TW: Sexual Violence In April, the Indonesian government banned “Virginity Testing” in the military employment processes. For decades, those identifying as women have been telling employers that “Virginity Testing” is ‘discriminatory, invasive, abusive, and has no bearing on their professional performances.’ It’s also totally unscientific. The test involves someone placing their fingers into a cadet's vagina to supposedly assess whether they have had sex. It’s a form of gender-based sexual violence and the @WHO World Health Organization states that “there is no place for virginity (or ‘two-finger’) testing; it has no scientific validity.” Human Rights Watch exposed the use of these tests by Indonesian forces in 2014. In 2015, the armed forces Information Chief Major Gen Fuad Basya, told the BBC that it's a matter of national security,"If it is not restricted this way, then someone with a bad habit will become military personnel. Soldiers are a nation's defenders. They defend a nation's sovereignty, a country's territory and security." In 2018 the WHO reported that the practice is recorded in many places besides Indonesia, including Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.

No candidate capitalized on the anti-feminist movement like Yoon Suk-yeol, who narrowly won South Korea’s most recent election to become the President (Yoon claimed 48.6% of the vote, and his opponent Lee won 47.8%). As the leader of the conservative People Power Party (PPP), his campaign appealed to men who are anxious about losing ground to women, and helped turn a fringe online community into a major political force. And there are real consequences to this: Yoon has called for the abolishment of the gender equality ministry because it focuses “too much on women’s rights and is no longer necessary.” He’s even said he would enhance punishments for false accusations of sexual violence, a move advocates for women’s rights has said will discourage women from reporting incidents. Though women are and have been fighting back since the 2016 murder of a 23-year-old woman in Gangnam neighborhood—in a random attack by a man who said “he hated women for ignoring him”—the outpouring of rage and the so-called “feminism reboot” has prompted a ‘reverse discrimination’. In a June 2021 poll, 84% of Korean men in their twenties, and 83% in their thirties, said they had experienced “serious gender-based discrimination.”

Adelina Pang is one of Singapore's top Feng Shui Masters. She is in high demand and her clients range from people with private jets to hotel brands to understand how good energy flows through the environment it occupies. Her practice is rooted in getting her clients to be part of the Feng Shui journey - to manifest the outcomes they want she wants to have her clients be intentional with their actions to see better results in their lifestyle. Adalina says, “destiny is within your own hands”. You create your own destiny.”

Massive Cannabis Giveaway. Thailand’s new law allows households to grow weed for personal medicinal use. To celebrate, Thailand is giving away one million cannabis plants to its residents. Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to decriminalize weed for medical use in 2019. Now the country hopes to promote cannabis as a cash crop for medicinal and commercial use – since about a third of its labor force works in agriculture.

According to the NYPD, 176 Asian hate crime incidents have been reported since 2020. As the Asian community in NYC cries out for solutions from their imminent community and protection from their elected officials, the NYPD Anti-Asian Hate Crime Task Force was formed to give Asian hate crimes special attention to a community. While this has great potential, the current Anti-Asian Hate Crime Task Force is run by volunteers. When the regular Hate Crime Task Force is a team of paid investigators, do you think NYPD is giving enough attention to this matter? Karen King, the co-Chair of the Pro Bono Committee for Asian American Bar Association says “There are many task forces around, NYPD as well as the hate crimes units in the prosecutor's offices and different politicians have their own task forces designed to address hate crimes. The biggest problems are the accessibility and the lack of transparency.”

Filipino designer Wilson Limon at @ninofranco.ph is one of the country’s greatest slow fashion advocates. By working with the T’boli ethno-linguistic group, he’s trying to preserve Philippine craftsmanship as well as make clothing that can be worn on an everyday basis.. The result: a mix of intricate, traditional textiles as well as contemporary, everyday clothing. “Everything is handmade, not mass produced. So most of their pieces are actually hand embroidery and it takes T’boli artisans six weeks to make an item.” When @catriona_gray the 2018 Miss Universe from the Philippines, wore pieces from Niño Franco, it was a big moment of visibility for Wilson and the T’boli community. For the roughly 60,000 population who face losing their heritage, the collaboration helps preserve their traditional knowledge and livelihoods. “We don't want this to be hidden in the mountains. We want to expose their talents to the world.”