These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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British man under SHN who left hotel room without mask to meet fiancée among 3 people to be charged
One man chose to spend time with his fiancée, another wandered around Geylang and went to work. Both were supposed to be isolated and completing stay-home notices, and are set to charged on Friday (Jan 15) with allegedly breaching the requirements. In one case, a Singaporean man returning from Batam took public transport, spent time at various public places and went back to work during his stay-home notice, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Friday. In another, a British man serving his stay-home notice at a hotel left his room without wearing a mask on three occasions on Sept 21 last year. On the last occasion, his fiancée was with him. While she was not subject to a stay-home notice, she had booked a different room in the same hotel. She will be charged with abetting the British man's breach of his stay-home notice requirements. Meanwhile, the Singaporean man, who returned to the Republic on March 17, did not go to the address where he was supposed to serve his stay-home notice. Instead, he took a bus and wandered around Geylang Serai before spending the night in a Bedok housing estate. The next day, he went back to work as a security officer and continued doing so until March 24. He had not informed his company or manager of his stay-home notice requirement. The ICA reminded members of the public to comply with the stay-home notice requirements to safeguard the community's health and safety. "All travellers are to comply with the prevailing public health regulations and requirements in Singapore," said the ICA. Those who fail to comply, including people who tamper with or remove the electronic monitoring device, or both, during the stay-home notice period, will be liable to prosecution. – The Straits Times
Malaysian woman on the run after massive Jeju casino robbery
South Korean police investigating a massive cash theft at a casino on Jeju Island have recovered what appears to be the bulk of the stolen 14.56 billion won (US$13.38 million). The police are also tracking down three suspects over the case, including a female Malaysian executive who was in charge of the cash. The case unfolded on Jan 4, when Jeju Shinhwa World, one of South Korea's largest integrated resorts, revealed the mysterious disappearance of the cash from its casino building. The Hong Kong-based operator of the Jeju casino, Landing International Development Ltd, asked for Jeju police help to track down the Malaysian, saying she had not come to work after leaving for vacation at the end of last year and remains out of contact. According to a Yonhap news agency report, Jeju's provincial police said it had so far recovered about 12 billion won presumed to be part of the stolen money – 8.15 billion won from the Jeju casino's VIP room safe and about 4 billion won from where the Malaysian executive used to stay. All the retrieved money is cash in new 50,000-won bills. When investigations started, police said the security camera footage from the casino at the time of the alleged cash theft had been erased. They also believed at least two or more perpetrators were involved in the theft, as the missing cash was too bulky and heavy for a single person to carry. They said that more than 12 apple boxes would be needed to carry the cash around and the banknotes weigh more than 280kg. The 55-year-old Malaysian executive and one of her two suspected accomplices, identified only as a 30-something Chinese national, are believed to be staying abroad, while another accomplice is still in South Korea. – New Straits Times
Tourism fee to help insure foreigners visiting the kingdom
The National Tourism Policy Committee has approved the proposed guidelines for the collection of a 300-baht tourism fee from each international visitor for the management of local tourist destinations. The money will also be used to provide insurance benefits to international tourists visiting the country. Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said each foreign visitor will be charged US$10 (300 baht) per visit. The details of the fee collection will be announced in the Royal Gazette once the policy has taken effect. According to Mr Phiphat, Thailand expects to receive some 10 million visitors this year. He said the merit of the 300-baht tourism fee is that foreign tourists who fall sick or are injured will be taken care of and given adequate medical care. The ministry will have to discuss the details with the Finance Ministry and the Office of Insurance Commission. Of the 300-baht fee, 34 baht is expected to be used for the insurance coverage, Mr Phiphat said. The fee collection is in line with the revised National Tourism Policy Act, which authorises the ministry to impose a tourism fee for use in developing local destinations and providing insurance coverage to foreign tourists. Tourism permanent secretary Chote Trachu on Thursday said the fee collection was initially due to begin last year, but it was put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the National Tourism Policy Committee has assessed the situation and agreed the tourism fee collection should go ahead this year. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the country had been forecast to close last year with merely 6.7 million international tourists – not much more than the number prior to last year's outbreak of Covid-19 – despite government attempts to activate entry schemes for foreigners via Special Tourist Visas (STVs). With a second wave of outbreaks gripping many countries around the world, particularly during the winter months, triggering new rounds of lockdowns, Thailand is expected to wait longer – until the second half of this year – to see more visitors file back into the kingdom and revive the ailing industry. While the TAT previously predicted the domestic market would reach 100 million trips last year, the recent spike in local cases led the agency to revise down the target to 95 million trips, a result of the partial lockdowns in some provinces. – Bangkok Post
At least three dead as buildings collapse in West Sulawesi quake
At least three people were killed and dozens injured when a powerful quake rippled through West Sulawesi early Friday, toppling several buildings, including a hotel. The 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours, triggering panic among the terrified residents on the part of the Sulawesi island, which was hit by a huge quake two and a half years ago in which thousands were killed. A resident of Mamuju, the capital of West Sulawesi, said damage across the city of some 110,000 was extensive, with one hospital severely damaged. Authorities had yet to confirm the information. "Roads are cracked and many buildings collapsed, including the governor's office as well as the hospital. The hospital has been flattened," said 28-year-old Hendra, who goes by one name. "The quake was very strong... I woke up and ran away with my wife." National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Raditya Jati said three people had been killed and 24 injured. The country's search-and-rescue agency confirmed that at least one hotel had collapsed after the quake struck at 2:18 am local time Friday (1818 GMT Thursday). The epicentre was 36 kilometres (22 miles) south of Mamuju and the quake had a relatively shallow depth of 18 kilometres, the United States Geological Survey said. Images supplied by the search and rescue agency showed what appeared to be the metal building frames and other debris on the ground near a local hospital. Another showed rescue workers checking on two sisters who were trapped under rubble. It was not clear where they were trapped. Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide. In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island left more than 4,300 people dead or missing. On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra and triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including around 170,000 in Indonesia. – The Jakarta Post
