Last year, Taiwan’s apex court ruled that the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman under Taiwan’s civil law is against their constitution, which effectively means that Taiwan is the first country in Asia to legalise gay marriage. This year, India’s courts overturned a colonial-era law which criminalises consensual gay sex.

As this is being written, Rap Against Dictatorship’s (RAD) “What my country's got” (Prathet Goo Mee) has managed to garner more than 28 million views on YouTube, and is still being talked about in both, foreign and local news.

Being a journalist has never been easy. Many of them work long hours, travel to faraway places and go through plenty of mud just to get a story. Being a journalist in Southeast Asia however, requires an even stronger character. While the rest of the world might lament that the social media fuelled media landscape helps conceive fake news, many journalists in the region are being locked up for merely reporting the truth.

A bigger representation of women in governments and positions of decision-making at all levels has been found to improve the well-being of a population through identification and targeting of lagging development agendas that impacts on their quality of life. Southeast Asia is also not lacking with examples of strong, capable women leaders. Indonesia fields the power duo of Sri Mulyani Indrawati, its Minister of Finance and Susi Pudjiastuti, its Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

His family of seven share two small, squalid rooms in a cockroach-infested Bangkok apartment.

The hip-hop group whose savage lyrical attack on Thailand's repressive junta that has been viewed over 26 million times has received an unlikely rap riposte from authorities armed with a tame ditty urging people to "do your best today and tomorrow".The beef is with the Rap Against Dictatorship (RAD) collective whose anthem "What's my country got?" (Prathet Goo Mee), denouncing military rule, has caught the public mood like no other Thai political song.Shot in bla

Vietnam will host a Formula One race in April 2020, Hanoi city officials said Thursday, becoming the third Southeast Asian nation to welcome top-flight racing as the franchise seeks to move into new markets.The race will be hosted in the capital city of Hanoi, with the circuit set to be unveiled at a gala next week, the Hanoi People's Committee said Thursday in an invite to the event.

Halal (permissible or lawful in traditional Islamic law) products are an important component in the daily lives of most Muslims. Consuming or using non-halal products is considered a sin and unclean by many followers of the Islamic faith. Hence, there was no surprise when Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's running mate Ma'ruf Amin revealed that he was planning to impose mandatory certification on all halal products next year.

A high-profile corruption probe that has spanned continents has landed its first direct blow at Goldman Sachs.At least three senior Goldman bankers were implicated by the United States (US) Department of Justice (DOJ) in a multiyear criminal enterprise that included bribing officials in Malaysia and elsewhere and laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars.

By most global indicators, Singapore would probably surpass many advanced nations. For example, Singapore is considered one of the least corrupt countries in the world, it has the lowest tax rates and has the third highest per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) in the world in terms of Purchasing Power Parity. By all means – economically at least – Singapore is considered one of the most open countries. However, that openness is largely limited to the economy.