Culture

Japan’s traditional ‘naked festival’ leaves 3 attendees unconscious

Nearly every year, some people are injured at the event in Okayama, which is known as one of the country’s three major eccentric festivals.

Ink, scars and salvation: How Indonesia’s street punks and the marginalised are finding faith

Tasawuf Underground serves those who have been pushed to the margins: street punks and young men from broken homes who live on the streets out of necessity, not choice.

With AI translation tools, what’s the point of learning different languages?

The belief that instant translation renders language learning redundant rests on the fallacy that meaning travels neatly across languages but human language is far more complex than that, says the writer.

Peranakan pride: Indonesia’s ‘tan but Chinese’ Benteng people revive their fading heritage

Merry Andayani (left) and Elsa Novia Sena are Benteng Chinese reviving their heritage.

No horseplay, ride high this zodiac year with photo shoots at Bukit Timah Saddle Club

Ms Zann Chin, her husband Ting Min Long and their daughter Zaelyn posing for a family photograph with Molly the horse at Bukit Timah Saddle Club on Feb 18.

Once a national obsession, traditional Korean wrestling fights for survival

Ssireum wrestlers, athletes of Korea's traditional wrestling, compete during a Lunar New Year Ssireum championship at the Taean Complex Indoor Gymnasium in Taean, South Korea, February 14, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon

Galloping in harmony: CNY, Singapore-style

A horse sculpture decoration with other Chinese zodiac animals for Chinese New Year at the entrance of Chinatown Point on Feb 7, 2026.

(ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI)

All in good fun: Clowning around in London church

Clowns at a service honouring Joseph Grimaldi at All Saints Church in London on Feb. 1. Clowns wore their Sunday best to the service in its early years, but switched to their clown outfits in the 1960s.

Letter From Beijing

‘Fated to be lovers across eras’: Singapore couples go to China for time-travelling wedding shoots

mnwedding - Singaporeans Tan Shi Hui, 34, and Xu Junyuan, 36, filmed a 1.5-minute mini-movie in Lijiang, China's Yunnan province, inspired by the hit 2017 Chinese drama Eternal Love, or san sheng san shi, which tells the story of two lovers reunited across multiple lifetimes.

Credit: Tan Shi Hui
pix to ST Foreign

At Damascus book fair, Islamist titles and Kurdish culture echo big shifts

A girl walks through one of the sections at the Damascus International Book Fair, in Damascus, Syria, February 10, 2026. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

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MDDI (P) 046/10/2025. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No.202120748H. Copyright © 2026 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.