his jail term at home, provided the former prime minister settles his 50 million ringgit (US$10.3 million) fine. In response, Anthony Loke, secretary general of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), announced on Saturday that he would resign from cabinet in a move widely seen as decrying Najib’s house arrest.

🔮 Will Malaysia reap the rewards?