These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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SingPass users can now verify identity by scanning faces or sending OTPs to another user
Residents are now able to verify their SingPass account identity by scanning their faces using computers and camera phones, or by inputting a one-time password sent to another trusted SingPass user. These two features are made available to all SingPass users accessing government digital services from Wednesday (Dec 16). They come as an addition to existing verification methods such as the SingPass Mobile App and the SMS-One Time Password (OTP), announced the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) in a statement on Wednesday. To make use of the face verification feature, SingPass users will still need to input their usernames and passwords when logging into their accounts. They then authenticate their identities by scanning their faces on an Internet-enabled computer with a web camera, or a mobile device with a front-facing camera. This verification feature was previously only available to users who are setting up the SingPass Mobile app on their smartphones. Mr Kwok Quek Sin, GovTech's senior director of national digital identity, said the agency recognises that some users are not as digitally savvy and cannot navigate smartphones or computers. "SingPass Face Verification as an alternative 2FA (two-factor authentication) will be especially useful as it reduces the need to key in additional information like One-Time Passwords (OTPs). This option also serves our overseas Singaporean community who might not have a locally registered number and are unable to receive SMS-OTPs," said Mr Kwok. Those without the appropriate devices can visit selected locations such as Our Tampines Hub's Public Service Centre or the Central Provident Fund Board's Bishan Service Centre, to make use of the new identity verification methods. To prevent fraud, a technology is used to detect and block the use of photographs, videos or masks during the verification process, said GovTech. Users can also verify their identities by opting for their OTPs to be sent to another trusted user via SMS. The other user can then assist the original user in completing their transactions. – The Straits Times
NUTP supports Covid-19 vaccine priority for teachers after frontliners
The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) supports UNICEF's proposal to prioritise teachers receiving the Covid-19 vaccines after frontliners and high-risk groups. NUTP secretary-general Harry Tan, in a statement today said they agreed with UNICEF that teachers should be protected with the vaccine so they could resume teaching and learning (PdP) sessions as soon as possible. The recent proposal came from the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) executive director Henrietta Fore. Tan said the NUTP found that online home-based learning to be not very effective for students due to several difficulties such as insufficient devices or gadgets, poor internet connection, disciplinary problems, attendance issues, and others, which negatively affect the online sessions. "The move to equip teachers with the vaccine will ensure students will not fall behind and schools will be reopened again. NUTP also asked for the Health Ministry and government to consider teachers to be prioritised for the vaccine to strengthen and empower the education system in Malaysia. – New Straits Times
Govt mulls pollution crackdown
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered government agencies to take decisive action to fight the air pollution that has plagued Bangkok and its surrounding provinces in recent days. The PM said the government had continuously implemented measures against the surging PM2.5 levels but the problem had deteriorated due to the current weather. He urged commuters to use public transport as much as possible and said the government would consider introducing alternate-day private travel only in the capital. The government's focus was on suppressing black emissions and the use of vehicles whose licences had expired, he said. As for agricultural burning, one of the main causes of the PM2.5 crisis, Gen Prayut said the problem lay with farmers lacking the proper equipment for non-burning waste disposal. The government would inform a sub-regional committee of the current air pollution problem in Thailand since the sub-region's climate was inter-connected, he said. Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has instructed the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to work with the Interior Ministry, the Transport Ministry, the Industry Ministry, police, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Public Health Ministry to implement agreed measures, enforce the law vigorously and continuously tackle the worsening air pollution. Gen Prawit has instructed the Interior Ministry to take action against outdoor burning by farmers and work with the Industry Ministry to inspect pollution emissions at industrial plants, said his spokesman, Lt Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich. Traffic police in Bangkok have been told to set up checkpoints on roads in congested areas to check vehicles emitting black fumes, Lt Gen Kongcheep said. Meanwhile, Bangkok governor Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang said the BMA had asked the Highways Department to continuously wash roads in an effort to reduce excessive PM2.5 levels in many areas across the city. – Bangkok Post
BPOM to extend monitoring stage of Sinovac vaccine trial for next three months
The Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has announced that it will extend the monitoring stage of a phase three clinical trial for the Chinese-developed vaccine Sinovac for another three months to determine the vaccine's efficacy and side effects. West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil, who is participating in the clinical trial, said initially the 1,620 volunteers were scheduled to undergo their last blood tests in December. "However, we had to take another blood test in March," Ridwan said after having his blood sample taken at Garuda community health center (Puskesmas) in Bandung, West Java, on Monday. Ridwan explained that the BPOM had ordered researchers to take other blood samples from the volunteers six months after the first injections of the Sinovac vaccine to ensure that they would still have antibodies against the coronavirus in the long run. "This means the result of the clinical trials will also be postponed to March," he said. Ridwan went on to say that he and other officials of the West Java administration who participated in the clinical trial were in good condition and reported no adverse events. Ridwan even said he had undergone PCR tests several times and the results always came back negative. "Whether it was because of the vaccine or not I could not say for sure, but that's my experience," he said. The late-stage clinical trial of the Sinovac vaccine in Indonesia started in August in cooperation with state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma and Padjadjaran University (Unpad). The clinical trial is part of global multicenter clinical trials conducted by four nations, namely Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Turkey, and involving over 20,000 volunteers. The Indonesian government has ordered around 143 million doses of vaccine from Sinovac in various forms, from the ready-to-administer doses to the vaccine bulk, with a total of 1.2 million doses of the vaccine arriving in the country last week. The vaccine is now stored in a PT Bio Farma warehouse in Bandung, West Java, while the government is waiting for the BPOM to greenlight the vaccine’s emergency use before it can begin inoculating people. – The Jakarta Post
