On the ball: teacher inspires with art of the pen
Le Vinh, a teacher from Hanoi’s outlying district of Ba Vi, has used ballpoint pens to draw nearly 300 stunning lifelike pictures. He is the first artist in Việt Nam to…
Spotlight
Brain drain whittles away at developing countries while policies fumble
High-income countries like the US, Canada and China are competing for labour by launching immigration schemes, providing high salaries and quality of life, to attract skilled…
Netflix’s Heeramandi stirs complex past of Pakistan’s ‘courtesans’
While courtesans did command respect for their artistry in dance and music during the Mughal period, the show exaggerates the wealth and glamour of the British-ruled era in which…
From piggy banks to fake fish: The modern pursuit of good fortune
Red beans, rice grains, dried pollack, a pig's head and scissors -- this might seem like a random collection of items. But many Koreans would see the connection between them. They…
Unspoken code of K-cool
From music and films to food, art and fashion, the world is falling in love with everything South Korean, according to overseas media reports. In their effort to understand this…
In China, high pay, vague job raising eyebrows
A trendy new profession offering home companionship for children has caused controversy online. The child-companion develops personal plans for activities — learning, sporting…
‘Demolition of my life’: Chronicling the horrors of forced evictions in Pakistan
Mass forced evictions violate a range of human rights including adequate housing, standard of health, education, social security, security of person, and freedom from cruel…
Locals in Yunnan trained on Asian elephant awareness
Due to improved conservation efforts over the years and an increased environmental consciousness among the populace, the elephants' population has continued to grow, and the range…
How much pocket money do Singapore children get? $4 to $14 a day
Pupils talk about how much they get paid as allowance from their parents, parents answer how much and why they give their children the allowances that they do, and children refer…
Gola-Gola Bhutan: Addressing cloth waste and bringing smiles
The clothing industry is a major contributor to pollution, producing 10 percent of global carbon emissions and sending 85 percent of textiles to dumps each year.