PH digital bank Maya Bank is crowned best digital bank in the country by Financial Times. Maya serves 5.4M customers and has deposits worth PhP 39B.
#Philippines #Asian #TootSEA #Finance #Apps #MayaBank #FinTech #Banks
https://insiderph.com/mvp-backed-maya-bank-crowned-phs-best-by-forbes-financial-times
Can't remember the last time I ate at a paluto diner.
Yes, my husband and I were in food coma right after. And yes, we had bulalo in this crazy heat. 
When everyone else was throwing praise and cash at a fish-feeder startup like it’s the second coming of Grameen Bank, it’s easy to start wondering if maybe you’re just being cynical. Maybe you’re jaded. Maybe the founder *really is* a scrappy visionary from East Jakarta.
People in the Indonesian tech scene knew how cynical, critical, and skeptical I was whenever I came across new startup ideas or concepts. People probably called me the dream killer with all the startup ideas I shat on as a judge at various tech startup events over the years but I was the judge, not the executioner.
For the most part I asked hard questions about their ideas and they mostly couldn’t find the answers. That’s on them. It’s on the founders to decide how to proceed after my grilling. But this one, this fishy fish feeding idea, this was blowing red flags in my head but it already had far too many major backers at the time. I chose to stay quiet and distanced myself from the hype.
#startup #Indonesia #efishery #TootSEA
http://aulia.me/2025/04/16/i-wanted-to-be-wrong-about-efishery-i-really-did/
Singapore elections soon. I’ll be voting at the consulate on Market St in San Francisco
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-general-election-may-3-parliament-dissolved-5064316
The Philippine Pavilion at the Osaka Expo is a stunner! (Though I'm still not a fan of the tourism slogan.)
One of the major hits in this year's Raya songs is Mimifly's Serumpun (which also has a dance portion with stylized Malaysian Sign Language) and one of the more enjoyable things I've seen are the various dance vids being performed to it (the title means "of the same root/source/group" and in her MV it was explicit with how she had other people showing up Nusantara/SEAsian native attire) from various Malaysians *AND* SEAns especially if you're in the aforementioned Nusantara grouping so I've seen videos from as far north as Cambodia. Anyway, this must be the fault of my algorithm because while I'm getting gorgeous Malaysian Indian dancers in full traditional attire why is the only properly choreographed non-nyonya non-baju Melayu videos from Malaysian Chinese is this Zumba video clearly from somewhere in my neighbourhood if the basketball court in the local park doesn't give it away... I guess at this point that's a cultural dress....
A former Malaysian Prime Minister is reported to have passed away today.
No, not the one you think.
Innalillah regardless.
So over the weekend in SEA/nusantara socmed it was a bit popping on my feed because of two unrelated things, but they're all revolving around southeast asia as the Balkans of Asia (iykyk) and in the middle of the well-deserved lashings being poured on Malaysian transphobes suddenly this Thai account was like, lol Malaysia is a neocolonial project to destabilize the region, and most people are like, 1) wtf does that make you; 1a) axis collaborator; 1a-ii) collaborated so hard you simped for Hirohito and Hitler.
Anyway, the point of all that is that I'm being reminded that in a lot (A LOT) of border territories in the maritime SEA, and no judgement, you will not find it strange to find Malaysian flags as part of the local separatist expressions 
whyyyy don't get us involved (it's related to sociocultural facts about what constituted the "Malay World") #tootSEA #malaysia
'Everybody wants one' Apple's iPhone 16 hits Indonesia stores after months-long ban
> the US tech announced last month that its latest #smartphone models would hit the shelves, weeks after striking a deal with the Indonesian government to invest in the country.
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2025/04/12/039everybody-wants-one039-apple039s-iphone-16-hits-indonesia-stores-after-months-long-ban #Indonesia #SouthEastAsia #TootSEA #iPhone #Apple #expatasia #smartphones
Aside from my habilins, my husband also came home with a bag of this freshly roasted beans. It's from Maxi Coffee Bar, a quaint coffee shop in Ann Siang Hill that serves delicious coffee. Glad we had the pleasure of discovering it two years ago.
Can't wait for my Americano!
In Singapore, you can go to any local drinks stall and say ‘auntie I want Michael Jackson’ and you will get iced soy milk with grass jelly. Because soy milk is white and grass jelly is black. Like the song.
https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/1jx47iy/only_in_singapore_micheal_jackson/
modern filipiniana in two looks 
I wanted to make something fun but cohesive and could go from indoor to outdoor without much effort.
made from dyed abacá and woven cloth with katsa (recycled cheesecloth) lining
around 1 week including the prototype as it was my first time using abacá
made the bandana from the retaso; it reminded me of amorsolo paintings
schild studios
Ok LMAO - Asian countries trading amidst the trade war be like
https://youtube.com/shorts/VSGd5S3_zFg
OR https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSrfEQu9J/
#Asia #SoutheastAsia #tootSEA #malaysia #indonesia #philippines #singapore #japan #southKorea #china #usa (having fun with language- and code-switching)
Welcome back to the stage ZOPFAN
Girl group BINI is reshaping the sound and soul of the Filipino music industry. Their message is clear: success tastes even sweeter when it's shared, earned, and true to who you are.
And what this says is, "The future of OPM (Original Pilipino Music) is fierce and female."
--Alamak! Malaysian loanwords ‘mat rempit’, ‘tapau’ and ‘terror’ among new additions to Oxford English Dictionary--
The full list of words:
alamak, int.
fish head curry, n.
half-boiled egg, n.
kaya, n.2
kaya toast, n.
ketupat, n.
mat rempit, n.
nasi lemak, n.
otak-otak, n.
steamboat, n.
tapau, v.
terror, adj.
--
Other Malaysian loanwords already included in the OED are:
atas, adj.
bak kwa, n.
bak kut teh, n.
belukar, n.
changkol, n.
char kway teow, n.
chicken rice, n.
kain songket, n.
kopitiam, n.
laksa, n.
lepak, v.
mamak, n. and adj.
shophouse, n.
sotong, n.
teh tarik, n
--Group hails UK's 'deep regret' over Batang Kali massacre--
- An NGO welcomes the UK government’s expression of “deep regret” over the 1948 Batang Kali massacre, marking a shift from decades of denial and disinformation.
- In a letter, UK minister Catherine West acknowledges the tragedy, the pain caused, and past misleading narratives portraying victims as insurgents.
- The committee urges the statement to be recorded in the UK Parliament and proposes a memorial for the 24 victims.
