44 m. ago Last unregistered student union at Chinese University of Hong Kong disbands

The last unregistered student union at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has dissolved after all committee members resigned, reducing the number of such bodies from nine to two. The demise of Chung Chi College’s student union followed a meeting on Saturday evening during which provisional administrators and relevant representatives said the body could no longer function and that they would resign. Only two college student unions remain, both of which have already registered with the...

Culture

2 h. ago Hong Kong steps up bid to become global gold trading hub with Shanghai agreement

Hong Kong will sign an accord with Shanghai next week to establish a cross-border gold trade clearing system, a move the financial chief says will bolster the city’s push to become an international gold trading hub. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed on Sunday that the city and the Shanghai Gold Exchange would sign a memorandum of understanding at the 19th Asian Financial Forum next week to pave the way for greater connectivity between the two markets. “We are accelerating the push to...

Politics

3 h. ago ‘False pride’: Indonesia’s UN rights role clashes with its domestic record

Indonesia begins its tenure as president of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this month under a cloud of contradiction, with officials hailing the prestige of the largely ceremonial role even as activists raise uncomfortable questions about the country’s own rights record. The 47-member body, a subsidiary of the UN General Assembly, has a mandate to promote and protect human rights globally. Indonesia’s ambassador was elected president on January 8 after being put forward as the Asia‑Pacific...

Politics

3 h. ago Missing Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma dies of heart attack in Saudi Arabia

Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma, who went missing upon arrival at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, was confirmed to have died of a heart attack. The news was announced by her daughter via social media, according to Astro Awani. “Assalamualaikum everyone, I would like to inform you that my mother, Nadiah Kasumawati Abdul Karim, has returned to Rahmatullah on January 15 at around 8.05am,” she said. “Thank you to all of you who have not stopped praying for Mama. Please pray that her...

Events

6 h. ago How Chinese ritual uses unboiled egg balancing on mirror or knife to detect spirit possession

Traditional Chinese folk superstition sees some families seek help from “egg-standing exorcists” who try to balance raw eggs on mirrors or kitchen knives to detect spirit possession. If the egg manages to stand upright, legend has it that a wandering spirit has taken over the person’s body. Traditionally, a superstition known as Cai Zhuang Ke, which is often referred to as “spirit possession”, is used to determine whether a sudden illness or extreme lethargy is caused by a wandering spirit or...

Politics

20 h. ago Murder suspect who fled to mainland China handed over to Hong Kong police

A murder suspect who fled across the border late last month after allegedly killing his girlfriend in a public housing flat has been handed over to Hong Kong police following his capture by mainland Chinese law enforcers. The Hong Kong identity card holder, 28, was wanted in the city in connection with the murder of a woman, 35, whose body was hidden in the storage compartment of a bed in his Ngau Tau Kok flat. He was arrested by Hong Kong police on Friday and is expected to be charged with...

Events

20 h. ago Japanese tattoo artists still face stigma despite landmark legal victory

Walk into any public bath in Japan, and you are liable to see a sign banning any visible tattoos. Even as Japan opens up to more international tourists and residents, body art remains taboo, not only at baths but gyms, swimming pools and other businesses. The strong stigma, which also extends to tattoo artists and can result in difficulties finding jobs, comes from its historical link with the yakuza and other criminal elements of Japanese society, dating back to the Edo period (1603-1868). The...

Politics

23 h. ago Hong Kong contractors rated poorly by homeowners face removal after Tai Po fire

Hong Kong authorities may remove building maintenance contractors from a government-recommended list if homeowners are dissatisfied with their performance, as part of measures to combat bid-rigging following the deadly Tai Po fire, the city’s No 2 official has said. Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok‑ki said on Saturday that the government aimed to improve the Urban Renewal Authority’s “Smart Tender” scheme by establishing a pre‑selected list of qualified contractors. The scheme provides support to...

Events

28 h. ago Malaysian reporter arrested for sedition after controversial question at Gaza lecture

Former Free Malaysia Today (FMT) journalist Rex Tan was arrested at about 12.45am on Saturday after being summoned to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. The arrest was confirmed by his lawyer, Rajsurian Pillai, who said Tan was detained under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 505(c) of the Penal Code. It followed a sensitive question alleged to contain racial elements that was raised during a public lecture in Kuala Lumpur. At...

Events

43 h. ago Galloping horses theme of Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year fireworks display

The coming Lunar New Year fireworks display in Hong Kong will feature the theme of galloping horses to welcome the Year of the Horse, with the Jockey Club sponsoring the event for the first time. Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said on Friday that the fireworks show, titled “Prosperity gallops across Hong Kong”, would be a part of a year-long campaign by the betting giant to celebrate the equine zodiac with a series of events from races to museum exhibitions. “For the...

