Life

Putting people at the heart of the story.

Life • STORY OF THE DAY • Sep 29, 2023 • 8 min read

Feature As looted Angkor relics return, Cambodian researchers uncover history

By Chia Chi Hsu • Sep 29, 2023
International efforts this year to repatriate artefacts has worked in tandem with local work to piece together the illicit supply chains of lost relics. The Globe followed one research team as they worked through the sprawling Koh Ker temple complex

Life • STORY OF THE DAY • Sep 29, 2023 • 8 min read

Feature Five heads, 10,000 pieces: Restoring the dancing Shiva

By Chia Chi Hsu • Sep 29, 2023
As Angkorian relics return home to fanfare, a Cambodian and French team is painstakingly restoring a monumental statue smashed by looters at Koh Ker. Their quiet mission underlines broader efforts to reclaim a historical legacy broken through past decades of strife

Life • STORY OF THE DAY • Sep 27, 2023 • 9 min read

Profile Love, war and the Free Burma Rangers

By Chia Chi Hsu • Sep 27, 2023
This group of aid workers has found admiration and some controversy with their martial brand of humanitarianism. Founder David Eubank spoke with the Globe about his faith-driven mission in Myanmar and beyond

Life • Aug 04, 2023 • 6 min read
Feature

Overriding appeals, ICC to investigate Philippines drug-war killings

The International Criminal Court will continue its probe into thousands of extrajudicial killings in the country from 2011 to 2019. While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has disavowed the court, Filipino families are looking for justice
By Beatrice Siviero • Aug 04, 2023

Life • Jul 28, 2023 • 10 min read
Feature

As regional cities expand, urban poor risk being left behind

Housing experts say improving informal settlements is a key to social and economic development. But in fast-urbanising Southeast Asia, finding holistic solutions for the marginalised is easier said than done
By Beatrice Siviero • Jul 28, 2023

Life • Jul 17, 2023 • 10 min read
Interview

Behind ‘Riot Island’: Filmmaker talks Singapore prison documentary

Director Tom St. John Gray sought to explore the historical events of Pulau Senang, a penal experiment gone terribly wrong. In this interview following last week’s feature story on the riot’s anniversary, Gray describes his process and why he thinks the prison-island’s collapse is an almost “Shakespearean” tale
By Amanda Oon • Jul 17, 2023

Life • Jul 04, 2023 • 8 min read
Editorial

For urbanists, safe streets are lively streets

City planners in Phnom Penh often point to busy, bustling streets – such as those frequented by informal vendors – as contributing to public risk or disorder. But research from cities around the world suggests the very opposite is true
By Prak Norak • Jul 04, 2023