Malacañang: No reason to hold back on Sinovac
Malacañang will proceed to buy 25 million doses of a China-made COVID-19 vaccine despite misgivings in some sectors about its low efficacy rate and steep price. CoronaVac, made by Sinovac Biotech of China, has an efficacy rate of only 50 percent, compared with Western vaccines that are 70 percent to 95 percent effective against the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. It is also the second most expensive among the candidate vaccines, at P3,629 for the two-dose regimen. Senators Francis Pangilinan and Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday questioned the government’s preference for CoronaVac despite its unimpressive showing in clinical trials and high price. The latest disappointing report on CoronaVac’s performance came from Brazil on Wednesday, with researchers returning a finding of 50.4 percent efficacy rate, barely enough for regulatory approval. Citing the latest findings, Pangilinan called on the Department of Health to cancel the order for 25 million doses of CoronaVac. Also citing CoronaVac’s lower power and record of suspended trials, Lacson demanded explanation for the government’s preference for the China-made vaccine whose developer had not even applied for emergency use authorization here. (Sinovac Biotech applied for emergency use authorization on Wednesday afternoon, but Food and Drug Administration chief Eric Domingo said on Thursday that the company submitted data for Phases 1 and 2 trials only. He said the FDA would ask Sinovac to submit Phase 3 trials data.) Responding for the Palace on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied the government was favouring Sinovac and said there was no reason for the administration to turn its back on CoronaVac, which would not be used here without clearance from the FDA. President Duterte himself, in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night, defended his administration’s decision to buy CoronaVac, saying China-made vaccines were as good as shots developed by the Americans and the Europeans. – INQUIRER.net
Intellectual property warning to local firms
Experts are again issuing a warning to local enterprises to pay attention to intellectual property (IP) rights when doing business overseas. According to Lê Ninh Giang, director of the centre for IP technology and application (IPTA) said a lot of enterprises focused on forming businesses, calling for investment capital but not registering for any IP protection rights. He said it comes as no surprise when he discovers cases where companies lost their IP assets in foreign countries when trading. He said cases concerning Phú Quốc fish sauce, Vinataba cigarettes or Buôn Ma Thuột cafe were good examples of just some companies who have fallen foul of foreign IP regulations. Giang said: “Many business owners still don’t know about IP registration and they are not yet aware of the importance of protecting IPs when exporting their products. “While multinational enterprises in the world have invested a lot of resources in registering IP, few local enterprises understand the importance of the issue.” He said in many cases, Vietnamese enterprises invested a lot in their brands in the country, making their products known by local consumers, but when they went to the international market, they became anonymous or already lost their brands which were being registered by another foreign company. Vũ Thị Thuận, chairwoman of Traphaco said: “In the pharmaceutical industry, there are many creative values that need to be protected. However, the current understanding of IP protection in Việt Nam is not yet sufficient, leading many businesses to potentially violate the law. "For sustainable development and integration, local enterprises must firstly respect IP rights.” In order to effectively implement commitments on IP with further integration to the international economy, lawyer Phạm Duy Khương, SB Law Firm said: “Vietnamese enterprises need a strategy for international trademark registration with good consideration for cost, time, quantity and country of registration.” Khương advised businesses to learn carefully about the register to save time, cost and bring the best effect to the trademark in a foreign country. Lawyer Lê Quang Vinh from BROSS & Partners Law Firm added: “If the enterprises don’t register for IP protection, they will lose export opportunities to expand their markets and will face with legal risks and lose many opportunities to benefit from free trade agreements like CPTPP, EVFTA, RCEP. – Viet Nam News
PM marks 36 years in power with both praise and criticism
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday cemented his legacy as the current longest-serving Prime Minister in world history, after marking 36 years of ruling Cambodia, an achievement which has gained both praise and criticism. In a post on his official Facebook page yesterday, Mr Hun Sen said he was the youngest Premier in the world when he was first elected in 1985, adding that he gained the “most love and support” from the people. “For the past 36 years, Cambodia has experienced countless obstacles, but the smart and experienced Cambodian leader has led the country toward development and progress in all areas with a good image on the international stage,” the message added. Mr Hun Sen became Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea in 1979 after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, then served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from 1981 to 1985. He first took office as Prime Minister on January 14, 1985, after he was unanimously elected by the National Assembly to succeed Chan Sy, who died in office in December 1984. Mr Hun Sen became the world’s youngest Prime Minister at the time, at age 32. He also held the position of Foreign Minister until 1991. Today, he is the world’s longest-serving Prime Minister and the fifth current longest-ruling non-royal national leader in the world. Mr Hun Sen at the end of December reaffirmed his intention to retire from his premiership at the age 78. He is 68-years-old now. In mid-December, he made a rare revelation that one of the preferred successors could be Deputy Prime Minister Aun Pornmoniroth, who is also the Minister of Economy and Finance. Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, yesterday noted the four major achievements Mr Hun Sen has made for the nation and the Cambodian people, including liberating Cambodians from the “killing fields” of the Democratic Kampuchea regime, which provided a “second birth” for millions of Cambodians born before January 7, 1979. “[Mr Hun Sen] brought complete peace to Cambodia through his Win-Win Policy and has maintained political stability, national unity as well as the progress of multi-party liberal democracy in Cambodia,” he said. – Khmer Times