These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Malaysian man who breached SHN has Singapore PR status revoked
A man who was convicted of leaving his hostel multiple times during his stay-home notice (SHN) has been stripped of his permanent residence (PR) status. "Singapore permanent residents who have been convicted of an offence will have their PR status reviewed by the ICA. In the case of Mr Chong Tet Choe, ICA has revoked his PR status on Feb 4," the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a statement on Friday (Feb 5). Chong was sentenced to two weeks' jail on Aug 7 last year for breaching Covid-19 regulations. The Malaysian was charged in June for breaching his SHN on four occasions to run errands with the knowledge that he displayed symptoms of Covid-19 infection. ICA on Friday said that foreigners who fail to comply with public health regulations and requirements in Singapore may face further administrative actions by ICA or the Ministry of Manpower, or both. This includes revoking or shortening the validity of permits and passes to remain or work in Singapore. Last year, the court heard that Chong visited Summit Medical Clinic at Block 134 Jurong Gateway Road on April 29, complaining of a cough and body aches. He was issued a medical certificate, and was informed that it was also a SHN. Chong was told that he should stay in his residence at Westwood Hostel in Jurong West Avenue 5 from April 29 to May 3, and not leave it for any purpose except to seek medical attention. However, he left his hostel on April 30 to buy groceries and withdraw money at a nearby supermarket. Chong also went to a canteen near the hostel to buy food on two days - May 2 and May 3. He left his residence for a second time on May 3 to top up the credit stored in his mobile phone at an AXS machine. It was only after he was shown the access records of his hostel that he confessed to his offences, the court heard. For each of his offences, Chong could have been jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000. He could have been jailed for up to a year and fined up to $20,000 for repeat offences. – The Straits Times
Woman wins legal battle to be recognised as non-Muslim
Rosliza Ibrahim, a woman who claims to have never professed the religion of Islam, won a six-year legal battle today when the Federal Court allowed her bid to be recognised as a non-Muslim. The 39-year-old woman, who was born to a Muslim man and a Buddhist woman, has always maintained that she was never a Muslim to begin with as there is no record of her mother converting to Islam or of her biological parents entering into a Muslim marriage. Today, the bench chaired by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat held that the appellant (Rosliza) was never a Muslim. In allowing Rosliza's appeal, Tengku Maimun said there is no evidence to show that the woman had ever professed Islam as her religion, as she was raised as a Buddhist by her mother since she was born. She said the present appeal is distinguishable to that of Christian convert Lina Joy's case, in which Joy was a person born into Islam but had sought to renounce the religion in court. "In this context, Lina Joy is entirely distinguishable from the present case as the present case is an ab initio (from the beginning) case and not a renunciation case. "The plaintiff (Rosliza) has made out her claim on balance of probabilities. The concurrent categorisation by the courts below of the case as a renunciation case is incorrect in fact and in law. "The appeal is allowed. The High Court and Court of Appeal's decisions are therefore set aside," she said adding that there was no order as to costs. The decision was delivered via Zoom this morning. Rosliza had appealed against the decisions of the Shah Alam High Court and the Court of Appeal refusing her legal bid for a declaration that she is a Buddhist and not a Muslim. Her ordeal began when her application to change her name was rejected by the National Registration Department (NRD) because she did not have a letter of approval from the Syariah Court. She then took the matter to court. – New Straits Times
Factory staff to be monitored
Stricter "seal and bubble" measures will be used to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections among migrant workers in Samut Sakhon after tests at seven factories over many weeks found almost 8,000 positive cases. Surawit Sakdanupab, a deputy provincial health official, said public health officials in Samut Sakhon had agreed to adopt tough new disease control measures after news broke that the second wave of infections centred on the province is worse than first thought. The "seal" method will apply to factories which have on-site accommodation -- workers will not be allowed to leave the premises. The "bubble strategy" will apply to factories which have no on-site accommodation, so their workers stay at dormitories off the premises. The goal of the new measures is to strictly regulate the travel and movement of workers all the way from their dormitories to their workplaces to prevent them from wandering off to other locations, Dr Surawit said. Officials may be deployed to watch the workers at their dormitories and deliver food and other essential items to them so they don't need go outside, he said. For workers living at widely scattered dormitories, local officials may have to locate them and enforce the bubble strategy throughout the whole area. Phattraporn Tanngam, a ThaiPBS reporter, said proactive case-finding was undertaken at seven factories in Samut Sakhon and 7,878 out of around 50,000 workers had been confirmed infected. Dr Surawit said the "seal and bubble" plan was likely to begin in the next few days after officials and business operators have finalised the details. He admitted the "seal" method may affect local businesses in the short term it was expected to bring infections under control within 28 days, although the bubble method may be trickier. He urged businesses to follow health safety protocol strictly and if possible to provide workers with accommodation inside their factories or at designated locations that were easy to control. Dr Surawit said closing factories would be a last resort if they were confirmed to be the breeding ground of infections and could not be brought under control. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said on Thursday that mass testing would continue in Samut Sakhon as large numbers of infections had been found in the province. However, Dr Taweesilp said it cost the government about 20 million baht to test 10,000 people a day, so the CCSA would discuss how to strike a balance between daily mass testing and saving money. The government on Thursday reported 809 new Covid-19 cases, 796 local infections and 13 imported, raising the total to 22,058. Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha said it cost 2,000-3,000 baht for each case found through the proactive searching, so new technological innovations needed to be devised to reduce costs. Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul insisted the Covid-19 situation in Samut Sakhon was improving -- hundreds of positive cases were being detected daily as a result of proactive searching. So far, proactive testing has been conducted on 140,000 workers at 845 factories in Samut Sakhon. This has enabled officials to identify factories that needed to be closely regulated. – Bangkok Post
