These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Opposition politician Lim Tean arrested for criminal breach of trust, investigated for unlawful stalking
Lawyer Lim Tean was arrested in his office on Friday morning (Oct 2), police said in a statement. Mr Lim, who is the leader of the Peoples Voice political party, was arrested for an alleged offence of criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code. He is also being investigated for an alleged offence of unlawful stalking under the Protection from Harassment Act. The police said that the arrest was not politically motivated, as alleged by Mr Lim through his lawyer earlier. “The police reject his allegations that the investigations are politically motivated,” they said in a statement on Friday. “Mr Lim Tean’s alleged victims had filed police reports alleging serious offences by him against them, and the police have a duty to investigate the allegations.” A police report was lodged by Mr Lim’s former client’s lawyers for criminal breach of trust. The client, whom Mr Lim was representing in a motor injury suit, alleged that Mr Lim misappropriated a sum of money awarded to him as damages by the court. Mr Lim is also under investigation for an unlawful stalking complaint by a former employee. The employee alleged that she was harassed by him when she was working at his law firm, referring police to text messages that had been exchanged between her and Mr Lim. The police said it contacted and issued Mr Lim with a written notice last Wednesday, instructing him to attend a compulsory interview at the Police Cantonment Complex on Monday to assist with investigations into the two offences. – The Straits Times
'New wave' if Covid-19 cases continue to climb
Malaysia is set to experience a "new wave" of Covid-19 if cases continue to increase, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said. Dr Noor Hisham said this after Malaysia recorded its second highest daily positive cases at 260 with four new clusters detected in Kedah, Sabah, Selangor and Putrajaya since the last highest on June 4. "If we look at the chart, we have an increase in cases lately. That probably is the beginning of a new wave. "However, the onus is on us whether we can flatten the curve again. "You can see the cases are increasing. If we can come together, we can make the impossible possible. We have done that before and we are going to do it again," he said when asked about the ministry's projection on the country's Covid-19 cases would be at its highest. On the Covid-19 virus from the Benteng LD cluster in Sabah, Dr Noor Hisham said the viruses there had the D614G mutation strain that originated from Indonesia and the Philippines. He said it was detected based on a research done by the Institute of Medical Research (IMR). "We have done research on the virus strain from the Benteng LD cluster in Sabah and the strain is also D614G however, it comes from Indonesia and the Philippines. "The strain came from the same group such as (those found in) the Sivagangga cluster, Tawar cluster, Sungai cluster in Kedah, but they had different characteristics. We think that the infection rate has increased a little when compared to the previous strain. "What is crucial now is to continue (following) public health practices," he told reporters today. – New Straits Times
TAT confirms special tourist visa scheme
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has confirmed that the initiative to welcome foreign tourists back to Thailand under the Special Tourist Visa (STV) scheme will proceed. TAT governor Yutthasak Supasorn said that despite the delay, the first group of tourists from China will arrive in Phuket under the STV scheme within this month. Previously, Phuket had prepared to receive its first group of tourists from China who were expected to arrive next week under the STV scheme aimed at supporting Thailand's economic recovery. In the initial stage of reopening, the first flight, scheduled to land on Oct 8, is expected to carry 120 tourists from Guangzhou. However, Pilot Officer Thani Chuangchoo, director of Phuket international airport, said a check with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has found no confirmation of chartered flights from China. "As far as I know, just as in the news, the flights will be chartered flights with a limited number of passengers, and they must follow the measures as considered by the Thai government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs from their point of origin," he said. According to the airport's flight schedule from Oct 26 onwards, international inbound and outbound commercial flights have not yet been approved, Plt Off Thani said, adding that the airport has yet to take any action and is waiting for orders from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). – Bangkok Post
Ministry revises foreigner ban amid travel corridor discussion with Singapore
