Bali's entitled tourists, a Thai model who broke beauty standards and a Malaysian fugitive on the run: Asia's most popular stories in 2021

From China's warning shot for Australia over iron ore, to Singapore supermarket tycoon Lim Hock Leng's secret to success, and a Philippine politician's controversial marriage to a beauty queen half his age, here are the stories that drew the most attention this year.

An American digital nomad was deported from Indonesia over her viral tweets that described Bali as a low-cost, LGBT-friendly place for foreigners to live.

Kristen Gray's posts were slammed by Indonesians for exploiting Western privilege and lack of cultural awareness about the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, where a 2019 survey found that only 9 per cent of residents agree that homosexuality is acceptable.

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Authorities also accused the 28-year-old, who said the tropical island was easily accessible during the pandemic, of visa violations and tax evasion. She ran a graphic design business in Bali.

Gus Dark, a Balinese social activist, said the incident had "opened a tap of emotions" in many, exposing their true feelings about tourism in Bali, which had more than 16 million visitors in 2019, of whom 6.3 million were foreigners.

"Many foreigners [in Bali] have felt like they have diplomatic immunity just because a small number of locals ordained them as 'little kings'," Gus said, adding that the Balinese had "pent-up feelings" about the government's pursuit of tourism while overlooking its negative impacts.

Seemingly impervious to recessions for decades, cracks started to appear in the Australian economy this year as demand for iron ore from China - its biggest customer - rapidly disappeared.

In 2020, iron ore alone made up 41 per cent of all exports from Australia by value, worth about A$149 billion (US$107.8 billion).

But China's demand for iron, coal and copper ore and concentrates are in sharp decline as a pending tidal wave of debt threatens to destroy three property developers - Evergrande, Sinic and Fantasia.

A defence deal - dubbed Aukus - between Australia, the US and Britain to share nuclear-powered submarine technology sparked questions in India about why it had not been granted similar access to American technology.

Analysts said while New Delhi would benefit from any pact aimed at balancing Chinese influence in the region, former Indian naval chief Arun Prakash suggested the partnership may have disgruntled the South Asian nation.

"For years, the US has been telling India that American laws make it impossible to share nuclear-propulsion tech with anyone, including allies," he said.

"Even the Indo-US nuclear deal and signing of all four foundational agreements did not seem to matter. And now this," Prakash said, referring to the 2008 accord in which the US agreed to work towards full civil nuclear cooperation with India in exchange for Delhi separating its civil and military nuclear facilities.

Srinath Raghavan, a professor of history and international relations at Ashoka University, said it was unrealistic to expect the US to share military nuclear technology with India.

"Why should we expect the US to share such know-how? India is not an ally or bound to the US by any treaty," he said, whereas Australia had been a close ally of the US since World War II.

"It's normal realpolitik. The US gave short shrift to an ally like France in the process, [so] it would be silly of India to see this as a snub."

Anchilee Scott-Kemmis, this year's Miss Universe Thailand, won hearts and minds with her empowering message of '#realsizebeauty' in a country where a smaller frame has long been seen as the ideal for women.

The 22-year-old impressed the beauty pageant judges early on with her video presentation for the selection round, which saw her open up about past rejections she had experienced as a model in Thailand because of her size.

"I had never heard any contender admit that she had been rejected due to her size before, except Anchilee," said Thitipong Duangkong, one of the judges for the beauty competition.

At 1.83m tall, Scott-Kemmis is a reflection of how Thailand "has grown to appreciate more athleticism in a female body", Thitipong said.

The Thai-Australian model said she thinks that "fashion is slowly changing because people want to see models who are more human".

"Real size beauty is about realising everybody's value and to respect everyone around us who is considered big, small, tall or short."

Fashion designer Milin Yuvacharuskul, who led the creative team behind the model's Miss Universe Thailand success, said her body positivity agenda was already there from the start.

"There is a lack of representation for the body positivity message in Thailand," Yuvacharuskul said.

"We want the beauty standards to change. We want a new generation to have a role model that regardless of your body type, you can be successful. This can reduce social bullying too."

Thousands of Chinese-Indonesians were estimated to have left the archipelago for the Netherlands during the last century, though their experiences have not been as well documented as those of the diaspora who resettled in Asian societies like Hong Kong and Singapore.

While most have integrated with the locals well, some Chinese-Indonesians "still live in the atmosphere" of Indonesia, despite their years away.

Among them include Ing Han Go, 71, a retired dermatologist, who lives near Tilburg municipality in southern Netherlands.

Go said that most Chinese-Indonesians of his generation who were born and still live in the Netherlands had "strong relations with Indonesia". Although he does not speak Indonesian, he still has relatives in Surabaya and has visited them during several trips, and said Indonesia did not "feel foreign" to him.

"I think the influence of three or four generations [of his father's family living] in Indonesia has brought a big influence on our identity," said Go, a father of two daughters.

"When I'm together with the Chinese from Indonesia, I feel immediately at home," he said. "There's an immediate connection - I don't know what it is, but it's like meeting a family member."

The new year began on a bad note for Indonesia when a Sriwijaya Air jet carrying 62 people crashed into the Java Sea soon after taking off from Jakarta.

The pilots of the Boeing 737-500, bound for the city of Pontianak in West Kalimantan, were said to be experienced and the airline, which largely plies domestic routes, had a relatively good safety record with no fatal accidents since it was set up in 2003.

Preliminary investigations showed the plane's malfunctioning automatic throttle could have led to the pilots losing control.

Even before the latest crash, more people had died in air accidents in Indonesia than in any other country over the past decade, according to Aviation Safety Network's database.