After ICC report, PNP wants proof of rights abuses in Duterte drug war
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said evidence is still needed to prove that there are human rights violations in the Duterte administration’s drug war, which supposedly resulted in the killing of some 5,942 people nationwide. “Kasama po iyon sa usapin ng human rights, kailangan makita kung ano ang pieces of evidence na nagsasabi na may mga violations ng human rights,” PNP spokesman Brigadier General Ildebrandi Usana said over Unang Hirit when asked if police force will show proof that there are no human rights violations reported in the crackdown on illegal drugs. Usana issued this reaction in the wake of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor’s report which found a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity were committed in the bloody drug war. The international court said some individuals were subjected to ill-treatment and abuses before being murdered by state actors and unidentified assailants. The ICC report also showed that in at least a few incidents, law enforcers raped women who were apparently targeted because of their personal relationships to individuals reportedly involved in the drug trade. – INQUIRER.net
PM Phúc calls for co-ordinated post-floods recovery efforts
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc asked for a drastic and co-ordinated response to help stabilise the lives of people affected by recent flooding and storms in the central region of Việt Nam before the traditional Lunar New Year (Tết) holiday. In a recent order, the Government leader told ministries, State agencies and local administrations to focus on ensuring food security and rebuilding of houses for disaster-hit communities, repair critical infrastructure damaged by floods and storms and swiftly resume economic production – especially agriculture. Authorities should review climate change scenarios, have a comprehensive assessment of risks of natural disasters and their impacts on people's livelihoods, socio-economic, and develop appropriate responses for each form of disaster. Critical infrastructure and people’s houses should be built and changed to better cope with natural disasters. A guideline on flood-proof houses should be issued for communities in high-risk areas, while policies should be in place to help relocate residents from dangerous zones, especially those hit hardest by the floods and landslides. Search and rescue efforts should also be enhanced, with equipment and human resources sufficient to respond to increasingly complex disasters worsened by climate change, he said. PM Phúc also asked for more stringent supervision and management over socio-economic development projects to make sure they comply with anti-natural disasters and climate change efforts, strictly protect natural disasters while continuing to grow and restore lost areas of protection forests at upstream areas and coastal mangroves, and minimise impacts to the natural balance of mountains and hills, rivers and streams. State agencies and local governments must beef up resources for natural disaster prevention and response and search and rescue efforts, for repairs of reservoirs and dams and eroded coastal and riverside areas. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development must quickly deliver a report on restocking emergency reserves, facilitate the supply of seedlings for localities to restart agricultural activities, and direct local authorities to switch to climate change-adaptive models of farming and husbandry. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment must work to better its weather forecasts and disaster warning capacity, set up more hydro-meteorological monitoring stations and develop zoning maps of natural disaster risks, especially in high-risk residential areas. – Viet Nam News
PM Successor Poser: Mr Hun Sen hints at Aun Pornmoniroth pick
Rumours have long swirled of Prime Minister Hun Sen grooming his eldest son as his possible successor but a truly ubiquitous phenomenon unfolded when the premier made a rare revelation that one of the preferred successors could be Deputy Prime Minister Aun Pornmoniroth. He urged critics to stop fuelling speculation of his son, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Royal Cambodian Army Commander Lieutenant General Hun Manet, 43, as his successor. In his televised address to the nation, Mr Hun Sen dropped hints that one of his possible successors being his former personal secretary Pornmoniroth who is now the Minister for Economy and Finance. “We have been training Pornmoniroth ever since he was my secretary and groomed him to become the Deputy Prime Minister.” “He represented the Prime Minister at the ASEAN Summit. What message is it? Please be clear about this arrangement,” he said. Pornmoniroth has represented Mr Hun Sen at the 37th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits which were held via video conferencing from November 12-15 following the premier and other senior government officials including Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn being quarantined after being tested for COVID-19 following the “November 3 incident”. They came in contact with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto who tested positive for the virus a day after he left Cambodia for Thailand. Responding to an unnamed media report on its analysis article about a potential successor to him, Mr Hun Sen confirmed that the analysis is “correct.” “That is right after Aun Pornmoniroth represented the Prime Minister to attend the ASEAN Summit, it was mentioned by some media reports that he was a potential prime ministerial candidate. You are right,” he said. However, in an article on November 24, titled “Aun Pornmoniroth Emerges as Potential Future Cambodian Prime Minister,” the Diplomat cited the Singapore model for a Cambodian political succession. “Sources close to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) said that Aun Pornmoniroth, a widely respected technocrat, was chosen because he is among the favourites for any eventual change in leadership, a routine source of speculation in the capital,” the article said. Pornmoniroth, 55, besides being Minister for Economy, currently holds several positions in the government, including Chairman of the Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC); Public Financial Management Reform Steering Committee; Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Policy Committee. – Khmer Times