Instead of sending out plundering armies, the West has found a better way. It meticulously exports a seductive worldview to entrap unwitting partners.
Does a colonial legacy live on to plunder anew?
GRAEME MAXTON
VIENNA
The West's colonial mindset remains unchanged from the 19th century. But military force has been replaced by carefully planted Western ideas. Graeme Maxton's book, The Follies of the Western Mind, examines this thesis. more…
Why no-entry USA means Hello Asia
Now, a massive diversion of tourists from 'closed' US to Asia
VIJAY VERGHESE
HONG KONG
A closed-door US instantly alters global travel currents. As Asians rediscover their history, could rail travel be the next big thing? more…
China billionnaire bets on spring water
Chinese billionnaire Zhong Shanshan bet on bottled mineral water
ASHLEY DUDARENOK
HONG KONG
A US$74 billion empire based not on tech, trading, or property, but on water. It took patience and a solid belief in the brand. more…
HK needs better English proficiency
HK's Pottinger St: The need for better English persists
VIJAY VERGHESE
HONG KONG
English appears to be getting short shrift in Hong Kong. This could greatly impact global business in this ‘World City’. more…
Is centrist liberalism a political healer?
Women played a major role in the November 2025 Bihar state poll
SHASHI THAROOR
NEW DELHI
Indian Centrist Liberalism can offer solutions to current problems and reintroduce much-needed moral values to political discourse. more…
Power to the people
Population growth estimates (UN World Population Prospects, July 2025) pictured by Visual Capitalist shows India well ahead in 2100 (with a reduced population in China) followed by Pakistan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Manipur must dig deep to heal wounds
Manipur Kuki tribes stage protests against killings, August 2023
RUPA CHINAI
MUMBAI
Manipur's tragedy will only be resolved when all communities come together to heal and stop looking to Delhi for solutions. more…
- BUSINESS
- Water mogul leads billionnaire club
- Why HK needs better English for business
- China searches for self-reliance
- Will airline bailouts really fly?
- KL should keep some better Najib policies
- An Aye for an Aye, the online click storm
- Despite blockade Qatar goes big
- Halal travel worth US$220bn
- Finally, a green light for India
- Brand on the run
- Made in China, the fear factor
- Asian consumers are changing the world
- Microfinance in Asia: greed or goodwill?
- DEVELOPMENT
- How a deep colonial legacy endures
- How to bridge the wealth gap
- Songdo, a city smarter than you
- Ne Win to win win
- China's rise could undermine freedoms
- One size doesn’t fit all
- Pakistan’s gridlocked travails
- India needs rapid economic gain to alleviate Maoist pain
- ENERGY
- Clearing the air on energy matters
- Fukushima nuclear clouds one year on
- Solar energy: more sunny days ahead?
- Oil rush comes East
- ENVIRONMENT
- Just two degrees
- Saving the Earth
- HEALTH
- Wily RNA viruses remain a menace
- HK anti-vaxxers bury heads in sand
- Can Covid-19 threat help unite HK?
- Assessing the travel health risks in Asia
- From whence the next outbreak?
- INFORMATION
- Journalism in a time of strident nationalism
- Dunkirk and delusions of empire
- Death of a salesman
- Media moguls to slick clickers
- Print vs Web dust-up: Should we pay for online news?
- SECURITY
- India-US ties grow warmer
- Pakistan's lack of identity is key risk
- Super snoops patrol our unfriendly skies
- SHIPPING
- New shipping laws could make for greener seas
- How the Kra Canal can slash shipping time
- SOCIETY
- Manipur must look within to heal
- One Indian feminist activist's story
- HK youth outreach a new start
- English decline in HK must be reversed
- Turning Indian citizens saffron by stealth
- Give Peace a Chance
- Saudi women drivers get royal nod
- India, a nation of vigilantes
- Why the UK has designs on China
- India lauds tough Lee model but...
- Faith and fists can move mountains
- Football in the sands: a force for change?
- Voices from the Underground
- Women: Afghanistan’s forgotten second war
- TRAVEL
- Travel u-turn away from the USA
- Wily RNA viruses remain a menace
- Accident by design?
- Marriott's takeover of Starwood
- Airline safety records
- Myanmar poll impact on travel and tourism
- Online travel agents and airlines clash as carriers go direct
- TRENDS
- China sets record for Asian art auctions
- Borderless world in CinemaScope
- One man’s meat is another’s poisson
- POLITICS
- Centrist Liberalism as a salve, solution
- Indian democracy wins the 2024 poll
- An India-Myanmar fence too far?
- US must follow global rules
- Taliban in Kabul
- Whither freedom of speech in India?
