Two big issues are bubbling up over Hong Kong’s army of foreign domestic helpers. The whole community will have to sit down and decide how to address them. The first is the availability of places for helpers to congregate safely and freely on their days off without putting too much stress on public facilities, other residents and tourists. The second is figuring out how to provide an acceptable working environment inside the home during hot summer months. Two underlying trends are adding to the...

Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong have launched a month-long fundraising campaign to support families affected by the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake in their home country’s south, with organisers saying food, drinking water and medicine are among the most urgent needs. Representatives from the Abra Tingguian Ilocano Society were collecting donations at various locations, including outside City Hall in Central on Sunday, aiming to raise at least HK$20,000 (US$2,550) for affected...

Hong Kong’s older office assets and their struggling landlords could face more challenges as the wider adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by firms in the city leads companies to relocate to newer buildings that better support their requirements, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank. AI is poised to usher in more changes in Hong Kong’s commercial office space, and landlords may have to act fast to either refurbish their assets or convert them for new uses, said Lee Elliott,...

The sudden viral rise of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical movement seeking to push young Indians from online protest into politics, has fuelled speculation that it could mark the start of broader youth-led unrest, similar to the uprisings that shook Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. But while political analysts say the party reflects a deep undercurrent of anger among young Indians, they argue it is unlikely for now to become a mass movement on that scale because it has yet to...

An 18-year-old boy in central China knelt and kowtowed to his adoptive mother after completing the gaokao, thanking her for years of devotion that helped fund his medical treatment. From June 7 to 9, more than 12.9 million candidates sat China’s fiercely competitive national college entrance examination, or gaokao. Among them was Lele, from Xiangyang in Hubei province. Outside the exam venue, his adoptive mother, Ye Huanzhi, waited in a red qipao dress, holding sunflowers and his favourite...

In April, a family from the United Arab Emirates – four adults, three children and a nanny – spent about 300,000 yuan (US$44,228) on a seven-day educational and business tour to China. The trip was nearly cancelled as the Iran war repeatedly disrupted their flights and travel plans, but they eventually arrived in Shanghai. “Their willingness to make the trip was unwavering,” said Lilian Liu at Middle East-focused tour operator UFOX Travel, who hosted the family. Such clients barely existed a few...

The drowning of two university basketball players in the Philippines has raised concerns about the extreme training conditions and pressures surrounding student athletes in the country’s highly commercialised collegiate sports industry. Incoming rookie player Rene Baterbonia, 19, and Nigerian student-athlete Divine Adili, 21, died on Monday during a school-sanctioned “team-building activity” in Dipaculao, Aurora, on the east coast of Luzon island. Both played for the Blue Eagles of Ateneo de...