Synopsis: In this special series, The Straits Times dives into some of the greatest unsolved mysteries in South-east Asia, and examines the underlying issues that they exposed.
Podcasters: Tan Jia Ning, Magdalene Fung and ST Foreign desk
Produced and edited by: Teo Tong Kai
Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Tan Jia Ning
A podcast by The Straits Times, SPH Media.
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Podcasts have become part of the global media landscape these days. The audio-on-demand format allows many listeners to often do other chores or hobbies, while hearing the shows in the background over headphones or bluetooth speakers
Almost every weekday, check out our discussions on Singapore current affairs and social issues, geopolitics through an Asian lens, health, climate change, personal finance and career.
Follow our shows on your favourite audio apps Apple Podcasts, Spotify or even ST’s app, which has a dedicated podcast player section.
Trailer narrated by: Podcast editor Ernest Luis (ernest@sph.com.sg); edited by: Elsa Goh
This series clinched the gold award for Best Podcast at the Digital Media Awards Asia 2025 on April 23, organised by the World Association of News Publishers (Wan-Ifra).
This series clinched the gold award for Best Podcast at the Digital Media Awards Asia 2024 in April, and third place for Best Podcast at the Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2024, both organised by Wan-Ifra.
S1E6: Japan: Killer prowled Twitter for the suicidal
Season 1 · Episode 6
Monday, September 25, 2023 • Duration 29:19
Journey into the darkest corners of the internet, where a deadly connection was forged in 140 characters or less.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. This is the sixth and final episode of True Crimes Of Asia, a special edition podcast series that started on April 25, 2023.
Warning: This podcast is an audio documentary of a real crime case which may be troubling and upsetting to certain listeners. This episode specifically covers themes of suicide and details of death and traumatic sexual acts. Listener discretion is advised, and helplines for mental well-being are provided further below.
Nine heads and 240 bones were found in a tiny apartment just outside Tokyo on Halloween in 2017, in one of Japan's most shocking crimes in history.
Takahiro Shiraishi baited suicidal victims on Twitter who wanted to die but lacked the courage to end their own lives.
He posed as an expert in hanging but his real motives were sex and money.
Shiraishi has been sentenced to death – by hanging – and is now in a maximum-security prison. The case had sparked conversations about social media scrutiny and suicide in Japan.
ST's Japan correspondent Walter Sim narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:16 Shiraishi's motives and modus operandi
5:47 What led Shiraishi down this path
9:28 Shiraishi meets his first victim
16:43 Justice catches up with Shiraishi
22:19 Social implications of Shiraishi's crimes, and how not much has changed since then
Interviews & narration by: Walter Sim
S1E3: The ghost ship in the Strait of Malacca
Season 1 · Episode 3
Monday, May 16, 2022 • Duration 22:09
Synopsis: In this special series, The Straits Times dives into some of the greatest unsolved mysteries in South-east Asia, and examines the underlying issues that they exposed.
In this episode, we find out what might have happened to 'Ourang Medan' a distressed vessel sailing the Strait of Malacca in the 1930s - 1940s and the gruesome but mysterious death of its crew.
ST's Indonesia correspondent Linda Yulisman speaks with Mr Sayed Fauzan Riyadi, maritime researcher from the Raja Ali Haji Maritime University in Riau, Indonesia, and former commander of Indonesian Navy Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh.
She also interviewed Mr Siswanto Rusdi, executive director of Indonesia’s National Maritime Institute, and Dr Eric Frecon, adjunct fellow at the French Naval Academy who has written a book on piracy in Indonesian waters titled Chez les Pirates d’Indonésie.
Synopsis: In this special series, The Straits Times dives into some of the greatest unsolved mysteries in South-east Asia, and examines the underlying issues that they exposed.
In this episode, we follow the trail of fabled treasure stashed in tunnels and caves by retreating Japanese soldiers who found themselves with nowhere else to go as World War II drew to a close.
ST correspondent Raul Dancel speaks to Mr Arnel Cruz, spokesman of the Treasure Hunters Association of the Philippines, and archaeologist Jose Eleazar Bersales.