Events

45 h. ago Malaysia’s Umno chief denies he ‘sidelined’ Najib to secure his own legal freedom

The president of Malaysia’s Umno has denied abandoning disgraced ex-prime minister Najib Razak to save himself, as fissures emerge in the former ruling party over the mixed legal fortunes of two of its top leaders. Umno grass-roots members have urged President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to quit Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government in protest after the High Court blocked Najib’s bid to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest last month. It also handed the one-time party figurehead a...

Politics

46 h. ago Hong Kong’s finance chief warns of market volatility, pledges support for families

Hong Kong’s capital market is likely to experience significant fluctuations this year owing to intensifying geopolitical risks, the city’s finance chief has warned, stressing the need for caution in financial management. Six weeks before the government unveils its annual budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po pledged to consider whether there is scope to adjust child allowance to encourage more births, after a Post report revealed that Hong Kong’s registered births hit a record low last...

Events

48 h. ago Malaysian man arrested for forcing son, 10, to shoplift regularly

A Malaysian man previously convicted of child abuse has been arrested again on suspicion of forcing his son, 10, to shoplift daily necessities. Police in Bahau, in Negeri Sembilan state’s Jempol district, were alerted to what initially appeared to be a simple case of theft on Wednesday, The Sun newspaper reported. Staff from a wholesale supermarket had caught the boy trying to steal a 200-gram pack of instant coffee. But officers soon uncovered a troubling pattern of child exploitation, Jempol...

Events

49 h. ago South Korea’s Yoon sentenced to 5 years in prison over martial law charges

Impeached former South Korean president Yoon Seok-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison after being found guilty of resisting arrest and other offences linked to his botched martial law declaration in 2024. The ruling marks the first conviction among eight criminal trials Yoon is facing, including a case in which prosecutors demanded he be sentenced to death for his role as the “ringleader” of an insurrection in imposing the ill-fated decree that plunged the country into political...

Events

49 h. ago Chinese woman swallows raw fish gallbladder, hoping to relieve headache, ends up in ICU

A woman from eastern China ended up in the intensive care unit (ICU) hours after swallowing a raw fish gallbladder, believing it would cure her headache. The 50-year-old woman, surnamed Liu, from Jiangsu province, adhered to the folk remedy that claimed raw fish gallbladders could clear heat, detoxify the body, and alleviate a persistent migraine that had been troubling her. On the morning of December 14, Liu bought a 2.5kg grass carp at the market, extracted the gallbladder at home, and...

Politics

49 h. ago Hong Kong’s Chris Tang defends police’s ‘difficult decision’ to shoot knife

Hong Kong’s security chief has defended police’s “difficult decision” to shoot a man who brandished a knife and took a woman hostage in a shopping centre, praising their bravery and decisiveness in saving lives. After police fatally shot the 34-year-old man on Thursday, Security Secretary Chris Tang Ping-keung revealed the suspect was mentally unstable at the time, possibly influenced by drugs, with suspected substances found in his possession. “It is obvious that [the suspect] was acting insane...

Events

49 h. ago Man shot dead by Hong Kong police had ‘history of mental illness, drug abuse’

A man shot dead by police after taking a woman hostage while brandishing a knife at a Hong Kong shopping centre on Thursday had a history of mental illness and drug abuse, and missed a medical consultation last week, the Post has learned. The information emerged as security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung defended police over the “difficult decision to shoot” the 34-year-old man in Tuen Mun, while a relative of the deceased said officers could have aimed for his limbs to avoid killing him. After...

Events

53 h. ago Horrified Malaysian mother disowns daughter after mutilation threats by ‘vile’ loan sharks

The constant threat of genital mutilation of her daughter and son-in-law by loan sharks was so harrowing that a woman in Malaysia has resorted to disowning her own flesh and blood. “The loan sharks are vile. They threatened to sever the private parts of my daughter and her husband,” said the 60-year-old housewife who only wanted to be known as Heng. “A loan shark also sent me gory photos of people with severed genitals, claiming he had carried out the acts himself. It was so upsetting that I...

Events

54 h. ago China pushes slow bull run with tightened margin financing rules to fight overheating

China’s move to raise margin requirements for leveraged stock trading signalled regulators’ push to steer clear of boom-and-bust cycles, while strengthening the stock market’s role in funding the country’s tech self-sufficiency efforts, according to analysts. “The signal from regulators was crystal-clear: guide the market towards a stable transition to a slow bull run,” said Wang Jun, a strategist at BOC International in Shanghai. “Investors should reduce their leverage levels to guard against...

Politics

66 h. ago An internally split Europe can never fully engage China and Asia

When contemporary Europe engages with the world, it increasingly presents as two distinct Europes operating within the same institutional framework. This duality – a Europe of strategic dependence vs a Europe of normative assertion – creates a contradiction. For partners, particularly in China and across Asia, this is not merely an abstract identity crisis but a practical geopolitical puzzle that complicates engagement and challenges assumptions about Europe’s global role. One Europe, embedded...

Politics