Trusted Insights. Asian Perspective.
China has launched a nationwide campaign to encourage travel and cultural spending around the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, pairing events with consumer vouchers. Local governments plan more than 20,000 cultural and tourism activities and over 310 million yuan in vouchers and subsidies. The programme is a spending stimulus for a major seasonal window, not a reported increase in household income.
Singapore’s Online Safety Commission received more than 500 reports during its first two months of operation, an early measure of public demand for a dedicated route to address harmful online content. More than 90% of cases referred to platforms were resolved, according to the reported figures. That percentage applies to referred cases, not to every report received, a distinction that matters when judging the new regulator’s performance.
Singapore police have warned that a scam beginning with an apparent call from a retailer can escalate into a demand to transfer money and hand over valuables. Since January, authorities have recorded at least 119 cases involving this pattern, with losses of at least S$4.8 million. The figure is a reported cumulative loss, not an estimate of a single recent incident.
Seoul’s president and mayor disagree over housing on Yongsan Park, highlighting the tension between apartment supply and liveable green space.
A political announcement points to an EU–Philippines trade breakthrough, but commercial benefits depend on published terms and formal approval.
A Bank of Korea board member stressed a data-led approach to further hikes as inflation, growth and household debt pull policy in different directions.
Sea has told Singapore-based employees that MariBank will become the salary-crediting bank for its October payroll, placing a related digital bank at the centre of an internal payment policy. The instruction has drawn questions about employee choice and how far a corporate group should go in directing staff toward an affiliated financial product.
The yuan reached its strongest level in more than three and a half years as China allowed greater appreciation ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.
Singapore’s labour market kept expanding in the second quarter, but higher retrenchments, fewer vacancies and slower re-employment reveal growing selectivity.
The Bank of Japan’s move to a 31-year rate high places Governor Kazuo Ueda between inflation control, domestic growth priorities and currency pressure.
