Malaysia to ask Bangladesh to take back Rohingya refugees found at sea
Malaysia will ask Bangladesh to take back about 300 Rohingya refugees detained after a boat carrying them entered its waters this week, the southeast Asian nation's defense minister said on Tuesday. Malaysia does not recognize refugee status but has been a favored destination for ethnic ...
Malaysia farms face $3 billion hit from palm oil worker shortage
The coronavirus pandemic has left Malaysia’s palm oil industry without enough workers, a shortage that could cost farmers as much as 25 percent of their annual production — a loss worth about $2.8 billion. Malaysia’s economy relies on palm oil, its most important agricultural commodity, ...
Rich Chinese snapping up luxury homes from Singapore to Sydney
Rich Chinese investors are finding luxury real estate is a good hiding place from the economic fallout of the coronavirus. Across China and in some of their familiar hunting grounds in Asia, wealthy buyers are snapping up top-end housing, in many cases to guard their ...
Migrant workers on virus front line as Southeast Asia returns to work
Temperature checks and mandatory virus tests are some of the measures becoming the new normal for migrant workers in Malaysia and Thailand.
Social stigma and harassment undermine COVID-19 testing efforts across Asia
Public health officials around the world have agreed that testing and contact tracing are vital to containing the coronavirus pandemic. But for many people, coming forward to get tested — let alone revealing the personal information of friends, family and close associates — is ...
High-seas energy fight off Malaysia draws U.S. and Chinese warships
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has accused China of "exploiting” the world’s focus on the COVID-19 pandemic with provocations in the South China Sea.
Two U.S. warships in South China Sea amid China-Malaysia standoff
Two U.S. warships are operating in the South China Sea, the navy said on Tuesday, with three regional security sources saying they were near an area of a standoff between China and Malaysia. The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a Chinese government research ship, was spotted last ...
Cruise ship turned away twice over COVID-19 fears to dock in Singapore
Singapore will allow cruise ship Costa Fortuna to dock in the city-state on Tuesday, authorities said, after it was turned away from ports in Malaysia and Thailand over coronavirus fears. Costa Fortuna departed from Singapore, where it is home-ported, on March 3. Italian cruise line Costa ...
Malaysian machinations: How Mahathir Mohamad lost the plot
In May 2018, Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad was in the grand ballroom of a Sheraton hotel near Kuala Lumpur, jubilantly announcing his return as prime minister after defeating an alliance that had run the country for 60 years. Less than two years later, the coalition assembled ...
Malaysian palace denies 'royal coup' in appointing new prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin
Malaysia's palace on Sunday denied allegations of a "royal coup" in appointing the country's prime minister after veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad resigned, saying the king used his discretionary powers prescribed in the constitution. The palace was responding to an editorial in the U.K. daily Guardian ...
Fresh out of power, 94-year-old Mahathir plots comeback in Malaysia
Mahathir Mohamad may be at least temporarily out of power, but the 94-year-old leader isn't going down without a fight. Mahathir's abrupt resignation last Monday kicked off a week of horse-trading that saw his fortunes rise and fall by the hour. On Saturday morning, he ...
