Hot Off The Press

These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.

Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world. 

Stay informed with The ASEAN Post. 

Five Malaysian men jailed for importing $213,000 worth of chewing tobacco

Five Malaysian men will be spending weeks in jail for bringing 53,249 sachets of chewing tobacco into Singapore on Sept 7. The sachets of chewing tobacco worth around $213,000 were uncovered in black polythene bags hidden in the bed bunks and engine compartments of Malaysia-registered bowser lorries by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at Tuas Checkpoint. The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said on Tuesday (Sept 22) that all five men had been instructed to go to designated carparks in Singapore to hand over the chewing tobacco to a contact person. The Malaysian men, aged between 37 and 51, were sentenced to jail terms ranging from five to 16 weeks. According to the HSA, the type of chewing tobacco the Malaysians brought in is known as Khaini tobacco - a composite of moist, dark brown tobacco leaf, mixed with slaked lime or spices. The HSA reminded the public that the import, distribution, sale or offer for sale of emerging tobacco products are prohibited under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act. Such products include shisha tobacco, smokeless tobacco, and chewing tobacco such as Gutkha, Khaini, Zarda, vaporisers and their constituents. First-time offenders can be fined up to $10,000 and jailed for up to six months. For each count of the offence, repeat offenders can be fined up to $20,000 and jailed up to 12 months. – The Straits Times

Sabah 2020: 270 police officers, personnel unable to vote

About 270 police officers and personnel are currently undergoing Covid-19 quarantine, making them unable to vote in today's early voting process for the 16th Sabah election. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador said these men in blue were involved in operations against illegal immigrants and had come in contact with those who tested positive for Covid-19. "Most of them are from the General Operation Force (GOF) in Lahad Datu and Kota Kinabalu. They were involved in the nabbing of illegal immigrants, who were later screened for Covid-19. "When they (illegal immigrants) were found positive, the police team involved was asked to undergo quarantine," he said when met at the Officers' Mess at the Kepayan Police Headquarters, here. The IGP was present to monitor the process of early voting. In the state election, 9,390 policemen along with their spouses are expected to turn up to cast their ballots during the early voting process which ends at 5pm today. The nation's top cop also reminded political parties and candidates to put safety first when campaigning, and also advised the public to practice standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent further coronavirus infection throughout the election period. Abdul Hamid said he also took note of rumours of increased Covid-19 cases in Sabah as nothing more than a move to put fear in the people to prevent them from going out to vote. "I can guarantee that the facts and statistic provided by the Health Ministry is true. There is no political game to increase the number of cases," said Abdul Hamid. – New Straits Times

Phuket 'a patient in coma': governor

Phuket's governor on Monday asked all stakeholders to help restore its economy as quickly as possible after figures show the province has lost more than 400 billion baht since the outbreak of Covid-19. The resort island is suffering a severe crisis as the tourists it needs so much have been kept away by the travel ban introduced to control the pandemic, Narong Woonciew told a Public Health Association (PHA) forum. Mr Narong said Phuket usually had 14 million tourists per year, 10 million of them foreigners, arriving on 300 flights each day. These had slumped to just 81 flights a day and tens of thousands of domestic visitors at an estimated annualised rate. He added that 40,000 workers had lost their jobs and even those still in work had lost 20-90% of their income, while only 30% of all hotels were still open. "Phuket is like a patient in a coma in ICU. So, it is necessary for all stakeholders to help restore Phuket as quickly as possible,'' Mr Narong said. He said the resort province was launching several packages to attract local and foreign tourists. Next year, it might be still facing the same situation, so the government can help by organising seminars to draw large amounts of attendees to the province, he said. – Bangkok Post

Churches union condemns shooting that killed pastor in Papua, urges Jokowi to take action 

