Business

Five years' service lifts Peninsular Malaysia's statutory severance pay for every year worked

In Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, the Employment (Termination and Lay-Off Benefits) Regulations 1980 set severance pay at a minimum of 10, 15 or 20 days' wages for each year of service, and the higher number applies to every year once total service reaches it. Sabah and Sarawak have their own Labour Ordinances, and since 2023 the minimum stops for wages of more than RM4,000 a month unless the work is manual or another listed kind.

8 Oct 2026 · 6 min read

ASEAN Tech

Infineon Opened a Chip Plant in Thailand. The 5,000 Jobs Depend on Four More Buildings

Thai officials cite US$1.4 billion and more than 5,000 jobs. Infineon commits to one module with about 1,000 staff, and ties further expansion to demand.

5 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

Finance

Singapore's Category A and B COE premiums nearly converged in 2026

Singapore's Category A and B COE premiums finished a median S$2,750 apart over the bidding exercises from January to September 2026. How the price is set, how the renewal price (PQP) is worked out, the four ARF and PARF rulebooks, and the Category E rebate rule.

3 Oct 2026 · 6 min read

Finance

Malaysian road tax in 2026 depends on where the car lives

The same 1,998cc saloon pays RM379 in road tax in the Peninsula and RM273.50 in Sabah or Sarawak, and the gap grows with the engine. JPJ's 2009 scale still in force, the 1,601cc step, company and non-saloon rates, and the 2026 EV table measured against the 85% claim.

3 Oct 2026 · 7 min read

ASEAN Tech

West Java Stopped a Singapore Firm's AI Data Centre a Week After It Broke Ground

BDx began building a 640 MW campus by the Jatiluhur reservoir without its environmental assessment or building approval. The governor wants its water use debated in public first.

2 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

ASEAN Tech

Vietnam Edged Past Thailand in the Global Innovation Index. WIPO's Own Ranges Call It a Tie.

The 2026 rankings put the two neighbours one place apart, inside overlapping confidence intervals. Singapore held 5th, and Indonesia has climbed from 85th to 55th since 2020.

1 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

Finance

Bride price in mainland China has no legal cap, but a court can order it returned

No law caps a bride price in mainland China, but court rules say when it must come back, and in six model cases the share returned ran from nothing to all of it. The rules, the cases, the sums behind them, and the province rankings that trace to no source.

30 Sep 2026 · 5 min read

ASEAN Tech

Thailand's Top Court Rules Ballot Barcodes and QR Codes Did Not Break the Secret Vote

The unanimous ruling keeps February's election valid. Identifying a voter would need three locked records linked, and future ballots should avoid such marks.

29 Sep 2026 · 4 min read

Business

What a lucky 8 adds to a Hong Kong car plate, and what a 4 costs

Across 2,679 plates sold at Hong Kong's online auctions, each extra 8 went with a price about 51% to 65% higher and each extra 4 with one about 21% to 28% lower. A 4444 plate was offered five times at the traditional auctions and never sold.

29 Sep 2026 · 5 min read

Business

Do NFT creators still get royalties

Over one day on OpenSea, collections that enforce their royalty paid it on 711 of 719 sales, and collections where it was optional paid it on 22 of 627. The Ethereum royalty standard says payment must be voluntary, so who gets paid depends on the contract, the marketplace and the seller. One sale, taken apart party by party.

27 Sep 2026 · 5 min read