World News by Wild Rose

Malaysia’s long-standing strategy of non-alignment amid US-China rivalry in the South China Sea could soon be tested, with the eastern state of Sabah sitting near a potential flashpoint involving Philippine territory. Observers pointed to comments by Malaysian Defence Minister Khaled Nordin, who last week voiced concern that a conflict or “unexpected incident” in the maritime region could spill over into Malaysia. Khaled, who singled out Sabah, added that Malaysia was looking to strengthen its...

Shrinking resources for refugee support groups in Malaysia collide with increasing hostility towards the Rohingya.

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has expressed concern over reports of high “no-show” rates among medical officers assigned to permanent postings in Sabah and Sarawak. The medical body urged the government to take action by reverting to a percentage-based allowance and introducing incentives to attract and retain healthcare workers in East Malaysia. MMA president Sivanaesan Letchumanan pointed to reports which said that a number of medical officers failed to report for their permanent...

Kuala Lumpur calls it a voluntary process, but many are raising safety concerns.

Malaysia’s capital topped a global pollution ranking on Wednesday and nearby Singapore came in third, with smoke from wildfires in neighbouring Indonesia blamed for the unhealthy conditions. A milky haze has shrouded the cities for more than a month as smoke drifted from fires on Borneo and Sumatra islands. Kuala Lumpur was the world’s most polluted major city early on Wednesday, according to Swiss monitor IQAir, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 166. Singapore ranked third at 155. The...

The death of a 14-year-old student at a Malaysian boarding school has renewed scrutiny over student safety, raising questions over whether reforms introduced after the high-profile death of Zara Qairina Mahathir last year have changed what happens behind dormitory doors. Police in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, have detained two 16-year-old students as they investigate the death of Muhammad Idlan Fareeq Shahril. They said Idlan was caught vaping by a hostel warden on September 23. Two days later,...

Philippine senators have urged the Department of Tourism to stick with a single marketing campaign to build long-term international recognition, pointing to long-running successes such as Malaysia’s “Truly Asia” tagline. Newly appointed Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay was asked about her plans for the current slogan, “Love the Philippines”, during a departmental budget hearing on Monday, the Philippine Star reported. Senate finance subcommittee chairman Erwin Tulfo suggested keeping the...

Malaysia welcomed persecuted Muslim minority but now plans to send them back to Myanmar amid rising hate against them.

As Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wife of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, was laid to rest on Monday, one poignant image stood out. Footage of her family members sobbing served as a reminder that before the 100-year-old was “Ibu Negara” (Mother of the Nation), she was first a mother of seven, grandmother to 18 and great-grandmother to four. Her latest great-grandchild, Eden Zakaria, was born just last month to granddaughter Meera Alyanna Mukhriz, better known as Ally. In a social...

Malaysia is pushing to take durian, whose powerful smell delights its lovers and repels its haters, beyond its roadside stalls and family orchards to convince fans of the spiky fruit that its varieties are worth seeking out. Devotees savour durians like wine. For Malaysian ones, the taste of their rich and creamy flesh varies widely across types. Some are prized for their sweet custard and fruity notes, others for a hint of bitterness, an alcohol tinge, or even a peanut butter...

This year’s haze crisis has added to the heat woes squeezing livestock farmers in Malaysia and Indonesia, as they struggle to keep their animals cool, fed and productive. While it is difficult to separately assess the effects of haze-related smoke from heat, water shortages, feed and disease, farmers and industry groups say the cumulative strain is severely affecting animal health, productivity and their finances. In Selama, Perak, poultry keeper Zaiful Zakaria, 42, had begun installing...

In a village on the outskirts of Kota Bharu, in Malaysia’s deeply conservative northeastern state of Kelantan, Rozi* has learned to ignore what people say about her daughter. She had known for years that Hana* was different. As a child, Hana preferred girls’ clothes and spent most of her time with girls. Later, after leaving Kelantan to study, she began transitioning and eventually returned home, living openly as a woman. Rozi, 58, struggled to accept it at first, but what troubled her more was...

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak has no money to pay the fine to secure his transfer to house arrest, his lawyers have said, as they question the delay in releasing the full details of the conditional pardon granted by Malaysia’s king last week. 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...

Malaysia’s former premier Najib Razak has applied for a stay of his 15-year prison term and fine over last year’s 1MDB-related conviction, a move that would allow him to serve a separate sentence under house arrest following a conditional royal pardon granted last week.

Malaysia’s haze crisis has flared again just weeks after emergency measures and cloud-seeding operations brought temporary relief, with experts warning that smoke from Indonesian fires could continue drifting across the country until monsoon winds change. All 108 schools in Serian, a district in the state of Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo, were ordered to close on Thursday after the air pollutant index (API) breached 200 on Wednesday night, forcing pupils back to home-based learning. By noon,...

A fundraiser to help pay disgraced former leader Najib Razak’s 50 million ringgit (US$12.3 million) fine has become a lightning rod for insults and mockery, as Malaysians continue to pile criticism on a decision last week to allow him to spend the rest of his jail sentence under house arrest. King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar last Friday granted Najib a “conditional pardon”, which will allow the jailed ex-prime minister to complete his term in the comfort of his home – provided he first pays off his...

