Poverty

‘Shoebox’ flat reform leaves low-income Hong Kong residents in limbo

Subdivided flats made by splitting up an apartment into smaller units are being phased out after a new law to regulate them came into effect in March.

Eswatini celebrates King Mswati III's 40 years as critics decry royal spending

FILE PHOTO: Eswatini's King Mswati III addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 25, 2025. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo

Iran war pushing more than 30 million back into poverty, UN development chief says

FILE PHOTO: A displaced man lights a fire outside his tent at a makeshift encampment, amid a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, in Beirut, Lebanon, April 21, 2026. REUTERS/Saleh Salem/File Photo

4 schoolkids at home, 1 dying phone: Digital poverty is holding back Malaysia’s needy children

Two of
Ms Mas Amirah Yaacob's
children doing their homework on a weeknight,

Commentary

A gentler climb with shorter steps for S'pore's most vulnerable families

More achievable milestones to help vulnerable families qualify for financial incentives are a huge help to them.

‘Nowhere else to go’: The squatters in the richest part of Seoul

Guryong, a 28.7ha, unauthorised settlement surrounded by some of the country’s richest people, symbolises the economic gap in Seoul and the struggle the poor face to own a home.

Viral drone video fuels debate about Brazil’s Rio favela tourism

Visitors have been accused of glamourising poverty and crime in low-income communities.

Work is ‘no longer a route out of poverty’, says British think-tank

High rents and low pay mean work is “no longer a route out of poverty” for millions of British families, the report said.

Fifty-three migrants dead or missing after boat capsizes off Libya, IOM says

Absence of proper toilets in Pakistan poses serious public health risk

In Pakistan, an estimated 79 million people lack access to proper toilet facilities, World Bank data shows.

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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.