He also interviewed political analyst Lucio Pitlo III and retired US Navy officer Manny Paez, who was with a team of experts commissioned by the History Channel for a series on the mysterious buried treasure.
Follow The Unsolved Mysteries Of South-east Asia podcast series here every third Tuesday of the month till July:
S1E1: The plane that vanished into thin air
Season 1 · Episode 1
Monday, March 7, 2022 • Duration 25:39
Synopsis: In this special series, The Straits Times dives into some of the greatest unsolved mysteries in South-east Asia, and examines the underlying issues that they exposed.
In this episode, we revisit the mystery of Malaysian flight MH370, the plane that vanished into thin air on 8 March, 2014.
ST's Malaysia correspondent Hazlin Hassan narrates and also speaks with the following guests - French journalist Florence De Changy, who has written her book called The Disappearing Act: The Impossible Case of MH370, ST's Malaysia bureau chief Shannon Teoh.
She also interviews the husband of a passenger on board MH370 - management consultant K.S. Narendran and Dr Joel Low, a clinical psychologist.
S1E5: Taiwan: Deadly stabbing spree on metro shocks island of 23 million
Season 1 · Episode 5
Monday, August 21, 2023 • Duration 29:00
Even the perpetrator's own parents asked for their son to be put to death.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
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.
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.
ST’s Taiwan correspondent Yip Wai Yee interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
4:49 Cheng's mental state the subject of intense legal dispute
6:28 How Cheng planned his stabbing spree
11:23 He would not have spared anyone, even if his parents had been on board the metro train
14:40 Cheng executed on May 10, 2016; political motivations behind the extraordinary speediness of his execution?
21:51 Why Taiwanese often choose to ignore social problems; health ministry establishes new department dedicated to mental health programmes in May 2022
Interviews & narration by: Yip Wai Yee
Executive Producers: Ernest Luis (ernest@sph.com.sg) and Tan Tam Mei ()
S1E4: Indonesia: Masked ‘ninjas’ and mass murders of suspected sorcerers
Season 1 · Episode 4
Sunday, July 30, 2023 • Duration 41:53
How the gruesome 1998 incidents paved the way for black magic to be criminalised last year in 2022, in the predominantly Muslim country of Indonesia.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
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.
Sorcery is against Islamic teachings, but today, many in Indonesia still consult black magic practitioners for advice. In 1998, a series of killings by unknown masked 'ninjas', targeting suspected sorcerers in East Java, launched the community into a period of mass hysteria, violence and retaliation-attacks.
The killings triggered discussions on the need and ways to regulate sorcery, to prevent similar instances and to stop people from taking the law into their own hands. The legal gap was finally plugged last year in 2022, when laws on sorcery were included in the revised Criminal Code passed by the Parliament.
The government is also seeking to settle the case, along with 11 other human rights abuses, by non-judicial means.
ST’s Indonesia Bureau Chief Arlina Arshad narrates this podcast. The reporting and scripting for this episode was done by ST’s Indonesia Correspondent Linda Yulisman.
Highlights (click/tap above):
4:20 Why sorcery has long been part of Indonesia’s life and culture, even among the nation's notable figures
10:05 From 1998 till 1999, a ferocious wave of hysteria spreads against purported black magic practitioners
20:15 Larger motives behind attacks? Understanding Banyuwangi region's history and Indonesia’s period of political transition
28:40 Were attacks likely carried out by trained assassins with links to the military?
S1E3: Singapore: Employers abuse Myanmar domestic worker to her death
Season 1 · Episode 3
Sunday, July 30, 2023 • Duration 31:52
Since Ms Piang Ngaih Don’s death in 2016, a slew of measures have been introduced to stem domestic worker abuse.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
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.
In 2016, the abuse and eventual death of a young Myanmar domestic worker led to shock and an outpouring of grief in Singapore.
Ms Piang Ngaih Don left her hometown in Chin State, Myanmar, to work for Gaiyathiri Murugayan and her then-husband and suspended police officer Kevin Chelvam in 2015.
The details and extent of her torture, at the hands of Gaiyathiri and her mother Prema S. Naraynasamy, brought about heightened checks and health screenings for domestic workers in Singapore. Yet activists say more can be done.
