These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Molestation cases on the rise, average of 1,190 a year between 2016 and 2020
Cases of molestation have been on the rise in recent years, and penalties for these offences are set to be raised to allow the authorities to better deal with such crimes, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam in Parliament on Friday (March 5). Between 2016 and 2020, an average of 1,190 outrage of modesty cases were reported each year; about 24 per cent higher than between 2011 and 2015, he said. "We want egregious cases to be dealt with more severely," added Mr Shanmugam. Following a review of the sentencing framework for hurt and sexual offences, the maximum penalties for molestation and two other sexual offences involving minors are set to be raised, he announced. Those convicted of outrage of modesty could, in future, face a jail term of up to three years, compared with two years now. They could also be fined and/or caned. This will send a stronger signal of deterrence, given the rise in molestation cases in the past four years compared with the preceding four years, Mr Shanmugam told Parliament in a ministerial statement on the recent review of the sentencing framework. The proposal is also to raise the jail terms for those who perform sexual activities in the presence of minors, or who show sexual images to minors. These are victims between the ages of 14 and 18. Offenders could face jail of up to two years on top of a fine, up from a maximum of one year now. The review of the sentencing framework for hurt and sexual offences, announced last July, came after public disquiet over sentences meted out to those convicted of such offences in recent years. – The Straits Times
PM: Let's escape the middle-income trap
After nearly a decade, Malaysia is still unable to escape the middle-income trap, and with this in mind, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has laid out several "tests" Malaysians need to overcome to get out of the dilemma. A decade before the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis (AFC), the Prime Minister said Malaysia's cumulative annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 8.4 per cent annually but fell to 4.6 per cent in the following two decades. With the current stagnant productivity growth, he said the country's annual per-capita income has stalled at about USD10,000 for almost a decade which suggests that Malaysia is snared in the middle-income trap. To exit the middle-income trap, Muhyiddin said the country must first be transformed into a global exporting player. "Countries historically grew rich by learning to produce new, higher-value products to export. Hence entrepreneurs with global ambitions will be critical in driving growth," he said in his speech at the Youth Economic Forum 2021 today, organised by Perdana Fellows Alumni Association. The second litmus test needed, according to Muhyiddin, is for Malaysia to have better manufacturing capabilities to make increasingly complex and sophisticated products. "Based on the Economic Complexity Index, even a standard deviation increase, can elevate GDP growth in Malaysia by between 0.7 percent and 1.6 percent a year." As for the third test, the Prime Minister said Malaysia needs to create its own home-bred Multi-National Companies (MNCs), as the pay-off for economic growth is very high. "For example, it is reported that global giants Samsung and Hyundai collectively at one-point drove 30 per cent of South Korean GDP. "In a nutshell, Malaysia needs to pursue a 'moon-shot' approach in which the objective is to create competitive domestic firms in frontier technologies. "This is where the young intelligent participants of this Forum play a critical role." As such, Muhyiddin called on the younger generation to be bold and build the next generation of innovative enterprises so Malaysia could stand tall like the rest of the world. "The start-ups you build today, could and should be the next Amazon... or Apple or Tesla. "As the Malaysians founders behind existing and potential unicorns like Grab and Aerodyne will testify, it is really up to you to show the world what Malaysians can achieve." – New Straits Times
Prayut orders probe into army info-ops
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday said he had ordered the Defence Ministry to look into allegations made by international media that the military had for political purposes been using social media to covertly influence and exacerbate unrest in the South. He was responding to a news report by Reuters on Wednesday that said Facebook Inc has taken down 185 accounts and groups engaged in an information-influencing operation (IO) run by the military. The company said the accounts were linked to the military and targeted audiences in the southern provinces, where conflict has flared on and off for decades as insurgent groups continue a guerrilla war to demand independence, according to Reuters. It is unclear what the closure of the accounts and groups is likely to entail for the situation in the South. It also noted that it was the first time Facebook had removed Thai accounts with ties to the government. "We found clear links between this operation and the military's Internal Security Operations Command. We can see that all of these accounts and groups are tied together as part of this operation," Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of Cybersecurity Policy, told Reuters. The network, mainly active in 2020, used both fake accounts and authentic ones to manage groups and pages, including overt military pages and those that did not disclose their affiliations with the military, Mr Gleicher said. Gen Prayut said the Defence Ministry will have to find out more details and explain the matter to the public to clear up doubts over its information operations. Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) spokesman Maj Gen Thanathip Sawangsaeng, meanwhile, said Isoc wasn't aware of Facebook's action as reported. It understood that those social media accounts removed have nothing to do with Isoc's Facebook account, which is still functioning. More importantly, he said, Isoc doesn't have any policies pertaining to what the Reuters report accused the Thai military of doing. Isoc, he said, is responsible for coordinating work needed to help people in areas affected by the southern unrest, he said. The use of social media by Isoc was only for the timely dissemination of useful information and news to its target audiences and for listening to the public to improve its work to resolve the problems they are facing, he said. – Bangkok Post
