This week, we look at how the climate crisis is driving Indonesian youths out of school and into survival mode, while in Nepal, a controversial marriage law proposal is sparking debate over whether children’s rights outweigh the risks of reinforcing old patriarchies. Meanwhile, Malaysia is fighting back against a wave of scams that leaves victims not just poorer, but deeply scarred.

🎯 Climate crisis pushes Indonesian youths out of school

By Radhiyya Indra | [Indonesia, The Jakarta Post]

The worsening climate crisis is disrupting the lives and future of Indonesian youths, forcing some out of school and into work while threatening their health and access to food. 🔗 [Read Full Story →]

✨ Spotlight Stories from Across Asia 

Timely, thoughtful, and deeply reported pieces from our partner publications

🔹 How scams in Malaysia have left a lasting trauma of losses
By Junaid Ibrahim, The Star

Despite record-breaking enfor­cement – 2.1 billion suspicious calls and messages blocked between 2022 and August 2025, and over 112,000 scam posts removed – predators are still finding their way in.
🔗 [Read more]

🔹 78 volatile years of Pakistan: Torment and triumph
 By Javed Jabbar, Dawn

The creation of Pakistan represents the first-ever realisation of Muslim nationalism achieving independent statehood anywhere, not just in South Asia.
🔗 [Read more]

🔹Nepal considers recognising polygamy in practice, but only if a child is involved
 By The Kathmandu Post

A proposed amendment to the Criminal Code would ensure that polygamous marriages are not automatically annulled if a child is born or the woman is pregnant. While the practice remains punishable, the government argues the measure safeguards children’s citizenship and inheritance rights, though critics warn it could entrench patriarchal structures.
 🔗 [Read more]

🔹 Inside Singapore’s love affair with the lottery
 By Jessica Novia, The Straits Times

Singaporeans wagered a record US$9.5 billion on gambling in FY2023-2024, 7 per cent higher than the previous year’s US$8.9 billion.
🔗 [Read more]

🔍 In Case You Missed It: Earlier This Week

• Philippines’ Asin Tibuok: A heritage ingredient fighting for survival – Philippines
  Asin Tibuok is a rare salt with a flavour unlike any other: smoky, sharp, slightly fruity, and with a whisper of sweetness— it’s the kind of salt that doesn’t just season food, it seasons and nurtures memories.
  🔗 [Read more]
  

• From would-be fifth tiger to Asia’s sick man: pressure to restructure Thai industry – Thailand
  The World Bank reclassified Thailand as a lower middle-income economy (per capita income above US$1,036) in 1988, amid hopes it would follow Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore to become a newly industrialised nation. 
  🔗 [Read more]
  

• Rethinking the Taliban doctrine  – Pakistan
  Four years on from the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the optimism surrounding what was being hailed as a geopolitical victory for Pakistan has vanished.
   🔗 [Read more]

📣 Voices from the Region
Op-eds, expert analysis, and perspectives that matter

🗣️ Bangladesh: No country for its gentle giants
 By Naziba Basher
The writer says, "Elephants, like us, grieve. They remember. What must they make of live wires strung across their once-safe paths? What are they to think of fields that once fed them, now turned into death traps?"
 🔗 [Read more]

🗣️ A call for justice hijacked
 By Philip Golingai
The writer says, "The case of 13-year-old girl Zara Qairina Mahathir who died on July 17, a day after falling from the third floor of her school dormitory in Papar, Sabah, is tragic indeed and the loss to her family is incalculable."
 🔗 [Read more]

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