These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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950,000 S'porean HDB households to get $135m in S&CC rebates from April
About 950,000 Singaporean HDB households will receive $135 million in service and conservancy charge (S&CC) rebates from next month to March next year. This is part of the $900 million Household Support Package announced in this year's Budget, to provide additional support to families during this period of uncertainty, said the Ministry of Finance in a statement on Friday (March 26). The Household Support Package helps families with household expenses, with lower- to middle-income families receiving more. It includes vouchers that each household can use to defray expenses and support local businesses, as well as S&CC rebates and goods and services tax vouchers. Eligible Singaporean households will receive between 1½ and 3½ months in S&CC rebates during this fiscal year, depending on their flat type. They will be notified through letters by April 1, and receive their quarterly S&CC rebate automatically in April, July and October 2021, as well as January 2022. The rebates will be credited directly into households' S&CC accounts managed by their respective town councils. Households do not need to take any action to benefit from the rebate. In a Facebook post on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat wrote that Covid-19 has affected many Singaporeans. "At this year's Budget, I announced how we will continue to provide targeted support for families through the Household Support Package," he said. "When I go on my regular walkabouts, residents share with me that the various measures in the Household Support Package will go some way to help them in these difficult times. By helping all families through this crisis, we can emerge stronger from Covid-19." Residents can check their household's S&CC rebate eligibility online by logging in to the My HDBPage at this website with their Singpass. Those with queries on rebate eligibility can also submit them at this portal. Those with specific queries on their household's S&CC payment or account status can contact their respective town councils. – The Straits Times
MoH seizes RM1.2 million worth of products sold online
The Health Ministry recently seized RM1.2 million worth of anabolic steroids and other products not registered with the Drug Control Authority (DCA), sold online through e-commerce platforms. Acting on complaints from the public and surveillance, the raiding party comprising the ministry's Pharmacy Enforcement Division and its branches in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur simultaneously raided ten premises and seized about 300 items on March 23. The ministry's Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Services Dr Faridah Aryani Yusof said checks by the ministry showed the sale of the products violated Regulation 7(1)(a) of the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984. "Through integrated intelligence conducted by the ministry, 10 premises were raided involving the seizure of nearly 300 items including products containing anabolic steroids, psychotropic products, and other prohibited substances as well as various unregistered products. "Also seized were several gadgets such as personal computers, laptops and mobile phones used as a medium to market the products," she said in a statement today. Individuals found guilty under the regulation, she said, could be sentenced to a maximum RM25,000 fine or three years imprisonment or both for the first offence and a maximum RM50,000 fine or five years' jail or both for subsequent offences. Companies convicted of the offence could be sentenced to the maximum RM50,000 fine for the first offence and RM100,000 fine for subsequent offences. Dr Faridah said steroids are classified as controlled substances which could only be consumed upon the advice of doctors and pharmacists. Anabolic steroids, she said are frequently abused by individuals for the purpose of developing muscles. "Apart from damaging our kidneys, unsupervised use of steroids can result in a person suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and hormonal imbalances in the body." She urged consumers to only purchase health products with hologram stickers and MAL registration numbers. Consumers, she said, can also check the product registration status by visiting http://www.npra.gov.my or contact the call centre of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) at 1-800-88-6722. "The public can also do so by downloading the NPRA Product Status app from the Google Play Store, Apple App Store or Huawei AppGallery," she added. – New Straits Times
Phuket 'to reopen by July'
The government is expected to give the green light today to allow tourists who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to visit the island of Phuket without having to undergo the mandated quarantine period, starting in July. Supattanapong Punmeechaow, deputy prime minister, said the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA), will today consider a reopening plan approved by business operators on the island. