Oct 24, 2026
Private recreation leases have a long and contentious history in Hong Kong. Complaints about the inequity of granting land leases to private clubs at a nominal premium for the exclusive enjoyment of a small number of members have been raised many times. This issue is increasingly pressing. Twenty-seven sites are involved and almost all the leases for these sites are set for renewal next year. In response to this perceived inequality, the government reviewed its policy for clubs with private...
The number of private secondary schools in Hong Kong has risen by more than half in five years as demand for alternative curricula grows and new operators seek to attract families drawn by the city’s highly ranked universities, education authorities and principals have said. Between 2021-22 and 2025-26, the number of private secondary institutions increased from 16 to 25, a jump of 56.3 per cent, Education Bureau figures show. Leaders at schools offering alternative curriculum pathways said that...
We recently hosted visitors from Malaysia at our place in the Czech Republic, happily guiding them around Prague and several places beyond the capital, including a few that were new to us, too. There was much conviviality as the six of us explored beautiful Czech cities and towns, sampled hearty local cuisine and slipped effortlessly into the distinctive Malaysian-Singaporean patois – a lively hybrid of English, Chinese, Malay and some Indian vocabulary and syntax – that comes naturally to many...
When 35-year-old Bekasi resident Ika Kartika voted for Prabowo Subianto in Indonesia’s 2024 presidential election, she hoped the former general would restore a “Suharto-like” era of stability, when everyday essentials were affordable and life felt more predictable. Growing up, she had often heard her parents reminisce about the “good old days” under the late strongman, whose rule had brought a sense of order to their lives. Two years into his presidency, however, rising food prices have left Ika...
The Philippines needs to turn its moribund stock exchange into an engine for genuine capital formation
In Nagacadan, Kiangan, Ifugao, the rice terraces were not green when we came. They were resting, and that turned out to be one of the most important things to see.
Oct 23, 2026
Mercury retrograde is on from October 24 to November 13, 2026. Expect old flames, unfinished business, and unexpected comebacks
“Have you made that doctor’s appointment about the lump on your back yet?” your spouse asks. You sheepishly mumble that you have not. Walking past a packed wardrobe – a daily reminder of a decluttering project put off for months – you settle onto the sofa to finish binge-watching that new Netflix series. Sound familiar? Procrastination is no big deal; everyone puts off tasks they don’t want to do, right? Wrong, according to Fuschia Sirois, a professor of social and health psychology at Durham...
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has completed nearly 400 prefabricated school buildings designed to withstand super typhoons and strong earthquakes, significantly cutting down construction time from years to a matter of weeks. According to DepEd, 391 modular school buildings have been completed while 150 more units are currently under construction. “Our children
Kevin Rudd, president of the Asia Society and a former Australian prime minister, described US-China strategic competition as full-on and multidimensional at a Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics event on Friday. “There is a full-blown strategic competition under way in every dimension of national political power and influence, militarily, economically, trade and investment and technology, in foreign policy, in ideology,” said Rudd, a noted China scholar. “It’s across the world,...
Strategic competition between China and the US and its allies is intensifying across the Pacific islands, with both sides pursuing a growing range of security agreements to expand their influence, according to an interactive mapping tool released this week by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank. The tool details 56 security arrangements among 14 Pacific island countries and the US, Australia, New Zealand, mainland China and Taiwan in a bid to map...
MANILA, Philippines — Several Bangsamoro organizations, civil society, and leaders appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to meet Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairperson Al Haj Murad Ebrahim before Oct. 30. Malacañang earlier confirmed that it is arranging a meeting between the two to formally discuss the exit agreement, which is integral in completing the
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