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Insider Asia Profile picture
@InsiderAsia
Jul 31, 2021 • 12 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
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A battle is unfolding over the world's smelliest fruit.

Insider spoke to farmers in Malaysia who say their entire livelihood is being wiped out at the worst possible time.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows Musang King dur...
In Southeast Asia, the durian is the undisputed king of fruit.

The smell, though, is divisive.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows a close-up shot...
Still, durians are a special treat in Asian households, costing as much as $13 a pound.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows piece of hangin...
Tan Wai Kiat's family has been growing Musang King on a plantation in Raub, an old mining township of 100,000 people, for 20 years.

Just like with wine, durian trees that age longer produce better fruit.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows Musang King far...
But all that's left of his farm now are logs and mud, he told Insider.

In mid July, the state forestry department finished chopping down 15,000 durian trees, including the entirety of Tan's 13-acre plantation.

insider.com/malaysia-farme…
As interest in durian cultivation has grown, so has interference from Raub's state government, say Musang King farmers.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows person holding ...
Most of the Musang King farms are built on state-owned land and are being run without permission from authorities.

But farmers say they have been trying to legalize their farms for years.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows a Musang King f...
In June 2020, the state government awarded the Royal Pahang Durian Group (RPDG) more than 5,500 acres of Musang King soil.

The problem is that the land was already host to roughly 1,000 Musang King farmers.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows a hand holding ...
The RPDG told farmers it would lease them back the land for a one-time fee of around $1,400 an acre.

But the leased land comes with strings.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows a stack of duri...
The battle around Raub's Musang King comes as demand for the fruit has been exploding in popularity in China.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows supermarket she...
Chiang Heng Mun, another farmer whose 20-acre plantation was cleared this month, says that without his Musang King trees, he doubts he'll make enough for his family to live off of.

insider.com/malaysia-farme… Image shows a black quote c...
Read more about the battle over durians on Insider.

insider.com/malaysia-farme…

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More from @InsiderAsia

Insider Asia Profile picture
Oct 24, 2021
China's economy — the world's 2nd-largest — is on the brink of disaster.

President Xi Jinping must strike a balance between eliminating China's crushing debt and maintaining consumer confidence.

If he fails, the rest of the world better watch out.

businessinsider.com/china-economy-… Graphic shows Chinese President Xi Jingping walking across a
Since this spring, Beijing has:

🚫 canceled initial public offerings
💻 fined tech companies billions for antitrust violations
📚 forcibly shut down China's entire for-profit education industry

businessinsider.com/china-economy-…
The upheaval, spanning multiple industries and vast swaths of the country, is the result of one giant issue: China's inability to borrow or buy its way out of its current economic crisis.

businessinsider.com/china-economy-…
Read 12 tweets
Insider Asia Profile picture
Oct 22, 2021
.@netflix show #squidgame is a dystopian nightmare.

But some South Korean millennials see the drama series as a grim reflection of their own experiences.

Insider spoke to young people in debt in Seoul to see the reality of life in the capital. 👇

insider.com/south-koreas-m… Image from Netflix show squ...
Sarah Son, a lecturer in Korean studies at the University of Sheffield, told Insider that the debt crisis and squalor seen in South Korean cultural exports like "Squid Game" paints only part of the picture.

insider.com/south-koreas-m… Quote from lecturer at the ...
In 2021, South Koreans ran up more than $1.5 trillion in debt, rivalling the country's GDP of $1.63 trillion.

Easy-to-access loans and credit cards appear to be greatly adding to the problem.

insider.com/south-koreas-m… Infographic: $44,000 is the...
Read 14 tweets
Insider Asia Profile picture
Sep 23, 2021
In July, the Indonesian capital of Jakarta became the Southeast Asian epicenter of the pandemic.

These are the three key issues that could make Indonesia vulnerable if there's another wave. 👇

insider.com/indonesia-pand… Image shows a Jakarta resident visiting the grave of a relat
Hendro Utomo, 53, would listen as the loudspeakers from the local mosque announced who had died the day before.

"Five, eight dead every day, just in my neighborhood," he said.

insider.com/indonesia-pand… Image shows an Indonesian food bank worker reaching out with
Emergency doctors like Debryna Dewi, 29, had to regularly decide which patients would receive a hospital and which were sent home.

insider.com/indonesia-pand… A text-only graphic that reads: "That's not something t
Read 14 tweets
Insider Asia Profile picture
Aug 1, 2021
The typical Chinese millennial makes $22,000 a year but has no student debt, grew up in an economic boom, and has learned how to outhustle everyone else.

Meet some of them here. 👇

insider.com/meet-the-typic…
While millennials in the US are known for enduring financial crises, those in China grew up during a period of economic reform.

China's millennials — those born between 1981 and 1996 — started working while the country's GDP per capita soared. 💸

insider.com/meet-the-typic… Photo shows a 39-year-old designer in Guangzhou named Chen H
Millennials in China are expected to own an apartment, get a high-paying job, and find a spouse by the time they hit 30.

⏰ The country's major tech companies celebrate working six days a week, 12 hours a day, as part of a "hustle culture."

insider.com/meet-the-typic… Photo shows a family walking through an airport. It is overl
Read 11 tweets
Insider Asia Profile picture
Jul 10, 2021
Using a special sustainable toilet in South Korea can get you books, fruit, and even freshly brewed coffee. 🚽

Here’s how.

insider.com/south-korean-u…
Professors at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology have designed a toilet that converts methane from one's faeces into an energy source. 💩

insider.com/south-korean-u… Photo shows a glowing ball on top of a toilet. It is overlai
BeeVi uses a vacuum and a small amount of water to send poop from the toilet into an underground tank and bioreactor, prompting its creators to call it a "super water-saving vacuum toilet."

insider.com/south-korean-u… Photo shows UNIST professor Cho Jae-weon standing next to a
Read 7 tweets
Insider Asia Profile picture
Jun 30, 2021
Xiapu County in China's Fujian province is almost a little too picture-perfect, with photos of the county’s scenic spots abound on Weibo, China’s equivalent to Twitter.

The catch? Most of them are manufactured. insider.com/fake-rural-chi…
Xiapu is still a largely agrarian town, but much of its picturesque landscape — and the people within it — is created by teams of photo crews masquerading as fake farmers and fishermen. insider.com/fake-rural-chi…
For the right price, Chinese and foreign visitors alike can get the perfect shot for their social media profile, complete with "special effects" courtesy of local businessmen angling to facilitate photoshoots. insider.com/fake-rural-chi…
Read 9 tweets

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