The Law and Human Rights Ministry is revising its temporary ban on foreigners entering Indonesia as the government enters discussion with Singapore to form a travel corridor arrangement between the two countries for essential businesses. Minister Yasonna Laoly said the ministry was finalizing a revision to a ministerial regulation about temporary prohibition of foreigners entering Indonesia amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which had been effective since April 3. “We will finish the revision soon, so there won’t be any issue hindering TCA implementation,” Yasonna said in a statement on Thursday. He requested that authorities prepare sufficient health infrastructure for passenger coronavirus screening in airports and seaports, especially in Jakarta as well as Batam, Riau Islands, which directly borders Singapore. The ministry’s Immigration Directorate General will prepare an electronic visa service for the essential travellers looking to visit the country. The visa service is expected to be available starting Oct. 15. Yasonna claimed the arrangement would make way for economic recovery because it would allow easier mobility for businesspeople, investors and state officials. The discussion for the arrangement is still ongoing, as Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi met with her Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan in August. – The Jakarta Post
P16B for anti-insurgency task force questioned
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) does not have to provide P16.4 billion worth of development projects to barangays already freed from communist rebel influence, according to Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who said the money would be better used for health programs. Under the government’s anti-insurgency campaign, 822 remote barangays will each get P20 million from the fund allocated in the 2021 budget of the task force to improve the conditions of the villages to prevent them from being swayed again by the New People’s Army (NPA), the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Such development projects could be handled by existing departments, Hontiveros said at Thursday’s hearing on the 2021 budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. She said the task force itself was a nonessential agency and expressed concern that the P16.4 billion might be used for the next elections or to curry political favours. “The NTF-Elcac entered the picture even if the script of good local governance, of the interior, is clear to address the roots of the insurgency. It appears the NT-Elcac is miscast,” Hontiveros said, calling the task force a “surplusage.” The task force members include department secretaries, the military and police chiefs, and two representatives from the private sector. – INQUIRER.net
VN enters third wave of business reforms
Việt Nam was entering the third wave of reform, with the goal of slashing at least 20 per cent of business regulations in the next five years, a top official has said. Mai Tiến Dũng, Minister and Chairman of the Government Office, recently said that the Government’s business regulation reform programme in 2020-25 was the largest and most comprehensive yet, demonstrating the Government’s determination to improve the business environment to drive development. The recently-announced programme to implement Government Resolution No 68/NQ-CP dated May 12 aimed to remove and simplify at least 20 per cent of business regulations and cut at least a fifth of compliance costs. The programme also focused on preventing the new issuance of unnecessary, unreasonable and illegal regulations and those causing more difficulties for businesses, while removing inconsistencies and overlaps in business regulations. Dũng said the Government attached special attention to institutional reform and building e-Government to create favourable conditions for businesses and citizens. In 2007-2010, Việt Nam cut or simplified 4,818 out of 5,421 administrative procedures, which helped save nearly VNĐ30 trillion (US$1.3 billion) per year, which was an impressive figure, Dũng said. More than 3,890 out of 6,191 business prerequisites and 6,776 out of 9,926 product categories subject to customs checks were removed and simplified in 2016-20, saving 18 million working days per year, equivalent to VNĐ6.3 trillion. – Viet Nam News
Huge drop in income from Angkor Archaeological Park
Cambodia earned $18.45 million in revenue from the sale of tickets at Angkor Archaeological Park in the first nine months of 2020, a 75 percent decrease compared with the same period last year, according to figures from Angkor Enterprise. The number of tickets sold at the park saw a 76.17 percent decrease from January to September, with just over 396,241 foreign tourists buying passes, Angkor Enterprises said. In September alone, the sale of tickets at Angkor Wat was only $124,296 with 2,958 foreign tourists, a drop of about 97.45 percent for the same period last year. Some of the revenue of ticket sales to Angkor Wat, $792,482, was sent to Kantha Bopha Foundation that supports the country’s five Kantha Bopha children’s hospitals in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Besides the sale of tickets to Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor Enterprise also gained $89,140 of ticket sales from foreign tourists who visit Koh Ker Temple. Koh Ker is a 10th-century temple complex in the north Cambodian jungle. A former capital of the Khmer Empire, the site is now remote and heavily forested. The main structure, Koh Ker Temple, is a stepped seven-tiered pyramid. To restore the numbers of tourists to visit Siem Reap province, the draft of the Siem Reap tourism development master plan for 2020-2035 will be finalised this month and submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval. – Khmer Times