ST's Singapore journalist Jean Iau interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
4:23 "Their attitude is like animal attitude", says Mr Tin Maung Win who runs an NGO for migrant workers
6:35 Verbal abuse turns physical: CCTV footage captures the assaults on Ms Piang Ngaih Don over the last 35 days of her life
9:05 Chilling events the night before she died; Gaiyathiri and Prema now serving sentences
15:25 Reactions from Ms Piang Ngaih Don’s family; hundreds take to the streets in Yangon to mourn her
21:06 Revisiting the scene: A young neighbour recalls hearing shouting from Gaiyathiri's flat and avoiding her
22:48 In February 2021, then-Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said Singapore "must do better"; Manpower Ministry spells out some measures introduced since 2021
S1E2: Thailand: Thousands of foetuses hidden in a Bangkok temple
Season 1 · Episode 2
Friday, June 9, 2023 • Duration 28:15
This is the 2010 case that became a turning point in Thailand's debate over abortion.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
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.
Be transported back to the events of 2010, when the discovery of thousands of rotting foetuses, hidden in a Bangkok temple - led to more awareness and debate over illegal abortions in Buddhist-majority Thailand.
The grisly remains at Wat Phai Ngern were traced to a network of clinics. The case uncovered the scale of the illegal abortion industry at a time when the procedure was still largely illegal and heavily stigmatised.
ST's Thailand correspondent Tan Tam Mei interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:03 A dog chews on something in the middle of a Bangkok temple; long-time temple worker Supote Leangbamrong recalls the stench and discovery by authorities in 2010
5:52 Shockwaves throughout Thailand; abortion hardly discussed and was largely illegal and taboo back then
08:57 Nursing assistant Lanchakorn Janthamanas's underground operation; roping in two temple undertakers to dispose of the bodies
11:40 Abortion activist Supeecha Baotip on how voices of women were missing in the discussion on abortion, her own story and how much has changed since the crime case
17:44 Restrictions against abortion relaxed in 2021, sweeping legal changes in Thailand
20:00 Cultural beliefs: Why some doctors don't perform abortions because they are afraid of karma
23:09 Expanding availability of legal abortions and to change mindsets; abortion offered as a tele-health service in Thailand
S1E1: South Korea: Cybersex criminals trapping girls in a digital prison
Season 1 · Episode 1
Saturday, April 29, 2023 • Duration 27:13
Find out about the insidious 'Nth room' crimes in one of Asia's most highly-wired countries.
Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
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.
Digital sex crimes have become so common in highly-wired South Korea, leading to several copycat 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.
This is the side of South Korean society that the world may not know as well, away from the global appeal of its K-drama series and glamour of its K-pop music.
ST's South Korea correspondent Chang May Choon interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:00 The year was 2019; blackmail and even making victims engrave their names or IDs on their bodies, using knives
5:15 Student journalist Park Ji-hyun and college friend aiming to "pull out the roots of evil", expose published in September 2019; hear the actual voice of the ringleader Cho Ju-bin
10:00 Activist Summer Cha (her voice in Korean is digitally altered to protect her identity) on why digital sex crimes are trending upwards
13:38 Lewd and disgusting reactions in male-only sites towards victims in the recent Itaewon crush incident
14:38 Big cities such as Seoul, Busan and Incheon have now set up their own digital sex crime centres to provide support for victims; Seoul centre director Lee Eun-jeong explains SOPs
Voiceovers: Hairianto Diman, Deepanraj Ganesan, Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Dominic Nathan, Lee Nian Tjoe, Colin Tan, Eddino Abdul Hadi, Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim
28:10 Should foreign domestic workers be given option to "live out", regardless of higher costs to employers? Ms Jaya Anil Kumar, senior research and advocacy manager at Human Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) believes so
17:22 New 'anti-Nth Room Bill' was passed in Korean parliament and went into effect in December 2021; why encrypted messaging app Telegram has slipped through the net
22:17 Park Ji-hyun now a young politician; more Nth room copycats still emerging
25:18 ST correspondent Chang May Choon wraps up, having lived and worked as a Singaporean woman in South Korea for the past eight years
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