The True Crimes of Asia podcast series clinched the gold award for Best Podcast at the Digital Media Awards Asia 2024 in April, organised by the World Association of News Publishers (Wan-Ifra).
Featuring high profile cases across Asia - from spine-chilling finds in a Bangkok temple, to a domestic helper being tortured to death in Singapore - this six-part series was published by The Straits Times in Singapore between April and September 2023.
Headphones are recommended for this special podcast series that explores real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted Asian societies.
Warning: This podcast is an audio documentary of a real crime case which may be troubling and upsetting to certain listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
South Korea: Cybersex criminals trapping girls in a digital prison
Digital sex crimes have become so common in highly-wired South Korea, leading to several versions of what have become known as the “Nth room” crimes. Why does this keep happening, and what are the underlying causes of these cases? Despite government efforts to crack down on these cases, they return again and again.
Thailand: Thousands of foetuses hidden in a Bangkok temple
A foul smell in the air around a Bangkok temple once led residents and temple occupants to uncover thousands of foetuses buried on the grounds. The bodies were eventually traced to illegal abortion clinics. The gruesome discovery prompted calls for Thailand to rethink abortion laws, a rare and touchy debate in the Buddhist-majority country. Today, Thailand has one of the most liberal abortion laws in the region, but due to a lack of government-led protocols and continued stigma, access to legal abortions is still an issue.
Singapore: A Myanmar domestic worker’s gruesome death at the hands of her employers
For nearly a year, domestic helper Piang Ngaih Don suffered at the hands of her Singapore employer. She was tortured, starved and severely beaten before she died. The extent of her abuse in 2016 sent shockwaves throughout Singapore, and also prompted changes in policies regarding the welfare of foreign domestic helpers.
Indonesia: Masked ‘ninjas’ and the mass murders of suspected sorcerers
Under the cloak of darkness, masked assailants set upon their targets, beheading or disemboweling them, before disappearing as swiftly and silently. These ‘ninjas’ were blamed for the mass killings of alleged sorcerers in the eastern part of Indonesia’s Java island in 1998 and 1999, where black magic was practised but sometimes also shunned. The killings triggered discussions on the need to regulate sorcery, but it was only last year that this legal gap was finally plugged.
Taiwan: A stabbing spree on the metro forces a look at mental health
A random stabbing spree in a Taipei metro in 2014 resulted in four dead and 24 injured. There was no apparent motive for the shocking killing, and the assailant Cheng Chieh displayed no remorse. Cheng’s childhood, which was fraught with isolation, his public threats against classmates and plans to kill detailed on his blog, also ignited debate about troubled youth and gaps in mental health care. This case also restarted conversations about capital punishment in Taiwan.
Japan: Killer prowled Twitter for the suicidal
Takahiro Shiraishi baited vulnerable lonely victims via Twitter, luring them to his home where he choked them before sexually assaulting them while unconscious and then chopping up their bodies. He has been sentenced to death, though he has not been executed yet. The shocking incident also raised the need for better support for suicidal victims, though it did not prompt any significant change in online laws. This however, continues to be a point of discussion for Japan on how it can better protect vulnerable youth and prevent such incidents from snowballing.
Follow ST’s True Crimes Of Asia here:
Channel: https://str.sg/i44T
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/i44q
Spotify: https://str.sg/i44c
Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/i4Y5
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/
Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg
Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!
Listen to MoneyFM’s Hongbin Jeong below, as she chats with Ernest Luis, Podcast Editor of The Straits Times, Tan Tam Mei, Executive Producer for True Crimes of Asia, and Chang May Choon, The Straits Times South Korea Correspondent, to talk more about the series before its launch earlier this year.
