Southeast Asia’s scam hubs, songwriter for BTS, Cantonese cuisine: 5 weekend reads you may have missed
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Forget Macau, dirty Chinese cash has a new home: Southeast Asia’s scam hubs
![The Venetian casino in Macau. Photo: Shutterstock image](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/29/dd71f747-1a75-44de-a104-67aafe42fb56_798e21ed.jpg)
2. They’ve written for BTS, Tia Ray, Priscilla Abby – and they combined in Hong Kong to make new songs
![A songwriting camp in Hong Kong brought together talent to create all-but-guaranteed chart-toppers. Photo: UMP Hong Kong image](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/29/73b312a2-964d-4c55-94d1-41c3d6e8a855_ee726fda.jpg)
3. How 139-year-old Hong Kong umbrella maker weathered storms from political instability to the Japanese – but not Jet Li
![Jet Li famously weaponised one of its umbrellas in a fight scene – or rather 26 of them, given he broke them all. Photo: Yik Yeung-man image](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/29/8edb047c-c16d-49dd-941d-08dd2145754d_fe822e91.jpg)
4. Thousands of Vietnamese lament life savings lost in nation’s largest financial scam
![A Saigon Commercial Bank branch in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Bloomberg image](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/29/100e75fb-79b8-4c6e-a316-6d5d0fdf2665_a66cec46.jpg)
5. The world is borrowing from Cantonese cuisine – but is it a threat to authenticity?
![Adana kebab dumplings at Gallada at The Peninsula Istanbul, Turkey. The siu-mai-style dumplings are one of many examples of how non-Cantonese chefs around the world are borrowing from Cantonese cuisine. Photo: Cihan Alpgiray image](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/29/0ebe4615-f735-4ee3-9faa-f27f8217773b_ca4526af.jpg)
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