Heritage

The parasitic fungi that spawned a decade-long, Nepali gold rush may soon die out thanks to climate change

by Hastings Forman THE CLANGING OF HAMMERS ON METAL, ECHOING THROUGH THE BACK ALLEYS OF BANGKOK, SOUNDS OUT A FADING TRADITION In the face of globalisation,...

Text by Rajeswari Vikirama and Rachel Kwek Language experts say half of the world’s nearly 7,000 languages are expected to be extinct by the end...

With the advent of mobile phones, public payphones have fallen by the wayside. We take a look back at how they have evolved with...

Ruins are, beyond tourist magnets, repositories of knowledge on the history of human civilisation. Reach back in time with these seven locations, each testaments to the ingenuity of mankind and to the rich cultural foundations on which modern Asia stands.

The origins of the ubiquitous game of strategy, chess, lie in an instructional military model used in ancient India to plan battles. This model...

Shinto is ‘the way of the gods’ and, just as it is for many mortals, sumo wrestling is a favourite pasttime. For nearly 2,000 years, sumo wrestlers have performed their martial art, first in intimate shrines, and then in stadiums before thousands of spectators. At least as early as the 3rd century AD, the wrestlers would perform complex rituals to purify both their body and their spirit, and then fight for the entertainment of the gods during the matsuri (religious festivals). It was a sacred act of ritual, not a sport.

By Timothy Tye What’s so special about Penang? It’s a question I often ask myself, when I see foreigners coming to buy properties here, or...