Tea Leaves

The Everton Supporters Club of Malaysia usually gathers at a bar in Kuala Lumpur when matches are aired, but the bar has been closed during the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Lynn Choo)
Tea Leaves

Watching sports is just not the same

In Asia and England, soccer fans face the same loss of shared experience

7 October 2020
Reporters surround Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty as she arrives at the Narcotics Control Bureau office for questioning in Mumbai on Sept. 6. Her boyfriend, actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died by suicide in June.
Tea Leaves

Star's death reignites Bollywood nepotism debate

Actor's passing may change India's film industry

30 September 2020
From Left: U.S. President Donald Trump, new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Trump rival Joe Biden are all over 70. Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, is a mere 67. (Source Reuters and Nikkei)
Tea Leaves

In US politics, the old rules get older

Could Asia lead the world into a more youthful new age?

23 September 2020
Kashmiri journalists display laptops and placards during a protest demanding restoration of internet service in Srinagar, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, on Nov. 12, 2019.
Tea Leaves

Dodging India's media curbs in Kashmir

Under government pressure, self-censorship is growing in troubled region

14 September 2020
A young sahib out for a ride in what today is known as Mumbai, circa 1910. To the writer Rudyard Kipling, the British living in India were simply another caste in a country where each group defined itself by its hereditary occupation.
Tea Leaves

What Kipling can still teach us

As statues topple and history is revised, is it time to reread 'Kim'?

9 September 2020
The author playing the video game The Ghost of Tsushima. (Photo by Peter Tasker)
Tea Leaves

Samurai video game channels Kurosawa

Ghost of Tsushima raises complex issues from Japanese history

2 September 2020
The bestseller shelf at a major bookstore in Tokyo in August. (Photo by Edward M. Gómez)
Tea Leaves

As pandemic drags on, it's self-help time in Japan

Bookstores abound with advice on how to improve one's life, outlook and skills

26 August 2020
A couple take a selfie after their ceremony at a marriage bureau in Bandra, a Mumbai suburb, on June 15. 
Tea Leaves

India embraces matchmaking on reality TV

Netflix documentary sparks a debate about arranged marriages

19 August 2020
Spicy chili paneer (Photo by Charukesi Ramadurai).
Tea Leaves

Why Chinese cuisine is a comfort food in India

'Chindian' remains popular despite fatal border clashes with China

12 August 2020
"Little Children on a Bicycle," a mural by the Penang-based Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic at the upper end of Armenian Street, was named one of the world's best pieces of street art by a U.K. newspaper (Photo by Kit Yeng Chan).
Tea Leaves

Surviving without tourists

Locals back in the spotlight as Malaysia's George Town exits pandemic

5 August 2020
When British explorer James Cook landed on Australia in 1770, humans had already been living there for 60,000 years. (Photo by Geoff Hiscock)
Tea Leaves

Protests highlight Australia's black-white divide

Despite diverse population, improving status of indigenous Aborigines is country's greatest challenge

29 July 2020
People enjoy some tea at a restaurant in Darjeeling in India's Himalayan foothills.
Tea Leaves

Trouble brews for India's 'royal' tea

Pandemic fallout hits Darjeeling and millions of devotees around the world

22 July 2020
Kites take to the sky at the Bali Kite Festival in 2015. (Photo by Julia Winterflood)
Tea Leaves

In difficult times, go fly a kite

Bali shows how a century-old tradition can help ease pandemic stress

10 July 2020
The International Departure Lobby of Narita Airport's Terminal 1 is deserted due to the effects of the new coronavirus on June 10. (Photo by Konosuke Urata)
Tea Leaves

The new geopolitics of travel bubbles

Stakes rise in East Asia as tourist restrictions are eased

8 July 2020
Japanese sumo and American football, both sports reflect the distinctly different characteristics of the societies that spawned them. (Source photo by Reuters and Kei Higuchi)
Tea Leaves

How sumo and American football could help unite the world

Vastly different sports offer precious insights into national characteristics

1 July 2020
The author, second from right, and photographer wife Kit Yeng Chan, right, enjoy a pasta meal they prepared for their Couchsurfing hosts in Guwahati, Assam, India, in 2018. (Photo by Kit Yeng Chan)
Tea Leaves

Pandemic hits 'couchsurfing' travel bug

Decline of social hospitality platforms takes spontaneity out of tourism in developing Asia

24 June 2020
Both passports have been a source of trouble and frustration for me. (Photo by Nikki Sun)
Tea Leaves

Two passports, one citizenship

Dual system highlights real dilemma for Hong Kong’s younger generation

17 June 2020
A baseball game between Uni-President Lions and Fubon Guardians with 1,000 fans allowed at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City on May 8. Up to 1,000 spectators are now allowed in the stands for baseball in Taiwan on the day.
Tea Leaves

Taiwan's diplomatic home run

For a brief and glorious moment, baseball puts the island at center of world sport

10 June 2020
Residents hug a tree during a protest against the Punjab Land Preservation Act amendment bill, in Gurugram, India, on March 1.
Tea Leaves

Why tree-hugging should be taken seriously

A trunk call to the environment can help to ease pandemic stress

3 June 2020
Indonesia's famous Borobudur temple speaks of religious and cultural links to distant Nepal.
Tea Leaves

Finding Nepal in Indonesia

Cross-cultural links abound in Buddhist temple complex at Borobudur

27 May 2020
Festivalgoers release lanterns into the sky at the Pingxi Lantern Festival in Pingxi, Taiwan, in March 2018. 
Tea Leaves

Success against coronavirus may bring tourism reward

Taiwan and South Korea likely to be seen as safe destinations when outbreak ends

20 May 2020
In Tokyo, mask-wearing is part of daily life.
Tea Leaves

Empire of the masks

The world follows Japan’s lead on face coverings

13 May 2020
Many vendors have closed, but others like Pim Chana are determined to keep working.
Tea Leaves

Street-food vendors show fighting spirit in Bangkok lockdown

Coronavirus poses new threat to iconic stalls that have survived gentrification

6 May 2020
Sculptures strike the traditional Thai wai pose in a Bangkok shop closed due to the coronavirus. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Tea Leaves

Covid-19 spawns both new and old-style Asian etiquette

Pandemic-inspired social changes point to shifts in modern manners

29 April 2020
People lay wreaths and poppies in memory of those who died building the Thailand-Burma "death railway" during World War II in Kanachanaburi province, Thailand on April 25, 2004
Tea Leaves

'War tourism' lays old battles to rest

Lessons can still be learned from the Thailand-Burma 'death railway'

22 April 2020