PH allows entry of more foreigners with valid visas starting Feb. 16
The Philippines has allowed more foreign nationals with valid visas to enter the country starting February 16, 2021, Malacañang announced Friday. Foreigners with visas issued as of March 20, 2020 and are still valid at the time of entry have been allowed by the Inter–Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to enter the country. “Also allowed to enter the Philippines are holders of valid and existing Special Resident and Retirees Visa (SRRV) and Section 9 (A) visas as long as they present an entry exemption document to the Bureau of Immigration upon arrival,” he added. Section 9 (A) or temporary visitor’s visa is issued to foreign nationals coming to the Philippines for business, tourism or medical purposes. But in a separate message to reporters, Roque said “tourists [are] not allowed still unless with exemption.” “The Commissioner of Immigration has the exclusive prerogative to decide on waiver or recall of exclusion orders for all foreign nationals allowed to enter the country under relevant IATF resolutions,” he further noted. All foreign nationals allowed to enter the country must have pre-booked accommodation for at least six nights in an accredited quarantine hotel or facility. They must also be subject to Covid-19 testing on the sixth day from the date of their arrival in the country. – INQUIRER.net
Việt Nam hopes all countries will contribute to peace and stability in the South China Sea: Spokesperson
Việt Nam always welcomes the stance of any country regarding the South China Sea (known in Việt Nam as the East Sea) that are in line with international law, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng said on Thursday. Hằng made the statement during yesterday's press briefing, held virtually due to the new clusters of COVID-19 community cases in Hà Nội, when asked for Việt Nam’s response to the recent UK-Japan statement regarding the South China Sea. “Việt Nam always welcomes the stance of any country regarding the South China Sea (known in Việt Nam as the East Sea) which are in line with international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), and that share the viewpoint stated in the declarations of the 36th ASEAN Summit and the 53th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting reaffirming that the 1982 UNCLOS is the legal framework governing all activities at sea,” Hằng said. “With that spirit, together with ASEAN member countries, Việt Nam hopes that all countries – including ASEAN partners – will have meaningful contributions to the maintenance of peace, stability and cooperation in the South China Sea, as well as the resolution of disputes via dialogues and other peaceful measures, as provided by the 1982 UNCLOS, for the sake of common benefits and in line with the aspirations of the countries in the region and in the international community,” the Vietnamese diplomat remarked. Việt Nam always has proactive and responsible contributions to this process, she stressed. “All peoples and the international community have the common benefit in promoting and maintaining peace, stability, development in the South China Sea. Respecting the legal order at sea and the full compliance of the 1982 UNCLOS in good will is critical,” the spokesperson underlined. Earlier on Wednesday, four ministers from Japan and the UK voiced serious concern about the situation in the South China Sea and East China Sea and noted their opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo. The joint statement was issued after an online meeting of Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi and defence minister Nobuo Kishi of Japan, and their respective British counterparts Dominic Raab and Ben Wallace. The Japanese and UK ministers reaffirmed the importance of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight above the South China Sea and urged all parties to exercise self-restraint and refrain from activities that threaten to heighten tensions, the statement reads. Asked on the UK’s plan to deploy the carrier group led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth to the Indo-Pacific later this year and ‘leaving open the possibility of entering the South China Sea’ which could signify the country’s more assertive stance, Hằng said Việt Nam supports the maintenance of freedom of navigation and overflight, and the upholding of the rule of law in the seas and oceans, in line with 1982 UNCLOS. “All activities conducted by parties in the South China Sea should be contributing towards these goals,” the Vietnamese diplomat noted. – Viet Nam News
Jabs start on Wednesday: PM among first few to get doses donated by China
The first few doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be administered in the Kingdom on Wednesday after they arrive from China on Sunday. Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech on Facebook yesterday that he will be the first one to be inoculated at the Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh. After him, Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, Defence Minister General Tea Banh and Health Minister Mam Bun Heng will receive doses on the same day. Mr Hun Sen said 600,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines, the first batch of one million donated by China, will arrive in Cambodia on Sunday. He said he will lead a high-level delegation, comprising of Namhong, Gen Banh and Bun Heng, to receive the vaccine at the airport. A team of Chinese vaccine specialists yesterday provided a training to some 300 Cambodian medical staff on how to administer the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of its arrival. According to an inside source, the vaccine is scheduled to arrive at Phnom Penh International Airport at 4.30pm on Sunday. According to the Premier, the vaccine will be free and offered on a voluntary basis, but in the future, the country will need more vaccines to inoculate between 10 and 13 million people or about 80 percent of the population. In a voice Facebook post on Monday, Mr Hun Sen confirmed