In 2007, the EU banned all Indonesian airlines following a series of crashes and reports of deteriorating oversight and maintenance since deregulation in the late 1990s. The restrictions were fully lifted in 2018.

Between 2007 and 2016, the US Federal Aviation Administration lowered its safety evaluation for Indonesia to Category 2, meaning its regulatory system was inadequate.

Indonesian officials say they have worked hard to bring safety up to international standards.

Two figures with underworld ties have stood out amid the scandals involving Malaysia's anti-corruption agency this year - but just who are fugitive businessman Nicky Liow and ex-Macau crime boss Wan Kuok-koi?

Liow is the vice-chairman of the World Hongmen History and Culture Association, which was founded by Wan, also known as Broken Tooth, after his release from prison in 2012 with the stated aim of promoting solidarity and cultural exchange among Chinese communities around the globe.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission cited suspected links with Liow as the reason for arresting two of its own officials in April - one of whom was later charged with conspiring to receive a 100,000 ringgit (US$23,900) bribe.

Liow, 33, has been accused of money laundering and involvement with scam syndicates in Macau. Police in Malaysia filed an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest after he reportedly evaded capture in March, fleeing the town of Puchong with eight bags of cash in tow.

Wan is also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice filed in February by Malaysian police seeking his arrest for commercial crime related to his time as non-executive chairman of Inix Technologies Holdings Berhad, from June to December 2020.

Media reports said that Wan was believed to be hiding out in Malaysia, though his actual whereabouts remain unknown.

A video uploaded to the internet in March showed Wan visiting the headquarters of Liow's company Winner Dynasty Group in 2019, with the two seen bonding over karaoke and durian.

A pilot employment initiative launched by the government is turning out to be a boon for foreign domestic workers in Singapore.

Under the city state's Household Services Scheme, foreign workers can be employed by companies instead of households, meaning they are no longer trapped in their employer's house round the clock.

They also benefit from more freedom, regular hours, better pay and better labour protection. Another perk for those under the scheme is that women are shielded from the physical abuse helpers sometimes suffer at the hands of their employers.

Still, migrant worker groups said measures like this were unlikely to be able replace live-in help entirely, either in Singapore or Hong Kong.

As of June, there were 245,600 foreign domestic workers in Singapore, with almost one in five households employing a helper. Hong Kong has about 360,000 foreign domestic workers, representing one in seven households.

The migrant worker group Home said many live-in helpers were hired by households who required them to provide child and elderly care in addition to cleaning, often overwhelming them with tasks.

"Domestic workers have to double as babysitters, carers for children or the elderly, cooks, housekeepers, car cleaners, for some, even dog keepers. Given how employers have become accustomed to enjoying help on-call almost all day and night, in multiple roles for a very low fee, there is no way the Household Services Scheme can replace domestic workers," said a spokesperson for migrant worker group Home.

Lim Hock Leng, co-founder of the Singapore supermarket chain Sheng Siong, whose family's roots are in pig farming, recounted in an interview how the group rose from humble beginnings to become a household name in the city state.

Lim also revealed why he is cautious about overseas expansion. The 56-year-old said he believed e-commerce is not a huge threat to Sheng Siong and shared his thoughts on what his only son Nigel Lin needs to do if he wants the top job.

The tycoon's plan was to coach his son for five years to prepare him for the role, then observe him for another five. "And maybe 10 years later I can retire," he said.

A demand by the Philippine government that the US quadruple its aid to Manila in exchange for allowing American troops to operate in the country may have shocked Washington, but some experts think the country's strategic position in the South China Sea justifies the price tag.

Following talks aimed at sealing a new Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the two countries, President Rodrigo Duterte put the US on notice that if it wanted a deal it would "have to pay".

Duterte justified the demand by saying the Philippines was the nation in the region "nearest to a theatre of war".

His spokesman Harry Roque later said US aid to Manila should be closer to the US$16.4 billion the US gave Pakistan from 2002 to 2017, rather than the US$3.9 billion "pennies" Manila received during the same period.

Vice-President Leni Robredo, of the opposition Liberal Party, said Duterte's words were "embarrassing, like we are extorting them".

Duterte's threat to ditch the VFA has been seen by many as part of a wider move by him into China's orbit and away from the Philippines' traditional ally.

Now, his critics accuse him of attempting to cash-in on Washington's insecurities over Beijing's increasing influence in the region.

Senate defence committee chair Panfilo Lacson said the president "may have given the impression that the Philippines is a nation of extortionists [when] there is a more civil and statesmanlike manner to ask for compensation from a long-time ally using the usual diplomatic channels and still get the same desired results".

Duterte slammed both Lacson and Robredo as "know-nothings".

A Philippine beauty queen's marriage to a local politician twice her age in the southern province of Maguindanao - which is in the Muslim-majority region of Bangsamoro - became a source of tabloid fascination after details of their private lives spilled out on social media.

Esmael Mangudadatu, 53, and Sharifa Akeel, 24, were rumoured to have had an affair while the lawmaker was still married to another woman, Mylene Mangudadatu.

Mylene made a series of accusations on Facebook and described him as a womaniser. "Under Islamic law, a man may marry up to four wives but he had already 'filled up his slots'," she said.

Sharifa, who was Miss Asia Pacific International 2018, challenged Mylene to "proceed to court and flaunt all your evidence".

Some internet users wished the couple well but, although the wedding was a welcome distraction for Filipinos during the pandemic, others took the opportunity to demand financial aid of 10,000 pesos (US$200) promised by the government that never materialised.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.