- The Battle of Belonging - book excerpt
- Delhi pogrom tip of Hindutva iceberg
- Quelling street violence in Hong Kong
- Talks are the answer to HK street protests
- The Hindutva attack on science in India
- HK students snub global causes
- Modi-Xi Wuhan reset focuses on trade
- The 21st Century Animal Farm
- Need for Indian judicial reform
- The siege of the Taj Mahal
- Politics of hate and the end of Liberalism
- The inglorious rape of India
- Can Carrie Lam reinvent Hong Kong?
- Nepal's progressive
new Constitution - Tough Rohingya
Rubik's Cube - Rule Brittania and the rape of India
- Localists place HK in Beijing crosshairs
- Sword of the brother enemy - after Uri
- BJP dominant as Congress retreats
- Myanmar lacks clear policies, direction
- Do Modi's foreign tours have substance?
- HK a house divided
- War and peace in Asia
- Mind or muscle in HK's electoral battle?
- Why Britain must pay reparations to India
- Modi motorcade lands in trouble
- Caste and religion take a back seat - AAP win
- Why HK needs good table manners
- Pride not prejudice in Hong Kong stand
- Now you see it, now you don’t
- Jinnah to Osama the search for a soul
- Narendra Modi quells fears of saffron domination
- Aam Aadmi: an uncommon party for the common man
- Nepal's red skies turn blue
- Lessons of ’88 – from Ne Win to win-win
- Nepal: a growing mountain of woes
- India-China war: 50 Years After 1962
- Hong Kong yields to "Western" influence
- A glacial impasse
- Hong Kong: Wolf in CEO’s clothing?
- See the shiny new CEO
- Burma spring signals change
- A Benevolent Big Brother brand
- Politics, parochialism and power in India
- Fast work – Anna’s true Balance Sheet
- Hong Kong freedoms: Now the kowtowing gets serious
- Why the Kashmir story needs retelling
- HK democracy push led by young, Internet-savvy generation
- India caste woes: time to talk about the elephant in the room
- BLATHER
- The world will be as one
- Case of the disappearing GM
- MeToo, a tale of three women
- Say farewell to
laptops inflight - Samsonite in a snit
- Smoke gets in your eyes
- Hitch your wagon to a star
- Dance through any emergency
- Why do good hotels serve bad scrambled eggs?
- Stay fit or fake it
- A fright for sore eyes
- Gorilla case: are your bags tough enough?
- Once in a babymoon and daft buzzwords
- VOICES
- Future of Gaza
- Israel moves right
- Welcome Biden
- Greta Thunberg
- Iran makes a Gulf play
- Kim-Trump summit prospects
- One flag many bumps
- Tackling Asian malnutrition
- Dealing with North Korean nukes
- Outcry over Rohingya 'genocide' inaction
- Muslim ban blasted
- Peres peace a pipe dream?
- Once bitten, twice shy - Zika
- Spat over Spratlys
- PM Lee, end of an era
- Barracking Barack - Bibi's bet
- Clean air and nukes in pivotal US shift
- What IS the world to do with ISIS?
- Where have all the flowers gone?
- Why MH370 matters
- Thailand on the brink
- Voters winners in Pakistan poll
- Calling the shots in North Korea
- An Apple a day brings lawsuits your way
- Egypt’s election sparks jubilation and fears
- Maldives: cold deeds in sunny places
- North Korea options
- Libya introspection
- A post-Bin Laden world
- Khamsin in the desert
- Japan's AWOL atoms
- Darkness in Pakistan
- Syria crackdown
- BY THE NUMBERS
- Greening the world
- Fire in the sky
- Weighty bad loans
- If the money's right
- Guns and oil in the China Sea
- Virulent viruses sweep Asia
- What's that glow?
- Green cars at red light
- Spoiling for a fight
- The greening of Asia
- Of mite and muscle
- Do pilots have cash to flash?
- Asia’s casino gamble
- Smartphones on speed dial
- Asia up in arms
- A global high
- Greenbacks for green
- Math by numbers
- Nuclear safety risks
- Just don’t breathe
- Presidential salaries
- Thailand after deluge
- Commuter pain index
- Soaring suicide rates
- Asian corruption index
- Cyber crooks playtime
- Asia arms race
- Hotels go green
- Battling inflation
- Rare earths fears
- Travel will triumph
- Waste not want not
- HOME
- BUSINESS
- DEVELOPMENT
- ENERGY
- ENVIRONMENT
- HEALTH
- INFORMATION
- POLITICS
- SECURITY
- SHIPPING
- SOCIETY
- TRAVEL
- TRENDS
Gaza force gets nod but peace still imperilled
Huge differences remain in the perception of Gaza's future structure ... See world opinion
Once in a babymoon
Daft terms are counfounding travellers and mangling the English language ... more…
