Asian Legal Review

Early on the morning of December 30, Takeshi Tsuchida got down on his knees to carefully place flowers in front of a black-slab tomb marking the last resting place of Mikio Miyazawa, his wife and their two children.
Tsuchida bowed his head, clasped his hands together and offered a silent prayer.
Now 78, Tsuchida has retired as head of the Seijo police station in Tokyo’s upmarket Setagaya ward, but he has never been able to move on from the one crime that still hangs over his career.
“Twenty-five…

A spiritual medium who sexually assaulted a teenage girl under the pretext of giving her one-to-one wushu lessons in Singapore was sentenced to nine years and four months’ jail on Wednesday.
Tan Beng Kwee, 63, had earlier been convicted of sexual offences against the victim, who was then between 14 and 15 years old.
The charges are one count of attempted sexual penetration of a minor under 16, one count of sexual penetration of a minor under 16 and one count of procuring an indecent act from a…

Myanmar’s military junta is staging the country’s first general election since its coup in 2021. Western critics have dismissed it as a “sham”, while the generals have insisted that the polls are “free and fair”.
Posting on X, Tom Andrews, the United Nations rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, called the election “a theatre of the absurd”. He may be right but it is also beside the point.
Andrews was a long-time foreign supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi, whose second-term government was…

The unmistakable smell of durians from rows of trucks laden with the thorny greenish-yellow fruit signals the arrival of the long-awaited season for lovers of the “king of fruits” in Sarawak, Malaysia, boosted by an abundant supply of local durians now flooding the market.
The surplus, particularly of the “kampung” variety from the south of the state, inspired trader Akmal Hakim Saidan, 29, and his siblings to offer rock-bottom prices – as low as 1 ringgit (0.25 US cents) per fruit to draw…

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who many believed would sweep elections next year to lead her country once again, died on Tuesday aged 80, her Bangladesh Nationalist Party said.
“The BNP Chairperson and former prime minister, the national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, passed away today at 6am, just after the Fajr (dawn) prayer,” the party said in a statement.
“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul,” it added.
Despite years…

The ringgit’s surge to a five-year high against the US dollar is prompting Malaysians, especially travellers, to exchange the currency early, keeping money changers busy despite the usual post-festive lull.
“We had expected the crowd to decline this week, but it is still at around 70 per cent,” Malaysian Association of Money Services Business president Jajakhan Kader Gani said.
He said the ringgit’s current level of around 4.04 against the US dollar is among the strongest in recent years,…

North Korea said on Monday it fired long-range strategic cruise missiles into the sea to test the country’s nuclear deterrence, days after it showed apparent progress in the construction of its first nuclear-powered submarine.
The official Korean Central News Agency reported that the missile launches occurred off the country’s west coast on Sunday in the presence of leader Kim Jong-un. State media shared photos of the missiles being fired and hitting a target.
It said Kim expressed “great…

The Philippines’ largest-ever education budget has been hailed by teachers and education advocates, but many have also warned that money alone cannot reverse years of weak learning outcomes and chronic teacher and classroom shortages.
Last month, the Senate approved a 1.37 trillion peso (US$23 billion) allocation for education, the largest in the country’s history.
It is equivalent to about 4 per cent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product, aligning for the first time with UN recommendations…

Overshadowed by civil war and doubts about the credibility of the polls, voters ‌in Myanmar were casting their ballots in a general election starting on Sunday, the first since a military coup toppled the last civilian government in ‍2021.
The junta that has since ruled Myanmar says the vote is a chance for a fresh start politically and economically for the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
But the election has been derided by critics – including the United Nations, some Western countries and…

Indonesian rescuers searched for four members of a Spanish family on Saturday after a tour boat carrying 11 people sank overnight near Padar Island, a popular destination within Komodo National Park, officials said.
The boat was carrying the family of six, four crew members and a local guide when it went down on Friday evening after suffering engine failure on a trip from Komodo Island to Padar, said Fathur Rahman, who heads the Maumere Search and Rescue Office.
He said three people were rescued…