3 d. ago Viral China parents celebrate son’s slim exam pass, value boy’s happiness

A video of parents from eastern China celebrating their son’s exam results after he got just one point above a pass has gone viral online. Unlike the typical Chinese “tiger parenting” style, the father prioritised his child’s health and happiness over perfection. The clip shows a mother entering a house with three children, holding an exam paper and smiling broadly. She excitedly tells her husband, who is lying on the couch: “Our son scored 61 out of 100; he passed the monthly maths exam.” The...

Politics

5 d. ago Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: teen fights congenital disease with grace and humour

Sixteen-year-old Cassie Li Pui-ying was rushed into an emergency operation in Hong Kong on Monday morning after days of persistent fever and severe abdominal swelling. Doctors discovered a ruptured section of her colon and extensive inflammation inside her abdomen. The five-hour procedure saved her life, and she now remains in the intensive care unit under close monitoring. Her mother, Marine Mak, remembers the shock that morning. “When the doctor called me to the operating floor, my heart...

Sport

6 d. ago ‘I’m heartbroken my son did this,’ Malaysia school stabbing suspect’s dad says

The father of the 14-year-old student who stabbed a girl to death at a school in Bandar Utama, Malaysia’s Selangor state, said he was heartbroken over the incident. “I am heartbroken my son did this. “I know that no matter what I say, it’s useless. No matter what I do, I can’t get their daughter back. I don’t know how to face them,” said the emotionally distraught man, according to China Press. The father said that his son was introverted and didn’t talk much. He couldn’t believe his son would...

Politics

1 week ago China son seeks refund after late mum’s life savings squandered on plastic surgery

A Chinese man has been left shocked after discovering that his recently deceased elderly mother had spent nearly 480,000 yuan (US$67,000) of her life savings on more than 20 cosmetic procedures over a three-year period. The case came to light when the man, surnamed Yan from Beijing, revealed that his mother, who was nearly 70 years old, had died on June 27. While sorting through her belongings, Yan discovered that her phone was full of messages and missed calls from a stranger called...

Politics

2 w. ago Dying China mum entrusts disabled son to resentful daughter, kind brother moves her

A mother in China who, on her deathbed, entrusted her disabled son to the daughter who once resented him has seen her faith posthumously rewarded. Despite the daughter’s feelings, as time passed, her older brother’s unwavering love and care melted her heart and they became each other’s strongest support. Han Tiantian, 26, from Tianjin, northern China, grew up in a rural family, according to the mainland media outlet Vikan. Her older brother, Han Baofa, who is seven years her senior, has cerebral...

Events

2 w. ago China dog risks life to save owner from snake, gets bitten, is recovering

A pet dog in China almost sacrificed its own life after it was bitten by a viper while saving its owner. The owner, Meng, and her family moved to a village in northern China’s Hebei province in June. They made the move so that her two pet Shiba Inu dogs, two-year-old Hetao and one-year-old Duoduo, had more space to play. On the morning of August 29, Meng heard Duoduo barking in the front garden. She thought he was barking at a stranger, but when she and Hetao went out, she saw a snake. Meng...

Events

2 w. ago Aung San Suu Kyi’s son seeks China’s help to secure her release from Myanmar jail

For much of his life, Kim Aris, 48, the younger son of Myanmar’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, stayed out of the spotlight and kept his silence. He avoided the media even as they sought him out, snapping his pictures in a frenzy during those rare times when he was allowed to visit his famous mother in Myanmar. But following the 2021 coup that saw the military junta jail his mother, London-based Aris reluctantly stepped forward to speak out in the hope of alerting the world to...

Events

3 w. ago China burly ‘outsourced children’ are friends, protectors of nursing home clients

A new profession called “Outsourced Children” has emerged in China, where strong men are hired to accompany elderly people in nursing homes, providing companionship and even serving as a deterrent against potentially abusive carers. The trend went viral after one such “outsourced son” from Dalian, Liaoning province in northeastern China, gained widespread attention on social media for forming a “bodyguard team”. The team, made up of muscular men dressed in black and often carrying gifts,...

Society

3 w. ago North Korean envoy due in China soon after Seoul sought help with Pyongyang

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui will begin a four-day visit to China on Saturday, days after South Korea urged China to help broker inter-Korean talks. Choe will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, state-owned Xinhua News Agency and Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Thursday. Her trip closely follows leader Kim Jong-un’s appearance at China’s Victory Day parade on September 3 and his meeting with President Xi Jinping this month – his first since 2019....

Politics