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You know how the saying goes. "One whale's throw-up, another man's treasure." Or something along those lines. In Thailand, one such man can fully identify with the phrase above after stumbling upon a chunk of hardened whale vomit possibly worth US$3.2 million. The story first surfaced on November 26, 2020 on Thai news website Thairath. It detailed how one Narit Suwansang – a resident of the Nakhon Si Thammarat province […]

Is it even fair to primary school students anymore if their math questions are too difficult, even for adults? In Singapore – one of Asia's most intelligent countries – a mathematics question meant for Primary 1 school kids is causing a stir online due to its seemingly over-the-top complexity. The question in particular was submitted to Singaporean social content site Stomp by a contributor named Cheng, who explained that she […]

December 27 will now be known as the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness. This comes after the United Nations General Assembly agreed to take on a resolution co-drafted by Vietnam, Canada, Niger, Senegal, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Spain to mark a day that would "highlight the importance of the prevention of, preparedness for, and partnerships against epidemics." Almost a year since the discovery of COVID-19 in the city […]

As they say, good customer service is key to a successful business. Or is it? In Singapore, people are getting worked up over an eatery that has been hitting back at bad Google reviews with extremely rude and uncouth replies, seemingly not heeding the generally accepted unwritten rule of not making a fool out of yourself on the internet. With an average rating of 2.9 stars out of 5 from […]

Imagine having such high demand for your product that you're forced to stop selling altogether. In Japan, Nestlé has been forced to suspend sales of Milo – the malt chocolate beverage drink widely consumed in Asia – after viral tweets caused its popularity to skyrocket and overtake the company's ability to meet consumer demand. During the summer of 2020, Japanese Twitter users tweeted a glowing recommendations of the product to […]

Absolutely heartbroken. Those are the words probably best used to describe the emotions felt by a Malaysian grandmother and her family when they discovered a giant sum of her fortune completely destroyed due to an absent-minded error. On December 1, 2020, a post on the Penang News Group on Facebook appeared containing four videos by an unnamed person showing thick stacks of RM100 bills (each worth US$24.59) in states of […]

Another health scare when the world isn't nearly done dealing with COVID-19 is really something no one asked for. Reports have emerged of a mystery illness in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh that has left over 500 hospitalized and one dead since Saturday, December 5, 2020, with the symptoms including nausea, anxiety, and loss of consciousness. Signs of the illness first appeared in the city of Eluru on the […]

Seeing the entirety of Zoo Negara from the comfort of your home? Sounds pretty nice. And for one hour on December 11, 2020, you can. In an effort to draw public attention and donations to the plight of Malaysia's cash-strapped Zoo Negara, ecommerce giant Lazada will host a free virtual tour of the zoo on the morning of December 11, 2020 – the very first of its kind. The tour […]

While the world may be coming to terms with the concepts of homosexuality, genderfluidity, transsexuality, and other facets under the LGBTQ umbrella, it still isn't doing so fast enough for some communities in many countries around the world – not least among them the vibrant island city state of Singapore. While considerably more modern and economically advanced compared to its ASEAN neighbours, Singapore's societal norms and law prohibit the acceptance […]