that military doctors and health workers have been trained and are ready to be assigned to administer the vaccines. Bun Heng yesterday inspected the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital in Daun Penh district where the vaccines from China will be stored. “We have already prepared for the arrival of the vaccines from the People’s Republic of China. The vaccines will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 cases along with measures taken by the Ministry of Health,” he said. “We have prepared a refrigeration system for the COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, we have prepared both the technical specifications and means to transport the vaccines to the provinces to vaccinate our people.” “In addition, we have already trained the medical team workers and plan to continue to teach more health officials because this is a new type of vaccine. However, we already have had some experience in the process such as vaccinating children, pregnant women and others,” he added. Bun Heng emphasised that even after vaccination, people must continue to implement the protection measures of the Ministry of Health that have been set in the past, such as wearing masks, washing their hands regularly and social distancing. – Khmer Times
Senior NLD figure Win Htein detained in Yangon on sedition charge, family says
Win Htein, a top figure in the National League for Democracy (NLD), was arrested at his home in Yangon on Thursday evening as the new military regime continued its crackdown in the wake of Monday’s coup. Police and ward officials from Mayangone township came and took the party stalwart at around midnight, a family member told Myanmar Now, adding that the officers told Win Htein he would be charged with sedition under section 124a of the penal code. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Win Htein had recently returned from Naypyitaw after giving media interviews denouncing the military takeover, in which he said commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing had acted on his "personal ambitions". The family member, who asked not to be identified, said they were puzzled that Win Htein was not detained in Naypyitaw, where he was staying when Aung San Suu Kyi and other top government officials were detained in early morning raids on Monday. Win Htein, a former army captain, told Myanmar Now shortly after the raids that “the personal ambitions of Min Aung Hlaing have resulted in this coup.” He added: “It’s clearly not in the public interest. We have witnessed how our country became impoverished and a pariah state due to the previous coups in 1962 and 1988.” He also echoed a call made by Aung San Suu Kyi for public resistance to the coup, saying that meant “civil disobedience, non-violence and non-cooperation.” People across the country have taken up the call, with medics staging walkouts and vigils and small numbers of activists holding street protests. Cities including Yangon and Mandalay have also erupted in enormous evening noise protests since Monday. Win Htein has been jailed twice for his resistance to former military regimes, serving a total of almost 20 years in prison before a political transition began in 2011. – Myanmar Now
No religious dress code in public schools, ministerial decree states
The government has issued a joint ministerial decree (SKB) banning public schools from prescribing religious attire following controversy over a public school in Padang, West Sumatra, that had made hijabs mandatory for all female students. The regulation comes as a relief for educators across the archipelago who hope it will be a step toward ending religious intolerance and discrimination within the country’s educational institutions. The joint decree, signed by Home Minister Tito Karnavian, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim, lets public school students decide for themselves whether to wear religious attire or not. “The key point […] is that the right to wear religious attire is the freedom of each individual and shouldn’t be enforced by the school,” Nadiem said on Wednesday. “Therefore, regional administrations or school managements should neither enforce nor ban students of public schools from wearing religious clothing.” The government ordered public schools and local administrations across the country to revoke any regulations requiring or banning students from wearing religious attire as part of their uniform within 30 days of the issuance of the decree on Wednesday. However, public schools in Aceh are exempted from the new policy. The province is the only region in Muslim-majority Indonesia to implement Islamic Law. Nadiem went on to say that the government had prepared punishments for any officials and schools found violating the SKB, including by cutting the school operational assistance (BOS) funds. The Education and Culture Ministry had set up a hotline for people to report such violations. The three ministers issued the joint decree shortly after the public uproar surrounding a public vocational high school in Padang that requires all female students, including non-Muslims, to wear a hijab. A video showing a parent of a non-Muslim student going to the school to protest the rule went viral on social media, sparking debate among Indonesian internet users. While the school officials have apologized for the brouhaha, the provincial education agency said the school’s rule was in line with a 2005 city bylaw requiring all female students to wear a hijab while studying at schools in Padang. Jakarta-based human rights group SETARA Institute said the case was not an isolated incident. The group recorded at least seven similar cases at schools in Riau, East Java and Yogyakarta between 2016 and 2018. The group said such incidents occurred due to strong majoritarianism, a tendency from the majority group living in an area to view their dominant values as collective values. SETARA said the case in Padang might indicate a deeper problem of intolerance in the country. Henny Supolo, the chairwoman of the Teachers' Light Foundation that focuses on improving teacher skills, appreciated the government’s decision to issue the SKB. "This is evidence of the government's seriousness about ensuring that public schools serve as a place to nurture diversity, patriotism and humanity of the students," she told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. She noted that many regulations in public schools did not promote diversity and religious tolerance, despite the fact that such schools had students from various religious backgrounds. One example was a high school teacher in Jakarta discouraging students to vote for non-Muslim candidates for chair of the Student Executive Organization (OSIS). – The Jakarta Post