These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Singapore-based Zouk Group sold for $14 million as cruise operator Genting Hong Kong seeks liquidity
Ailing cruise operator Genting Hong Kong has sold the Zouk Group, which operates the popular nightclub, for $14 million as part of efforts to offload non-core assets and generate liquidity for the cash-strapped firm. Malaysian firm Tulipa is buying the Singapore-based group, according to a filing on the Hong Kong Exchange on Tuesday (Sept 1) night. Tulipa is owned by Mr Lim Keong Hui, the son of Genting Hong Kong's controlling shareholder. Mr Lim resigned from the Genting Hong Kong board last week. The cash sale is expected to result in a gain of about HK$6.7 million (S$1.2 million), which will be used as working capital, the filing said. Concerns were raised over Genting's finances in July after it disclosed that it had suspended all payments to creditors. The firm said then that cash flow had been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and funds would have to be channelled to services critical to the company's operations. Genting Hong Kong owns the Star, Dream and Crystal Cruises brands, operates shipyards and has a stake in Resorts World Manila. The Tuesday filing said selling the Zouk Group is part of effort to conserve cash and seek additional sources of finance to sustain the business, pending the resumption of cruise operations. – The Straits Times
Rais Yatim is new Dewan Negara president
Former Umno minister Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim has been elected the new president of Dewan Negara. The Negri Sembilan Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman, Rais replaces Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran whose tenure ended June 22. Rais garnered 45 votes against his contender, senator Yusmadi Mohd Yusoff, who obtained 19 votes out of a total of 64. One senator was absent from the voting. Vigneswaran, who is also MIC president, held the post for two terms from June 23, 2014. Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan tabled a motion from Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to nominate Rais to the post. The nomination was seconded by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Shabudin Yahya. The nomination of Yusmadi from PKR was proposed by Senator Dr Ahmad Azam Hamzah and seconded by Senator Mohamad Imran Abd Hamid. – New Straits Times
Finance Minister Predee resigns after 26 days
Finance Minister Predee Daochai has submitted his resignation after 26 days in the job, citing health reasons. The former president of Kasikornbank reportedly submitted the letter on Monday and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha approved it. Mr Predee was royally appointed on Aug 6 under the quota of the prime minister. According to earlier media reports, Mr Predee disagreed with his deputy, Santi Prompat from the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), over the reshuffle of high-ranking officials, in particular who should head the Excise Department. Mr Predee reportedly wanted Lavaron Sangsnit, director of the Fiscal Policy Office, for the post, but Mr Santi preferred Prapas Kong-Ied, director of the State Enterprise Policy Office. The cabinet on Tuesday appointed Mr Lavaron as chief of the Excise Department, but Mr Predee resigned anyway. Sources at the PPRP said news about Mr Predee’s resignation came on Monday. “We’ve always thought he wouldn’t last long because he had no political experiences,” he said. – Bangkok Post
Parents worried about vaccinating children amid pandemic: Survey
Almost one third of Indonesian parents and caregivers are doubtful about taking their children for routine immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic for fear of contracting the coronavirus, a recent survey has found. The survey, carried out by the Health Ministry in collaboration with UNICEF, collected responses online from nearly 7,000 parents and caregivers of children under the age of 2 in 34 provinces from July 4 to July 13. The survey found that only half of the respondents had taken their children for routine immunizations in the past two months. “Prior to the pandemic, resistance to immunizations had already increased in Indonesia, and this was exacerbated by [immunization] vaccine doubts during the pandemic,” UNICEF said in a statement on Monday. The survey also showed a “significant shift” in parents and caregivers’ behaviour in seeking immunization services. Prior to the pandemic, according to the survey, around 90 percent of Indonesian children had availed of immunization services at community health facilities such as community health centres (Puskesmas) and integrated health services posts (Posyandu) as well as village delivery facilities (Polindes). However, the majority of the respondents stated that they were now seeking immunization in private clinics and hospitals due to the closure of government healthcare facilities in their communities. – The Jakarta Post
PhilHealth bleeding; reserves may go dry by 2022 – Senate
The Senate has found that Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is financially “haemorrhaging” due to poor management that has been exacerbated by corruption. In his report on the Senate Committee of the Whole’s investigation of corruption in the state insurer, Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday called for a thorough review of PhilHealth’s financial life after one of its officials said it would no longer have a reserve fund by 2022. “PhilHealth is haemorrhaging because of inefficient running of the corporation, compounded by corrupt practices inside,” Sotto said. “How much is PhilHealth bleeding here? In terms of the reported debt-to-equity ratio, it appears that PhilHealth is bleeding dry as it does not have enough money to pay its creditors in the event of liquidation,” he said in the 88-page committee report. Based on PhilHealth’s 2019 financial statement, it has P111 billion in liabilities and P109 billion in equities, which is a debt to equity ratio of 1 is to .99, Sotto said. This could be lower if the Senate does not take into account the P14 billion increase in equity based on “prior year adjustments” that the agency has yet to justify, he said. He noted an allegation by PhilHealth board member Alejandro Cabading that financial statements were manipulated to make it appear that the state insurance company was in good standing when it was actually overrun with debt and was bankrupt. – INQUIRER.net
Leaders commemorate President Ho Chi Minh on National Day
Representatives of the Party, National Assembly, State, Government and Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee today paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Ha Noi on the occasion of the 75th National Day (September 2, 1945-2020). Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and VFF Central Committee President Tran Thanh Man joined the delegation which also included a number of former leaders and leaders of ministries, sectors and central organisations, among others. Participants commemorated President Ho Chi Minh and recalled great contributions that the late leader made to the revolutionary cause of the Party and nation. He led the Vietnamese nation to success in the struggle for national independence. On September 2, 1945, he read the Declaration of Independence, declaring to the world the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. President Ho Chi Minh was a great leader, a national hero who devoted all his life to national independence and freedom and happiness of the people while tirelessly striving for peace and progress in the world. The delegation also laid flowers at the Monument for Heroic Martyrs on Bac Son Street. Also, on September 1, delegations from the Ministries of Defence, Public Security and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Party Committee and People’s Committee of Ha Noi paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh and laid flowers at the Monument for Heroic Martyrs. – Viet Nam News
Covid-19 response a ‘catalyst’ to axe poverty
A study published on Monday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said the Covid-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for the large-scale development of Cambodia’s social protection schemes. It said the Kingdom should be able to reduce the poverty rate to below three per cent at a price tag representing at most 1.5 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). The report, entitled Meeting the Cost and Maximising the Impact of Social Protection in Cambodia, said the government’s cash transfer programme represented a political and institutional development that could pave the way for permanent, more effective and ambitious programmes. “This would not only promote economic recovery but also open the way for the establishment of a social protection floor,” the report said. It said Cambodia has achieved impressive rates of economic growth over the past 15 years while keeping income inequality in check. The poverty rate has fallen dramatically from about 50 per cent of the population in 2007 to below 10 per cent in 2016. But social assistance was lacking in Cambodia, as there was no social protection floor for Cambodians living in poverty, the report said. In 2017, Cambodia introduced the National Social Protection Policy Framework, which demonstrated a political commitment to fixing the issue. The authors of the report raised two models of social protection as examples: either allocating cash transfers alone or providing a balance of cash and asset transfers, so-called graduation-based programmes. “Whichever social assistance programme Cambodia chooses to implement, we estimate that it will cost approximately $80 million in current terms to halve the incidence of poverty, allowing 500,000 Cambodians to meet their subsistence needs,” the report concluded. – The Phnom Penh Post