Culture

Culture • 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

Culture • 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

Culture • 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

Culture • Jun 06, 2023 • 9 min read
Interview

A new lens on Southeast Asian street photography

The upcoming journal Plaza, a release by publisher Soi Books, will showcase photographers from across the region as they document their homes. The Globe spoke with Soi Books co-founder Suridh “Shaz” Das-Hassan about the project and the wider publishing scene
By Molly Dunlap • Jun 06, 2023

Culture • May 18, 2023 • 6 min read
Sports and games

In SEA Games debut, Cambodian chess gets a spotlight

Otherwise known as ouk chaktrang, the regional variant of the more familiar international chess game has leaped from cafe tables and street-side hangouts to the big stage. With ancient roots and a modern tradition, the game’s sudden visibility could usher in a new generation of players
By Molly Dunlap • May 18, 2023

Culture • May 18, 2023 • 6 min read
Sports

SEA Games end with a bang in Phnom Penh

The 32nd iteration of the region’s largest sporting event ended Wednesday night, following more than a fortnight of heated competition, intense rivalry and the foundations for future diplomatic relations between the 11 participants
By Amanda Oon • May 18, 2023

Culture • May 10, 2023 • 11 min read
Development

Historic Luang Prabang braces for change

As tourists flock to the Laos destination on the banks of the Mekong River, locals worry the town’s essence is at risk due to overcrowding and upstream damming
By Beatrice Siviero and Anton L. Delgado • May 10, 2023