Lawmakers in Malaysia are due to decide the fate of the country’s biggest-ever budget bill as soon as Thursday, November 26, in what’s likely to be a tight vote that could topple Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s teetering government and trigger snap elections.

A report by VOA News said, Malaysia’s constitutional monarch, Al-Sultan Abdullah, appointed Muhyiddin prime minister in late February after a sudden shift in political alliances brought down the government of Mahathir Mohamad.

Since then, Muhyiddin’s ruling coalition has survived by the slimmest of margins with just 113 members in the 222-seat lower house of parliament. It won a vote to oust the speaker of the house in July by a mere 111 votes to 109.

Starting next year, the retirement age of workers in Vietnam would be increased to 60 years and 3 months for men and 55 years and 4 months for women.

This is part of Government Decree No. 135/2020/ND-CP, applicable from January 1, 2021, following the approval of the revised Labor Code by the National Assembly last year after lengthy debates, according to a report by Viet Nam News.

At present, the retirement age for regular laborers is 60 for men and 55 for women. People who do heavy, hazardous or dangerous work or employees working in a place with harsh living conditions can retire at 55 for men and 50 for women. High-skilled workers work until 65 for men and 60 for women.

The male retirement age will be gradually increased from 60 to 62 by 2028, while the female retirement will increase from 55 to 60 by 2035.

The Narcotics Control Committee, according to Health Secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit, will soon allow the use of leaves, branches, stems, trunks, bark, fiber, and roots of cannabis and hemp for cosmetics and food products, the Bangkok Post reported.

The permitted parts, including cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), must come from authorized producers only. Shoots and flowers, however, are still prohibited, as these parts contain high drug content.

Twelve Thai pro-democracy protest leaders have been summoned by police to answer charges of royal defamation, the first use of the draconian law in almost 3 years, as Bangkok gears up for another major rally. Read the full story here.

There will be no Chinese New Year Bazaar at Chinatown next year because of the ongoing pandemic.

A report by The Straits Times said the decision to halt the bazaar for the first time in its history was a result of concerns over crowd control, said the organizers.

The Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens’ Consultative Committee also told Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao that the organizers had considered other solutions but faced uncertainties over when phase 3 of Singapore’s reopening would begin. Shop owners in Chinatown, some of whom have been selling their wares for more than 15 years, were disappointed.

It takes Siraphob Attohi 3 hours to transform from a harried student into his drag queen persona Masala Bold – a wisecracking MC, who raises calls for gender equality during Thailand’s protests for democratic reforms.

A regular at Bangkok’s student-led rallies, Masala Bold’s glamorous presence and ribald jokes provide a teasing interlude between speeches from protest leaders demanding the resignation of Thailand’s premier and reforms to the monarchy.

But far from being simply an entertainer, theater student Siraphob – who goes by the nickname Raptor and identifies as male offstage – says the movement’s goals align with the LGBTQ community’s desire for gender equality. Read the full article here.

The #ASEANYouth Interactive Webinar Series will culminate with an online dialogue on November 30 at 2 pm GMT+7 (9 pm in Manila). The theme of the dialogue is #ASEANYouth Building Back Better.

The Dialogue will revolve around the main question, “How might youth be stewards of building back better in ASEAN and preventing future pandemics?”.

ASEAN youth, defined as those 15 – 35 years old, are particularly at risk of suffering from disruptions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participate and be heard.

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) based in the University of the Philippines Los Baños extended until November 30 the deadline for submission of entries to its 2020 photo contest.

The theme this year’s photo contest is “Faces of Accelerating Transformation through Agricultural Innovation (ATTAIN).” The competition is open to Filipinos as well as nationals of other ASEAN countries plus Timor-Leste.

Winners will receive $1,000, $800, and $500 as the top 3 prizes, while a People’s Choice award will receive $200. Winners of the Department of Education Secretary’s Choice and the SEARCA Director’s Choice will both receive $500 as well. Contestants may submit as many photographs as they wish online via https://photocontest.searca.org.