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Job vacancies in Singapore rose for first time this year in September
The number of job vacancies in Singapore rose for the first time this year in September, one of several indicators of a pick-up in labour market activity. There were 49,600 job vacancies in September, seasonally adjusted, a huge improvement from the decade-low of 42,400 job vacancies in June, according to data from the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) labour market report out on Thursday. As a result, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons rose over the quarter, from 0.57 in June to 0.60 in September. There was an increase in positions for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in sectors like information and communications, professional services and health and social services. Meanwhile, non-PMET positions opened up in sectors such as construction, administrative and support services and manufacturing. Labour turnover also rose, with recruitment and resignation rates going up in the third quarter to 1.6 per cent, seasonally adjusted. This is in line with the gradual resumption in hiring and voluntary job change as labour market activity picked up, MOM said. However, compared with a year ago, labour turnover remained muted, it noted. The quarterly increase in labour turnover was observed across most industries, except for security and investigation, which saw a decline in resignation rate. This was likely due to strong manpower demand in the sector, MOM said. As activity picked up, fewer workers were also placed on short workweeks or temporary layoffs in the third quarter. There were 34,240 employees placed on short workweek or temporary layoff, more than halved from the second quarter. This decline was more prominent in manufacturing, construction and food and beverage services. It also fell more among non-PMETs, although they still formed the majority of all employees placed on such measures in the third quarter, MOM said. The average weekly total paid hours worked per employee also rose by 0.4 hour to 43.8 hours in September, due to higher overtime hours. This increase was especially evident in construction, as work stoppages were lifted. – The Straits Times
Dewan Rakyat Speaker has no power to censure MP Prabakaran for flouting HSO
The Dewan Rakyat Speaker has no authority to act against Members of Parliament who allegedly flout orders issued by the Health Ministry and National Security Council (NSC) with regard to Covid-19. Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said this when several government backbenchers rose and demanded that the Dewan Rakyat issue a declaration against P. Prabakaran (Pakatan Harapan – Batu). They claimed Prabakaran had flouted the House Surveillance Order (HSO) when he attended the Dewan Rakyat sitting last Thursday. "I, together with the sergeant-of-arms did not realise the matter. Only after the proceedings on Thursday, did we realise that he had (attended the proceedings and) voted during the sitting. "As I had said previously, the authority to take action or issue a compound against any MP who flouts instructions issued by the Health Ministry or the NSC does not come under my jurisdiction. "Any person who wants to raise the matter further can lodge a report with the respective authorities," he said. Before the commencement of the Ministerial Question Time today, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (Barisan Nasional – Putrajaya) stood and said Prabakaran, who came into contact with a Covid-19 patient, had attended and participated in the debate related to the allocation proposed for the Communications and Multimedia Ministry under the 2021 Budget. "Hence, I seek guidance from the speaker on this," he said. Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Dr R. Santhara Kumar (BN – Segamat) later added that Prabakaran had attended the sitting although he was issued with an HSO. "I had learnt that the HSO was issued to him before 11am last Thursday after his brother or relative tested positive for the virus. "He, however, attended the proceeding, took part in the debate as well as voted on that day. If he was absent (for complying with the HSO), there must be someone who had voted for him. I hope the Speaker inspects all the documents (records of the sitting). Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (BN – Arau) and Tan Sri Noh Omar (BN – Tanjung Karang) urged the Speaker to refer Prabakaran to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee. "MPs have immunity when they are in Parliament. This means no authority can take action against us unless Parliament does so," said Noh. In Prabakaran's defence, former Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye (PH – Gopeng) said a person is not automatically a close contact after his or her relative tests positive for Covid-19. "Not all family members have to observe home quarantine or be considered a close contact. If his brother tested positive for the virus, that does not necessarily mean (Prabakaran) is a close contact," said Dr Lee. – New Straits Times
New Year parties 'could be split up'