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the plan could serve as a model for the reopening process for other provinces that rely on tourism. Local entrepreneurs and communities have agreed the island province could reopen to foreign tourists, Mr Supattanapong, who is also the energy minister, said. He said these entrepreneurs and communities are confident Phuket's tourism infrastructure is still able to accommodate "quality visitors”. "Phuket has been recognised by foreign tourists," Mr Supattanapong said. "But local businesses and people have suffered during the second wave the Covid-19 pandemic. "They have joined forces and offered to be a reopening model for major tourist provinces," he added. "There are flights to the province and hotels to attract quality tourists. "They believe if the government supports the plan, the province should reopen before October," the deputy prime minister said. Previously, provincial authorities and the local private sector came up with a reopening plan, known as the Phuket Tourism Sandbox, to allow inoculated foreign tourists to visit the province from July 1, brought forward from the original planned Oct 1. Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), previously said the reopening plan will depend Suasory largely on vaccine allocation to the Andaman Sea island. He said herd immunity must be achieved by inoculating 70% of the population before foreign visitors are allowed in by the reopening date. The plan is said to include a vaccination proposal, complete with the number of doses needed and an inoculation timeline suitable for a safe reopening of the tourist island. Mr Yuthasak said communities are expected to support this plan more so than last year's Phuket model as the current one is more elaborate and able to guarantee health safety measures. According to the sandbox proposal, at least 466,587 residents living on Phuket need to receive two doses each. The proposal aims to secure 933,174 doses. To reach the herd immunity goal within a specific time frame, the first round of inoculations should start on April 15, while the second should be rolled out from May 15. Under the plan, tourists who want to join the proposed quarantine-free programme are required to show a vaccine certificate, vaccine passport or International Air Transport Association (IATA) travel pass. However, foreign tourists are still required to take a PCR test at the airport and activate the ThailandPlus tracing app while in Phuket, according to the plan. Kusak Kukiatkul, Phuket's public health chief, on Thursday said the island will receive its second batch of 100,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses on Monday to prepare for the planned reopening. Dr Kusak said tourism is the main source of income for Phuket. Priority groups to receive the jabs first will include public health officials in close contact with Covid-19 patients, employees in the local service industry, such as hotel, airport and dock workers, and people with underlying health problems. The second batch of vaccines will arrive on Monday and the vaccination plan will start on Thursday, Dr Kusak said, adding that Phuket residents have been urged to register for vaccination at the provincial public health office. – Bangkok Post
Coronavirus variants driving Metro Manila surge – DOH
The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said two highly contagious variants of the coronavirus had been detected in all cities in Metro Manila and these may be driving the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the metropolis in the past few weeks. The DOH said it was waiting for confirmation from the World Health Organization (WHO) of widespread community transmission of the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom and the B.1.351 variant first reported by South Africa late last year. But WHO representative to the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe, speaking in a televised briefing on Monday, did not attribute the flare-up solely to the variants but to also to vaccine optimism that had led to people letting their guard down. Abeyasinghe said the WHO had been seeing a global increase in COVID-19 cases in the past four weeks. “After a stabilization of transmission in January and early February, we have seen now that globally, in several countries, we are seeing an increase in transmission,” Abeyasinghe said. The increase has also been seen in countries that have had successful vaccine rollouts so the situation cannot just be blamed on slow government response, he said. But in addition to a change in people’s behaviour, the increase in cases, he said, can also be linked to the spread of the new variants of the coronavirus. “So, the mix of these factors could actually be causing higher levels of transmission in the Philippines also,” Abeyasinghe said. The DOH conceded that the presence of the highly transmissible variants in Metro Manila is a factor in the faster increase in daily cases than at the height of the pandemic in July and August last year. “We saw that in all the cities (in Metro Manila) we have either the UK variant or South Africa variant. In other cities, there are both the UK and South Africa variants,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosaria Vergeire told reporters on Monday. “So, yes, we can say the variants are here and yes [their presence] has contributed to the increase in the number of cases, how they increased very fast. But that is not the only factor,” Vergeire said. She said the root of the problem was the public’s failure to comply with health measures and some “institutional gaps.” Through genetic analysis of samples from select COVID-positive cases, the Philippine Genome Center has so far detected the B.1.1.7 variant in 223 cases. Six of them have died, 167 have already recovered while 50 are still active cases. The UK variant has been detected in seven of the country’s 17 regions, mostly in Metro Manila (76 cases) and the Cordillera Administrative Region (41). Meanwhile the B.1.351 variant has been detected in 152 cases; four of them have died, 86 have recovered, while 61 are active cases. The South Africa variant has been detected in six regions, mostly in Metro Manila (105). The Philippine Genome Center has also detected the P.1 variant first detected in Brazil in one COVID-positive Filipino who returned from Brazil and had since recovered. A coronavirus variant called P.3 first detected in the Philippines has been found in 104 cases; 96 of them have recovered, while the rest are still active cases. The DOH said there was not enough evidence to conclude whether the P.3 variant was a “variant of concern.” Monday saw the highest number of confirmed cases in a single day, with 8,019 new infections reported by the DOH. – INQUIRER.net