WHO: Arrival of vaccines in PH ‘a powerful step’ towards economic recovery, normalcy
The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines is “a powerful step” towards the country’s gradual return of day-to-day activities and economic revival, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to the Philippines Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe has said. Abeyasinghe made the remark as he welcomed the arrival of the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines developed by British-Swede drug maker AstraZeneca. The aircraft carrying the 487,200 vaccine doses from the WHO-led COVAX facility landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Thursday night. “We all welcome the addition of vaccines to the available tools in the country, which, when used to scale, will contribute to the gradual return of day-to-day activities and economic revival in the country,” Abeyasinghe said in a statement. “The delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines is a powerful step in that direction,” he added. Abeyasinghe said that the vaccines coming through COVAX will help protect up to 20 percent of the Philippine population this year, including healthcare workers, other frontline workers, and the elderly who are most at risk amid the pandemic. “The COVID-19 vaccines are proven to protect people from severe disease and death. Used together with public health measures currently in place – wearing of masks, physical distancing, avoiding large groups, and washing hands frequently – will help mitigate the effects of the pandemic by reducing deaths and severe disease,” Abeyasinghe said. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) likewise welcomed the arrival of the vaccines. “The COVID-19 pandemic has become a child rights crisis which we need to end as fast as possible,” UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov said. “The longer the pandemic goes on, the more intense the impact on people, especially on children’s health, rights to education, nutrition, protection and mental health. COVID019 vaccination should be part of a larger strategy to strengthen health systems for children and families in the Philippines for the longer term,” Dendevnorov added. – INQUIRER.net
Businesses want more help from the Government
Domestic businesses have called on the Government to aid them as they are still struggling to maintain production and business activities due to a lack of credit support after more than a year of coping with the COVID-19 outbreak. This appeal was sent to Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc by the business community in early February. It asked the Government to consider lifting the export tax on woodchips to remove difficulties for wood producers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses want the Government to stabilise the purchasing price and encourage growers to maintain afforestation to boost export promotion. The transport sector is one example of an industry looking for Government help. A decree that took effect last April requires transport businesses transporting passengers by automobiles with at least nine seats or transporting cargo by tractor trucks or tractor units to equip their vehicles with cameras. Installing cameras in the sector's more than 340,000 vehicles would cost about VNĐ1.5-1.9 trillion (US$65-82 million) and maintaining servers and transmission lines will also cost about VNĐ500 billion ($21 million) per year. These are really big expenses for transport companies amid the pandemic, so firms have asked the deadline for installation to be delayed until this July. These are two of the many recommendations sent to the PM to overcome difficulties amid the new way of the COVID-19 outbreak. Most businesses are hoping for supportive policies from the Government, especially assistance related to tax and fee deferrals. To deal with the difficulties of COVID-19, experts have called on ministries and agencies to urgently work out appropriate policies and solutions. Experts said solutions needed to meet four criteria, with the first solution is that the Government should ensure socio-economic stability and offer incentives for businesses to soon recover. Experts have also called on the Government to support economic activities to prevent and minimise liquidity loss, bankruptcy, business dissolution and facilitate rapid recovery of businesses after COVID-19. They also asked the Government to restructure the economy in accordance with the global changes after COVID-19. Lastly, the Government should stimulate domestic consumption and ensure social security. – Viet Nam News
Sihanoukville restrictions: Spike in C-19 cases prompts temporary travel ban
