The Uniquely Southeast Asian Sport of Sepak Takraw
Sepak takraw may have been around since the 15th century, but it’s no forgotten relic. Find out more about the history of this fast-growing sport – and its bid for Olympic recognition
The serenading suitors of the Philippines
Under a courtship ritual called harana, it was compulsory for Filipino men to sing to their sweethearts
Asia’s Age-Old Beauty Trends
Across Asia, women throughout the ages have decorated their faces in pursuit of specific beauty ideals
Entering the Yali Tribe
Where waters run wild and forests grow free, there are groups of people who live alongside Nature in perfect harmony. Tribes across the world...
Chiang Mai’s Three Traditional Handicrafts
Thailand's northern city of Thailand was once the center of knowledge, architecture and commerce. Traders and travellers alike brought with them handicrafts like silverware, parasols and woodcarvings, all of which are still made today.
Spiritual Skin
For centuries, indigenous tattooists working across Asia have marked human skin with powerful designs and symbols in their quest to signal ethnic identity and render the body sacred. Carried through life and onwards into death, these marks of humanity testify to an ancestral legacy that is in danger of gradually fading away.
Tribal Wedding Customs Across Asia
Text by Simon Koh, Joan Koh, Selina Tan Illustration by Richard Cagomoc
Mention weddings and what comes to mind is the father of the...
Thailand’s Hill Tribes See Their Last Days
As elders pass on and youth surrender to the tide of modernisation, the once-proud villages who lived off the land are surrendering their diligently preserved traditions for basic food and healthcare
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The Pyramid of Gunung Padang
Megalithic site in Indonesia could be the oldest in the world
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PeruGunung Padang is once again making headlines as the first pyramid in Southeast Asia and the oldest megalithic site in the world.Recent discoveries as deep as 90 feet found the hill-pyramid to contain...
Asia’s Sweet Success: The History of Ice Cream in Asia
by Selina Tan
The concept of a frozen dessert is one that goes back thousands of years. By pouring a mixture of salt and ice over containers of liquid syrup, the Chinese were creating a rudimentary form of ice cream as long ago as 2000 BC. The resulting frozen product...
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
(Photo: Graphicaartis/Corbis)
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon has captured the imagination of historians worldwide for centuries. Yet, its existence remains a debate as years of digging have turned up nothing about the lost Gardens.First described in a book called Babyloniaca by a Chaldean priest named Berossus in 280 BC, the...