Of the three men I lost, my father's death left me with the most complicated grief

Taipei Mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an faces an unexpectedly tough re-election fight in a race closely watched for its potential to damage the main opposition party Kuomintang and further strain the island’s relations with Beijing. Just five months ago, Chiang appeared comfortably positioned for a second term in a city where the KMT has traditionally enjoyed an advantage over the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. A poll by local cable news network TVBS in late May put him 28 percentage points ahead...

Set to tour schools, the actor’s advocacy film “Guryon” champions family and pursuing one’s dreams

Long dubbed an “air-conditioned nation”, Singapore is experimenting with cooling alternatives from chilled beams to “passive displacement” to curb its thirst for energy-guzzling air conditioning. The city state has the highest per-capita air conditioner ownership rate in Southeast Asia, with about 99 per cent of private residences equipped with cooling units. Singapore’s local building sector accounts for one-fifth of its emissions, while cooling itself accounts for 40 to 60 per cent of a...

MANILA, Philippines — Senate finance committee chair Sen. JV Ejercito and vice chair Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson promised that they would spare no one, including the son of President Marcos, from scrutiny during deliberations by the bicameral conference committee on the P7.2-trillion national budget, which is alleged to be filled with insertions akin to pork.

MANILA, Philippines — For only the second time in eight decades, Adelaida Samonte, 90, traveled from Batangas to Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on Saturday, to visit the grave of her older brother, a World War II soldier. It was only last year when her family discovered where Victor Samonte, who died of

MANILA, Philippines — Dave Dela Cruz, dazed and knocked flat, woke up drenched on a chapel floor in Marikina City. He had slipped and bashed his head the previous night, when floods from Super Typhoon Carina (international name: Gaemi) refused to spare even the holiest of places. But unlike his neighbors hauling appliances to higher

The first touchscreen MacBook, Samsung’s clip-on buds, and much more

MANILA, Philippines — The Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2) has called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to strengthen early childhood and primary education curricula to address the growing number of “struggling readers” among Grade 1 students. Edcom 2 made the call after the DepEd’s Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment for the start of

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) said it is monitoring the country’s electricity and fuel supply amid the expected increase in travel and public activity during the “Undas” or All Saints’ Day holiday. The agency said it is closely working with power generation firms, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and distribution

PAGADIAN CITY, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR, Philippines — Some 800 deportees from Sabah, Malaysia, arrived in Zamboanga City on Friday night aboard passenger vessel MV Antonia 1, the Zamboanga Peninsula regional field office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Saturday. Of the 800 deportees, 589 are adult males, 89 are adult

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) was among the 66 media honorees recognized at the 7th Alta Media Icon Awards 2026, an honor conferred by the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (UPHSD). The Inquirer received the award as Newspaper of the Year. Inquirer Foundation executive director Connie Kalagayan accepted the trophy on

BOHOL, Philippines — Bohol province is embracing bamboo, a traditional material used in construction and handicrafts, as part of efforts to promote sustainable tourism and improve local livelihoods. In 2023, the island province was designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) as its first Global Geopark in the Philippines, in recognition

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — I was at the early stages of graduate school thesis work at the University of the Philippines Baguio in 2007 when I was told by photographer Tommy Hafalla that the ritual “Begnas” of Sagada town in Mountain Province was to be held in the days leading up to All Saints’ Day.

Nov. 4, 1999 Tuguegarao was converted from a municipality to a component city of Cagayan province through the approval of Republic Act No. 8755. A plebiscite was later held on Dec. 18, 1999, to ratify the conversion. Designated as the capital city of Cagayan and the regional center of Cagayan Valley, Tuguegarao is bounded by

For Singaporean flight attendant Chloe Tan Zi Ling, 35, the problem with paper straws is their impracticality. “It softens before we can finish the drink, so we have to gulp it down without a straw,” she said, adding that reusable metal alternatives left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Her frustration reflects a wider debate over Asia’s shift away from plastic straws, with a recently released South Korean study finding that conventional plastic straws performed better than paper and other...

There is a certain romance to spending the holidays in Switzerland, and hotels like Beau-Rivage Palace and Lausanne Palace are perfect settings

Former Japanese adult film actress Mao Hamasaki was admitted to intensive care at a Hong Kong hospital after being allegedly drugged while working in a club in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday morning. Hamasaki’s manager published a post on her Facebook page at 5.40am on Sunday morning, with two photos showing her in a wheelchair being taken to an ambulance. The post read “drugged while working”. Hamasaki had performed as a disc jockey at several clubs on Halloween night until the early hours of Sunday,...

For her Bamboo collection released in February 2026, Hong Kong fashion designer Leah Shiu dived into the symbolism of Chinese knots such as pankou, or frog knots. “There are, like, 100 different kinds of knots, and each has its own significance,” says the 28-year-old. “I try and make sure that my customers understand the meaning of a Chinese knot – the fact that it’s like an infinity sign and represents longevity. “I want to educate the consumer on Chinese aesthetics, philosophies and...

Bangkok’s firefighters do more snake catching than firefighting, and Pinyo Pukpinyo trains them. But he refuses to kill the snakes, and he’s running out of containers.

Pinyo Pukpinyo, Thailand’s most famous snake catcher, has found the critters slithering in nooks and crannies all over Bangkok. He refuses to kill them.

The rise of Korean terms in Japanese is a striking reversal from colonial times and a sign of the global appeal of South Korean culture.

Celebrating one’s 18th birthday is not typically a poignant occasion, but for outgoing Hongkonger Chen Tsz-kin, adulthood began last week with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. At 18 months old, Chen was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic condition that causes muscles to weaken over time. Doctors told his mother, Michelle Li Yuan-feng, that people with the incurable illness had an average life expectancy of 18. “I felt like a brand new self waking up this morning. It’s been...

For over three decades, Dolores Balladares Pelaez has lived and worked in Hong Kong without once returning to the Philippines for Undas, the annual two-day observance honouring the dead. This year, she is arranging prayers from afar for her late father and four siblings, but will once again miss the gathering back home. On Thursday morning, the 56-year-old domestic helper called her mother and niece in Laguna province to discuss hiring a prayer leader to visit the family home. Her sisters-in-law...

There will be no sale of the government's P20 per kilo rice on Monday, November 2 in observance of the All Souls' Day.

Three Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong have raised their retail prices by HK$3 (40 US cents) this month, marking the first sector-wide adjustment in two years. Ming Pao’s price rise took effect on Sunday, increasing its single-copy price from HK$12 to HK$15, up 25 per cent. Two financial broadsheets will follow suit on Monday. The Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET) will raise its price from HK$12 to HK$15, while the Hong Kong Economic Journal (HKEJ) will increase its price by 20 per cent...

VALENCIA CITY, BUKIDNON, Philippines — Holiday shoppers and cemetery visitors here experienced a mix of fright and festival energy on Saturday as local businesses and city organizers rolled out Halloween-themed attractions alongside the annual All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day exodus. Inside one of the city’s premier shopping malls, retail employees transformed into iconic

Starbucks Philippines has unveiled its 2027 collectibles!

Light traffic was seen on the North Luzon Expressway and the South Luzon Expressway on Sunday morning, November 1, as Filipinos visited the tombs of their departed loved ones in cemeteries on All Saints' Day (Undas).

A cross-dressing husband — who may be the subject of an earlier Two Pronged column — responds to 'half-truths' raised in that earlier column