The February 20 Community Incident cases in Sihanoukville rose to 80 with 18 new ones yesterday, prompting the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration to impose a temporary travel ban. Four more hotspots were also identified in the city yesterday, bringing the total to 36. The new cases were 11 Chinese, five Cambodians and a Vietnamese. The four new hotspots were identified as Rong Gang Gong Yu Hotel, MIN Hui Hotel, Chhung Chhing Soup shop and Yeulai Hotel. In a press release, the provincial administration said the locations were identified through contact tracing after two Chinese women linked to the February 20 Community Incident in Phnom Penh visited a hotel in Sihanoukville on February 23. Provincial administration spokesman Kheang Phearum declined to comment when asked for details about the new cases including where they were detected and how they were infected. The provincial administration yesterday also issued a temporary suspension on travel to or from Sihanoukville, except for trucks and ambulances, in a bid to contain the virus spread. In addition, it has temporarily banned unnecessary gatherings and reminded people to strictly follow the Health Ministry’s prevention guidelines, including wearing masks and washing hands with alcohol frequently. Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen had called for the travel ban in Sihanoukville in view of the rise of infections in the city. However, he said the city was not in a lockdown. “We cannot completely close the city because it is involved in imports and exports, but for people there may be preventive measures to stop the spread to other provinces,” Mr Hun Sen said. In a report issued by the provincial health department, as of Tuesday it had tested 9,970 people, including 4,238 women, for COVID-19, including the positive cases. It said that the 80 positive cases were 64 Chinese, 10 Cambodians and six Vietnamese. Meanwhile, The Ministry of Health announced that 31 new cases of COVID-19 were discovered yesterday. – Khmer Times
A day after the regime murdered dozens of their comrades, defiant protesters return to the streets
Protesters returned to the streets of Yangon and elsewhere on Thursday, unbowed by police and soldiers who murdered dozens in attacks across the country in a bid to crush a month-old popular uprising against the military regime. There were no reports of deaths or mass arrests and police and soldiers used less violence than the day before. Wednesday was the bloodiest day since the February 1 coup, with at least 38 killed as commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing intensified his crackdown on peaceful protests. At least seven died in Yangon’s North Okkalapa township when soldiers and police shot protesters and choked them with tear gas. The office of UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in a statement on Thursday that at least 54 people have now been killed by security forces since the military seized power, but added that the actual death toll could be much higher. “It is difficult to establish how many people have suffered injuries, but credible information indicates, at a minimum, hundreds have been wounded during protests,” the statement said. “Myanmar’s military must stop murdering and jailing protestors,” Bachelet added. “I am also appalled at the documented attacks against emergency medical staff and ambulances attempting to provide care to those who have been injured,” she said. Soldiers on Wednesday were captured on CCTV brutally beating medics from an emergency rescue team, kicking them and hitting them with the butts of their rifles. Security forces also raided the office of the Free Funeral Services Society, whose team members helped treat people injured during attacks in North Okkalapa. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said on Wednesday that at least 1,498 people have been arrested nationwide since February 1. Bachelet called for their immediate release. “Many of the arbitrary arrests and detentions that have been carried out since 1 February may constitute enforced disappearances,” she said. As tens of thousands took the streets on Thursday, protesters in the Yangon townships of North Okkalapa, Thingangyun, Tamwe, Sanchaung and Insein built makeshift barricades to road blocks using sandbags, bricks and other materials to delay the advance of security forces. Soldiers and police had bulldozed barricades overnight but protesters rebuilt them in the morning. In Insein, protesters blocked a main road with two containers loaded on trucks. Frontline protesters wore gas masks, goggles and handmade shields to protect people demonstrating behind them. At one point security forces in Tamwe and Sanchaung advanced towards protesters firing tear gas and stun grenades. Protesters retreated into side streets but emerged again and resumed their protest once soldiers and police left the area. In some places, people paid tribute to those murdered by police and soldiers by observing a one-minute silence. – Myanmar NOW
Military, Police urged to assist in expediting vaccination: Minister
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin confirmed he will collaborate with the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and National Police (Polri) to fast-track the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination. "Currently, we have started (collaborating) with the private sector and this week with institutions and ministries. We are also collaborating with the TNI-Polri," he remarked while speaking during a productive dialog themed "Digitalization of Vaccination Acceleration" on Thursday. The TNI and Polri have several healthcare workers that can be empowered to administer vaccine injections. However, the current requirement is locations for the vaccination. "We invite all TNI (members) to function as vaccinators, as what is required now is people that can inject vaccines," he pointed out. The Ministry of Health had earlier collaborated with the Halodoc and Gojek start-ups for the implementation of vaccinations, particularly to offer the COVID-19 Vaccination Service Post through a drive-through mechanism. The government is currently continuing to accelerate vaccination by synergizing with various parties. Vaccination campaigns have been conducted at various locations, including schools and sports buildings, by offering a drive-through mechanism specially to facilitate elderly people and to also prevent crowds. Sadikin pointed to the limited number of vaccines posing the main challenge to the vaccination process. The issue has become a hot topic worldwide, and several countries have yet to commence vaccination. "Our target is that vaccinations are completed in one year. In the first six months, only 90 million doses of vaccine were available for 45 million Indonesians," he remarked. In the following six months, some 140 million people must be vaccinated. "This necessitates synergy with various parties since the Ministry of Health cannot do it alone," he stated. – AntaraNews.Com