This year's New Year countdown celebrations may have to be divided into small zones with a limited number of participants, the government said on Wednesday, amid fears that it would be difficult to control the spread of Covid-19 if a large crowd were allowed to gather at a single spot. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will today discuss these and other proposals for the upcoming New Year festivities, said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The PM said he had emphasised to the CCSA that splitting the New Year's Eve celebrations into different zones might be the best way of preventing any possible spread of the coronavirus. "It would be unsafe to allow a crowd of tens of thousands of people to come together and impossible to ensure that everyone there strictly follows the Covid-19 prevention regulations imposed on them," he said. "Separating revellers into small zones should instead make it more possible to screen every attendant and register them all via a mobile phone application for Covid-19 tracking in the event of new infections later emerging. "I'm not intending to damage anyone's parties but [just to pick the best choice] to ensure total safety for this year's celebrations." However, Gen Prayut stressed the final decision lay with the CCSA. Meanwhile, the organiser of a concert in Phetchabun's Khao Kho district, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations during the cold season, has called off the event over Covid-19 concerns. Concert organiser, Aphisak Akhana, said the event set down for Jan 15 had been postponed indefinitely and those who had already bought tickets would be refunded. He said the main reason for the cancellation was that he could not ensure the Covid-19 prevention measures he had prepared would be effective once a huge crowd had gathered. Wutthichai Rotchanathipphayarak, president of Phetchabun's tourism association, said concerns had been raised after what happened at the Big Mountain Music Festival in Nakhon Ratchasima last weekend. Nakhon Ratchasima's deputy governor has asked police to prosecute the organisers of the music festival after its second day went ahead in defiance of an order by the provincial governor that it be cancelled. The organiser of the Big Mountain Music Festival on Wednesday apologised to fans, authorities, the provinces and his colleagues for the abrupt ending to the event. Yuthana Boonorm posted a Facebook message blaming himself for the cancellation after organisers failed to enforce strict measures to contain the coronavirus. – Bangkok Post
Jokowi ranks among world's most influential Muslims
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has once again listed among the world's top 20 most influential Muslim figures according to the 2021 edition of annual publication, The Muslim 500. “The Muslim 500 website has ranked President Jokowi 12th in The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims 2021,” presidential spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman said in a written statement on Wednesday as reported by kompas.com. Jokowi’s position this year slightly increased from 13th place last year. The Muslim 500, published by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center based in Jordan, ranks individuals based on the significance of their influence or power, be it political, financial or ideological, in making contributions to the Muslim world. The website highlighted the moment when Jokowi was re-elected in 2019 after winning 55.5 percent of the vote with his running mate Ma’ruf Amin, who at the time was the chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). It described that Jokowi ran against an opponent "who questioned his Islamic credentials" in the election. While Jokowi himself is a Muslim, Jokowi had been accused as anti-Islam by his detractors during the bitterly contested election. He was also deemed promoting secularism and at one point was even rumoured to be a Christian. The Muslim 500 ranked Jokowi 16th on its list consecutively in 2018 and 2019, slightly below his rank of 13th in 2017 and 11th in both the 2016 and 2015/2014 edition. Fadjroel went on to say that Jokowi had been included on the list since 2015, shortly after he was elected as Indonesian president. "Since then, Jokowi always ranked in the top 20 of the list," he said, adding that the government appreciated the global award. Fadjroel claimed that Jokowi's administration had been continuously promoting tolerance, diversity, unity, brotherhood, without discriminating against any tribe, race or religion. Besides Jokowi, two other Indonesian Muslim figures are also included on the top 50 list: Said Aqil Siradj, the chairman of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), in 18th place and Muhammad Luthfi bin Yahya, a notable ulema from Pekalongan, Central Java, in 32nd place. – The Jakarta Post
Red-tagged doctor, husband slain in Negros
