Family

China got richer. Why did its older people get lonelier?

China’s economic miracle has brought prosperity and mobility to millions — but also left many older people lonely. As families shrink, children migrate and communities change, loneliness reveals the hidden social costs of a transformation built on success. Academic Keming Yang explains.

Keming Yang

23 Oct 2026

[Big read] Hong Kong wants more babies, but couples need more than cash grants

Standalone cash grants are failing to revive Hong Kong’s birth rate. As officials look to Singapore for inspiration, young couples say deeper structural relief is needed. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Tai Hing Shing looks at why the city’s birth rate is so hard to lift.

Tai Hing Shing

15 Oct 2026

[Photos] Days by the sea: Remembering writer and revolutionary Chen Yingzhen

Rediscovered photographs from a 1987 trip to the Philippines bring back memories of Taiwanese literary giant Chen Yingzhen — his ideals and friendships, his unwavering convictions, and a rarely seen, carefree side of the famously serious writer. Historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao goes back in time.

Hsu Chung-mao

09 Oct 2026

How Singaporean hotelier Cinn Tan is building a global brand

She chased clients in high heels, endured harsh northern winters on Chinese cabbage and built hotels across China. Now, hotelier Cinn Tan is turning decades of experience into a vision for a truly Singaporean global hotel brand. Lianhe Zaobao senior writer Wang Hwee Wen interviews her to find out more.

Wang Hwee Wen

17 Sep 2026

Are Singaporeans disappearing? The identity challenge behind the baby crisis

To confront a historically low total fertility rate, Singapore is re-engineering social frameworks for parenthood. As the nation turns to global immigrants, it needs to ensure that new arrivals successfully forge a rooted national identity. Han Yong May, deputy editor-in-chief of SPH’s Chinese Media Group, considers the issues at stake.

Han Yong May

08 Sep 2026

[Big read] Taiwan is running out of babies — and obstetricians

Taiwan’s fertility rate has fallen to the world’s lowest, as young people delay marriage and parenthood amid soaring costs and uncertainty. Now, a shrinking pool of births is also threatening the country’s healthcare system and its next generation of doctors. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Chuang Hui Liang finds out more.

Chuang Hui Liang

08 Sep 2026

Rojak roots: What it means to be Singaporean

Cantonese and Hokkien, Malay and English; kampung food, Hong Kong television, Manchester United and the Catholic faith. Tracing the people, languages and cultures that shaped her, ThinkChina’s Candice Chan reflects on a thoroughly mixed — and thoroughly Singaporean — inheritance in ThinkChina’s Eye on Guangdong series.

Candice Chan

31 Aug 2026

How my Aquarian mother survived state-made absurdity [Part 2]

Taiwanese art historian Chiang Hsun’s mother fled bombings, displacement and political upheaval to keep the family alive through war, before rebuilding a life from scratch in Dalongdong, where survival slowly became home.

Chiang Hsun

14 Aug 2026

My Aquarian mother who ran with bound feet [Part 1]

Taiwanese art historian Chiang Hsun pieces together the life of the woman who raised him — a daughter of a fallen Manchu family whose memories survived revolution, war and displacement.

Chiang Hsun

07 Aug 2026

Michael Wee: Why Singapore’s PATEC chose Taiwan over SGX

PATEC founder Michael Wee shares why he listed his precision engineering company in Taiwan, how AI revived its hard disk drive business, and his plans for PATEC’s next phase of growth in this interview with Lianhe Zaobao associate business editor Chew Boon Leong.

Chew Boon Leong

22 Jul 2026

Million-dollar overseas degrees, entry-level Chinese salaries

For decades, studying abroad was seen as a ticket to opportunity. Now, more Chinese graduates are returning home — only to find that foreign credentials carry less weight than before. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Liu Liu examines the issue.

Liu Liu

08 Jul 2026

Dear You: China’s Nanyang dream and Singapore’s lived reality

Chinese film Dear You about Nanyang migrants moves audiences in China, but for Jean Lee, a second-generation Nanyang migrant, the romanticised onscreen nostalgia clashes deeply with the gritty reality of her family’s history.

Jean Lee

26 Jun 2026