While major powers compete in militarised space races and state-led megaprojects, a group comprising a Russian astronaut trainer, Chinese science educators and Malaysian collaborators is laying the groundwork for an international youth space camp. Set to be held in Penang’s rainforest eco-park in late 2027 at the earliest, the week-long programme will gather youth from around the region to inspire future spacefarers, scientists and global citizens through physical exercises, immersion in space...

A series of small earthquakes beneath Keningau, an inland district of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, is drawing attention to a part of the state where scientists say the faults are poorly understood and the consequences of a larger quake could be devastating. The latest, a magnitude-3.4 tremor on September 3, was felt in several parts of Keningau, prompting staff at the district office to suspend a meeting and move to a designated safe area. No serious damage was reported. The tremor was one of...

Malaysia’s royal crisis in Negeri Sembilan spilled into a new constitutional fight on Monday after the state’s chief minister refused to accept the ruler’s dismissal of the entire executive council – a dispute that has already brought down one government and triggered a snap election. The latest showdown comes less than a week after the executive council backed a disputed bid to remove the ruler, putting the palace and state government in conflict over both the throne and executive...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has suffered a double whammy as his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition scrambles to placate public outrage over disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak being granted house arrest, and the shock resignation of his transport minister in protest of the royal clemency. But observers do not expect the administration, already reeling from PH defeats in recent months in two state elections as federal allies turned against the coalition, to implode just yet. Anwar and PH’s...

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim caused a bit of a stir in India recently with his spirited rendition of a Bollywood classic – a lighthearted moment that also neatly captured his broader push to deepen ties with the South Asian giant. A video of Anwar singing, from memory, Kishore Kumar’s 1965 hit ballad “Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat” (“Are you a dream or are you reality?”) was first posted to his social media accounts last Sunday before quickly being picked up by Indian news outlets. The...

Malaysia’s Pardons Board on Friday agreed to allow disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak to serve out the remainder of his jail term under house arrest. King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar granted Najib a “conditional pardon”, where the former leader is required to settle his 50 million ringgit (US$12.3 million) fine before he can be transferred to his home to complete his sentence. “He must abide by these conditions, and should he fail to fulfil any of these conditions, his conditional pardon...

Malaysia could struggle to preserve some domestic air links if low-cost carrier AirAsia is forced to scale back operations, analysts have warned, as rival airlines would have little commercial incentive to take over unprofitable routes. That reality could leave the government facing a stark choice: allow domestic flight services to shrink or step in with subsidies for essential routes, rather than assuming competitors will automatically fill any void left by the country’s largest budget...

Malaysia’s jailed former premier Najib Razak’s bid for another royal intervention in his corruption conviction linked to the multibillion dollar 1MDB scandal will be considered by the country’s Pardons Board, which is headed by the Malaysian king, on Friday, according to people familiar with the matter.

When Cindi suffered her first severe psychotic episode a decade ago, she could no longer tell where reality ended and what her mind had created began. “My reality and fantasy [were] all distorted. I had no idea what was real, what was not,” the 38-year-old, who asked to be identified only by her first name, told This Week in Asia. “It was so severe to the point that I couldn’t even recognise my own family members. My mother was there, my brother was there, but they didn’t feel like my mother or...

A Malaysian city councillor has resigned over remarks he made about the Democratic Action Party (DAP) at the recent Umno general assembly. Permatang Pauh Umno division chief Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said’s resignation as a Seberang Perai city councillor took effect on Monday, according to a letter made public by state local government committee chairman Jason H’ng Mooi Lye on Wednesday. In the letter, Zaidi apologised for his remarks during the assembly in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, where he represented...

Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan royal crisis escalated on Monday after the state’s customary council said six men behind the latest attempt to remove ruler Tuanku Muhriz Munawir could be regarded as having committed grave disloyalty to the monarch. The ruling deepens a months-long struggle over Malaysia’s only elective monarchy, where a rival group of traditional chiefs has sought to depose Muhriz and install another royal in his place. The dispute helped bring down the previous state government and...

Anthropic’s discovery of an AI-powered election manipulation platform targeting Malaysia offers a glimpse into how the technology can exploit a country’s political vulnerabilities for sophisticated influence operations. The operation’s use of millions of voter records, fake social media accounts, a synthetic news site and fabricated dossiers pointed to a deeper risk, analysts said: weak data safeguards and entrenched ethnic and religious fault lines could allow political actors to target voters...

Malaysian authorities charged former minister Jamil Khir Baharom for allegedly misappropriating 860 million ringgit ($210 million) from the Muslim pilgrimage fund Tabung Haji, making him the second United Malays National Organisation leader to be charged over the fund in as many weeks.

Bessie* left the Philippines for Malaysia more than a decade ago to care for other people’s children. She stayed to look after their parents instead. Certified as a carer, she now freelances around Kuala Lumpur’s Klang Valley, earning up to 25 ringgit (US$6) an hour for round-the-clock shifts, with clients providing her meals, transport and housing. “My former employer was very understanding and offered to release me earlier so I could earn a higher salary as a caregiver,” the 50-year-old...