The impossible dream: How and why Mahathir’s Vision 2020 failed

30 years ago, Malaysia’s then PM articulated a grand plan which never happened. EDWARD GOMEZ finds out why. COMMENT | … More

Xi Jinping declares extreme poverty has been wiped out in China

President says 850 million people have been lifted out of destitution in an ‘unprecedented accomplishment’ Beijing’s success in fighting poverty … More

Indonesian wedding organiser stirs anger for promoting marriages for girls as young as 12

JAKARTA : Indonesian police are investigating a wedding organiser that has promoted controversial child marriage as well as unregistered marriages. … More

Indonesia’s ‘silver people’ perform to make ends meet

DEPOK, Indonesia (Reuters) : Indonesian single mother Puryanti bows stiffly like a robot, as she and her five-year-old son, their … More

Tackling the problem of homelessness

Homelessness might appear to be a complicated issue but people will suffer if nothing is done. The pandemic has exposed … More

After losing jobs in Singapore, some Malaysians look for their next meal in streets of Johor Baru

JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – The streets of Johor Baru city centre, once abuzz with business activities and … More

Malaysia’s 2020, told in 17 ‘Malay Mail’ charts and infographics

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 : If you could sum up some of the biggest moments in your life in 2020 … More

Iraq faces economic shock after currency devaluation

As politicians debate austerity proposals, ordinary Iraqis fear for the future News of Iraq’s currency devaluation spread quickly last week … More

The New Poor: ASEAN Tackles the Challenge of Rising Inequalities

The pandemic worsened an already precarious situation for many largely due to gaps in social protection systems. In May 2020, … More

Starving in a pandemic

One of the 17 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include Zero Hunger, which is Goal 2 after Goal … More

Lao’s Art Of Weaving

In the olden days, women across Lao inherited their weaving skills from their mothers, mostly for their own use. Weaving … More

The lost COVID-19 generation

The long term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are only just being felt. In the past 10-11 months we have … More

Pandemic draws more Latin American poor into banking system

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) : Sonia Fierro has lived her entire adult life selling children’s books on the streets of Colombia’s … More

Disgraceful levels of urban poverty must be addressed

Petra Group pledges RM1 million for sustainable solutions in Klang as situation is ‘beyond a farce’ KLANG – The Petra … More

In Spain, coronavirus puts the poor at the back of the line

MADRID (AP) : Erika Oliva spends at least three hours a week standing in line at a soup kitchen. She … More

Chrysanthemum industry lifts locals out of poverty in Guizhou

Source: Xinhua

Inspired by Thai peers, Laotian netizens demand democratic reforms

Defying bans, they flood social media with hundreds of thousands of posts criticizing the communist regime in Vientiane. They ask … More

From ‘role models’ to sex workers: Kenya’s child labor rises

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) : The teenage girls cannot remember how many men they have had to sleep with in the … More

Pandemic driving children back to work, jeopardizing gains

JOTOLCHEN, Mexico (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic is threatening the future of a generation of the world’s children, depriving them … More

Can the poor in Malaysia cope with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic?

About 1.5 to 2.4 million more Malaysians could fall into poverty by one estimate. The programme Insight takes a look … More

Like Uyghurs, Tibetans are locked up in re-education camps (III)

In Tibet, more than 500,000 “surplus” rural workers are indoctrinated in facilities similar to the Xinjiang internment centres. Buddhist farmers … More