Two gunmen killed the health officer of Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental province and front-liner in the city’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, a year after she was Red-tagged by a vigilante group. Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan, the head of the Guihulngan City Inter-Agency Task Force against Emerging Infectious Diseases (GCIATF-EID), was shot and killed along with her husband while they were going home to Carmeville Subdivision in the city’s Barangay Poblacion, police said. Progressive lawmakers in the House of Representatives, health groups, and church leaders denounced the murder of Sancelan and her husband Edwin, saying it proved the “extreme danger” of being labelled as communists by state forces. The killings happened on the same day that the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor said there was “reasonable basis” to believe that the Duterte administration committed crimes against humanity in its bloody war on illegal drugs. “It is as if the undemocratic and militarist forces in this country [are] daring the office to take action now, because these forces are protected and cannot be touched,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said in a statement. Sancelan was on top of the list of Guihulngan residents whom the anti-Communist vigilante group “Kagubak” accused of being supporters of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army. Kagubak stands for “Kawsa Guihulnganon Batok Komunista” (loosely translated as Concerned Guihulnganons against the Communists).” The list, which was released in 2018, identified Sancelan as “Ka JB Regalado,” who was then the spokesperson for the NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command. Two others on the list – lawyer Anthony Trinidad and Heidi Malalay Flores – had since been murdered, and their cases have remained unsolved. Trinidad was gunned down in broad daylight by motorcycle-riding men on July 23, 2019, while driving in the city, and his family has insisted that he had no links to communist rebels. Flores was killed in August 2018. – INQUIRER.net
Lockdown over areas in HCM City lifted with no new COVID-19 cases detected
The HCM City Centre for Disease Control on Wednesday lifted lockdown orders on several areas with a total of 148 households and 500 residents in the city after those suspected of exposure to COVID-19 patients tested negative for the virus. HCM City CDC said since December 2, the city has not recorded any new community COVID-19 cases and lifted lockdown for areas related to a small cluster of four local coronavirus cases earlier this month, which happened as a result of a quarantine breach. Prior to the incident, which has been put under control, Việt Nam had gone nearly three months without new community cases. The index case of this transmission event was identified as a 28-year-old Vietnam Airlines’ flight attendant who returned to the country after a flight to Japan on November 14 and was quarantined at the airline’s facility for crewmembers in HCM City’s Tân Bình District for four days. He was then allowed to self-quarantine at home after two negative COVID-19 tests, but later tests returned positive during the time he was at home but failed to avoid mixing with a close friend and went out in public, becoming Việt Nam’s COVID-19 Patient No.1342 and No.1,347, respectively. The flight attendant’s friend was an English teacher, who spread the virus to two others – including a one-year-old baby boy and one of his students. HCM City Police on December 3 said they would criminally charge the flight attendant for “spreading a dangerous infectious disease to people". The incident resulted in the temporary closures of several schools and universities, along with entertainment and service venues in the southern city. On December 7, the city reported that 861 close contacts of the four COVID-19 patients, as well as 1,400 contacts of these 861 people, all tested negative for the virus. – Viet Nam News
Fire burns Koh Rong island resort
A popular resort owned by a Cambodian businessman in Preah Sihanouk province’s Koh Rong Island burned down in the early hours of yesterday. Lieutenant Colonel Phun Saroeun, deputy chief of the provincial Fire Prevention and Rescue Police office, said yesterday that he suspects the fires were caused by an explosion due to faulty electrical wires. The fire occurred at about 3.30am yesterday morning at Sok San Resort located in Sok San village, in Koh Rong commune, on Koh Rong Island. Lt Col Saroeun said that the resort did not have many national or foreign tourists staying due to the pandemic. He said that according to the police investigation as well as witness statements, the fire started in a warehouse and spread through part of the resort as well as nearby properties. He added that there were about 15 guests staying at the resort but they all managed to flee from the fire. “According to the police’s preliminary investigation, the fire was caused from an explosion of electrical wires inside the resort’s warehouse,” Lt Col Saroeun told Khmer Times yesterday. “The fires then started burning the resort and destroyed all of the buildings,” he said. “But no one was hurt because they managed to flee when the fires started.” He added that due to strong winds it took about 100 policemen and 2 water trucks to put out the blaze. They were fighting the fire until 7am yesterday morning. Captain Nuon Sopheak, deputy chief of Koh Rong commune police, said that according to the owner of resort, the fires also destroyed a car, five speedboats and other items valued at a total of $200,000. He said that police are investigating in order to make sure if it was caused by the electric cables or if someone did it on purpose like the victim said. Nuon Bunthol, the governor of Koh Rong Island, could not be reached for comment. – Khmer Times