Download PSY became a global phenomenon with his hit song ‘Gangnam Style’.

And he was invited this week to Penang to perform at a public event organised by the state’s Barisan Nasional party.

The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition lost five states in the 2008 election... and one of them was Penang.

Clarence Chua is in Georgetown to find out whether Barisan Nasional can ride on the success of Gangam Style to win votes.

Download Afghan’s Bamiyan Province was once renowned for the famous Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Now it’s becoming a new ski destination, attracting tourists to its snowy slopes.

As Ghayor Waziri reports, many young people are flocking to the area to learn how to ski.

Download Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta was recently paralyzed with major floods.  

Over 100 thousand people were forced to flee their homes as water levels reached the roof of some houses.

The governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo has declared a state of emergency until the end of January.

For young Salwa from Kampung Melayu, one of the most affected areas in the eastern part of Jakarta, this year’s floods will be a memorable one.

Samantha Yap has her story.

Download Our Homeland is a feature film about Korean man’s visit to his family in Japan after a long exile in North Korea.

The director Yang Yong-Hi leans on her own personal history and similar stories from her pro-North Korean community in Japan for the film.

Yang portrays Koreans living in Japan who were treated like second-class citizens and discriminated against.

It’s been selected as Japan’s nominee for this year’s Oscar and recently screened at a film festival in Sweden.

Ric Wasserman speaks with the director about the film.

Afghanistan might not be your first choice for a holiday, but the number of tourists coming to Herat Province is growing.

Last year there was a 60% increase in the number of tourists to the area.

Many travel websites describe travel in Afghanistan as ‘extremely dangeorus’ but Herat is considered the safest province in the country, despite a series of bombs and suicide attacks.

More and more international tourists are flocking to visit the historic sites, the mosques and mausoleums in the city of Herat. And the growing level of tourism brings jobs for local people.

But security is still a concern.

Ghayor Waziri has more from Kabul.

Download

“The Pink Choice” is the first of its kind, a photo exhibition of homosexual couples in Hanoi. 

On display are 45 intimate pictures of gay Vietnamese couples, which provide an insight into their everyday lives.

It comes at a time when the Vietnamese government has said it’s considering legalising same-sex marriages. 

 If that happens, Vietnam would be the first country in Asia to do so.

Hanoi staged its first Gay Pride in August this year, but the issue of gay rights is still very new in Vietnam.

And as D.O. Lee reports from Hanoi, the exhibit is an eye-opener for many Vietnamese.