The Court of Appeal upheld an earlier decision by the High Court. For the judges, the case is procedural, not about personal faith. The woman was never Muslim since the change in religion results from a unilateral act by her mother when she was a child without the consent of her Hindu father.

The Tenaganita, an advocacy association, has criticised the Malaysian government for its decision to restart recruiting migrants from Bangladesh after thousands of foreign workers already present in the country were left without work, housing and legal protection, trapped in a corrupt system of exploitation, this according to the NGO’s director, Glorene A Das.

During the official visit of the Malaysian prime minister, the two countries rebooted their historic economic, technological and cultural cooperation. Malaysia remains non-aligned in global power politics. Anwar said he raised the issue of flight MH17 shot down in 2014, after a UN body recently blamed Russia for the incident.

The 74-year-old bishop of Penang was born into an ethnic Indian family. He trained at the historic College of Martyrs whose legacy he feels. He leads a vibrant and multicultural Church with indigenous and migrant communities from different backgrounds. At the synod, he pointed to the horizon of a Church that truly “walks with the people”.

Despite the average age is still around 31, seniors over 65 are already 8.1 per cent of the more than 35 million Malaysians. Their share is bound to grow rapidly due to the combined effect of longer life expectancy and ageing in a society where care for the elderly is still almost entirely delegated to families.

In Malaysia, the "journey of the Cross" has begun, set to end next year at the Pastoral Convention. In Negombo, young people and children put on a play centred on the Lamentations with local traditions and customs. Tens of thousands take part in a pilgrimage in Zamboanga to remember the sufferings of Jesus. In Labuan Bajo, the bishop brought the Way of the Cross among inmates.