The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) has urged President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to order a thorough investigation into the recent fatal shooting of Papuan pastor Yeremia Zanambani in Hitadipa district of Intan Jaya regency, Papua, allegedly committed by personnel of the Indonesian Military (TNI). Citing reports from leaders of the Indonesian Evangelical Christian Church (GKII) and local media in Papua, PGI chairman Gomar Gultom alleged that Yeremia was shot by TNI personnel when he was on his way to his pig pen on Saturday, at the same time when a military operation reportedly took place. “I strongly condemn the shooting that killed pastor Yeremia Zanambani,” Gomar said on Monday. Gomar said the reports that the PGI had received differed from the account of the military, which published a statement on Sunday saying Yeremia had been shot by an armed criminal group in the area. The GKII, PGI executives and figures of the Moni tribe in Papua – an indigenous group from which Yeremia hailed – were currently probing the incident, Gomar said. He added that the PGI had sent a letter to Jokowi urging him to take action in the matter. “We have sent a letter regarding this matter to the President [on Monday] morning,” he said as quoted by tempo.co. In an official statement published on PGI's website, Gomar demanded Jokowi and the authorities bring the culprits responsible for the shooting to court. If the investigation found TNI personnel guilty in the case, Gomar said he wished for security forces to end all military operations in Papua. – The Jakarta Post

COVID-19 vaccination will be done in police stations, Duterte repeats earlier statement

The vaccination of COVID-19 patients, once the vaccine is available, will be supervised by doctors in police stations, President Rodrigo Duterte said in a taped speech aired on Monday. Duterte also repeated his earlier promise that the poor would be among those prioritized to get the vaccine. Meanwhile, he urged the public to keep following quarantine rules. “Just follow [the rules]. After all, it’s almost here. When the vaccine is available, I will get it on credit if we don’t have money,” Duterte said, speaking partly in Filipino. “But this will be fast. I have ordered that this be done in police stations with the doctors there so that you only have to go to one place,” he added. “After all, vaccination is quick. It’s just an injection. It doesn’t take about 2 minutes, 3 minutes to inject the vaccine. People can easily find police stations. Just line up there.” Duterte also expressed optimism that a vaccine would be ready soon. “When this pushes through, by January we will be better off. The problem is that, in the clinical trials of Moderna, there were people who exhibited side effects. But if it’s only one out of 50, then that is native to him. It’s not the vaccine anymore. We’ll just try to wait. It’s almost here,” he said. The country is in talks with several countries like the United States, China, Russia, Taiwan and Australia for a possible COVID-19 vaccine. Both Russia and China have already vowed to prioritize the Philippines once they could develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. – INQUIRER.net 

Vaccination hole exists in remote disadvantaged areas

Vaccinations must take place safely and effectively, particularly in remote disadvantaged areas where vaccination coverage remained modest, Deputy Health Minister Đỗ Xuân Tuyên said yesterday. Speaking during a national online meeting on communicable diseases and vaccinations, Tuyên highlighted a diphtheria outbreak in Việt Nam’s Central Highland region over the last few months which claimed four deaths. Most of the detected cases were people who had not been vaccinated. “While Việt Nam has done a good job in controlling COVID-19, we still face challenges in tackling other communicable diseases like dengue, measles, hand-foot-mouth disease and diphtheria,” he said. Late this year and early next year, diseases could develop as wet weather creates favourable conditions for disease-causing virus/bacteria to develop. “Việt Nam has been implementing two tasks - disease prevention and control and socio-economic development as directed by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc,” Tuyên said, emphasising that it was crucial to minimise the risks of other diseases that broke out at the same time. – Viet Nam News 

Easing strained ties: US and Cambodia discuss military cooperation

In a move to mend strained ties with the Kingdom, United States Ambassador Patrick Murphy met with Minister of Defence General Tea Banh yesterday to find a way to expand military cooperation. The discussions were carried out at the Office of the Council of Ministers and attended by senior officials of the ministry as well as the US embassy. Murphy wrote on Twitter late last night that he “discussed a range of potential areas of strengthened security cooperation, as well as ongoing efforts to preserve Cambodia’s sovereignty.” Lieutenant General Khieu Chhen, Gen Banh’s cabinet chief told Khmer Times after the meeting yesterday that the two sides committed to resume military cooperation after the COVID-19 threat subsides. “We discussed the bilateral cooperation between the Kingdom and the United States,” he said. “After the COVID-19 pandemic eases, the Defence Ministry and the US Department of Defense will strengthen existing military cooperation.” Asked if the two sides discussed the resumption of joint military exercises between the two countries, Lt Gen Chhen said they did not. However, he said the working group from the two countries will work on the matter. “Our stance is to strengthen military cooperation, especially the disrupted activity since late 2019 and 2020, when we have been facing COVID-19,” he said. – Khmer Times