Compiled by DIVYA THERESA RAVI AND C. ARUNO

MALAYSIAN singer Jess Lee Kar Wei is back on reality competition Singer 2025 in China after winning the challenger round, China Press reported.

Her rendition of Stardom stunned audiences and helped her win the challenge, thus securing her position as one of the season’s line-up of singers.

“I can finally remain on this stage!” she yelled in joy.

Netizens were blown away by her singing, and topics like “Jess Lee is amazing” went viral on the social media platform Weibo.

Lee, 37, from Negri Sembilan, made a name for herself in 2010 after winning the Taiwanese talent show One Million Star.

She subsequently signed with Warner Music Taiwan in 2011 and has released four albums.

Her contract with Warner Music ended in 2019. This led to her starting her own indie label.

However, her career took a nosedive during the Covid-19 pandemic. She became a real estate agent in Taiwan to earn a living.

> A hawker in Selangor, who took a five-day break as he was “feeling down”, was praised online for prioritising his mental health, the daily also reported.

A notice at his stall, written in English and Chinese, said: “I was feeling down, took a five-day break and went out to relax. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

There was also a caricature of a man bowing in apology.

It became a trending topic on the online forum Reddit, specifically the subreddit r/Bolehland.

Many Internet users praised the hawker for prioritising his mental health.

“This is the first time I am seeing an Asian uncle putting his own emotional needs first. Malaysians have evolved!” one user wrote.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.