Rising costs might force EVN to increase retail electricity prices: SSI
Rising production costs might force Viet Nam Electricity (EVN) to raise retail power prices but no official decisions had been made for this year, according to SSI Research. In a recent report about the electricity industry, SSI Research pointed out that the contracted output of thermal power plants decreased significantly mainly due to the increases in output of hydroelectricity and solar power. Thermal power was also adversely affected by rising input costs, including coal and gas prices. “The increase in input costs for the power system is mainly due to the high selling price of renewable energy, plus the increases in gas prices, which is forcing EVN to try to control production costs,” the report wrote. “It is likely that EVN will have to raise retail electricity prices to partially offset rising input costs, although EVN has not made any official decision for 2021,” SSI Research said. According to SSI, average sales price of traditional power sources, including hydroelectricity, gas-fired power and thermal power was VNĐ1,169 per kWh. Comparing the average sales price (ASP) and feed-in-tariff (FIT), SSI Research pointed out two scenarios. If the FIT was kept the same at 8.38 cents per kWh, EVN must spend an additional sum of around VNĐ12.7 trillion to switch to using solar energy or VNĐ17.7 trillion if wind power was included. In the second scenario, if the FIT was lowered to 7 cents per kWh as being drafted, the costs would increase by around VNĐ7.8 trillion or VNĐ10.7 trillion (including wind power). With a seven per cent growth in power consumption nationwide, SSI said that it would be difficult for renewable energy plants to run at full capacity. In addition, from the end of 2021 to 2022, there would be new wind power projects becoming operational. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s plan of power supply and national power system operation in 2021, the total power output (both domestically produced and imported) was estimated at around 262.4 billion kWh this year, not increasing much against 2020’s plan at 261.45 billion kWh. However, the percentage of power generation sources changed significantly. The output of renewable energy sources was expected to total 23.4 billion kWh, or 8.9 per cent of the total output of the power system. Solar power output totalled 10.6 billion kWH last year, accounting for 4.3 per cent of the total output of the power system. – Viet Nam News
Authorities charge first person under new C-19 prevention law
With the COVID-19 situation in Cambodia becoming more dire, the authorities have kept true to their warning and charged the first person under the new preventive measure law. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged and jailed a man accused of obstructing the competent authorities in implementing measures to prevent COVID-19.” Deputy Prosecutor Seang Heang identified the accused as Tor Channy, 28, a truck driver living in Phnom Penh’s Por Senchey district, in Chaom Chao commune. He said Heang was charged with “obstruction to the implementation of measures” under Article 11 of the Law on Measures to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 and other Deadly and Serious Infectious Diseases. If convicted, he faces between six months and three years in prison with a fine of about $500 to about $ 2,500 as stipulated under the new law. Heang added that the accused was arrested on Wednesday after he posted a video on TikTok, telling garment workers not to get the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine because he said it will kill them. On March 11, the COVID-19 prevention law, entitled the “Law on Preventive Measures against the Spread of COVID-19 and other Severe and Dangerous Contagious Diseases” was promulgated and came into force amid the February 20 community outbreak. Article 11 of the law stipulates that anyone obstructing or deterring the enforcement of any of the health measures faces a minimum punishment of six months to three years in jail and a fine of between about $500 and $2,500. The 18-article law grants the government power to take measures necessary to respond to and stem the spread of COVID-19. This includes lockdowns of areas, business shutdowns, travel bans and gathering restrictions. The law states that the government has the authority to impose health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing and vaccinations. Punishments for not following the new law range from revocation of business licences to fines and imprisonment. – Khmer Times
Sanctions against military companies welcome but US must now stop Chevron from funding regime, say activists
The US and the UK announced sanctions against businesses owned by the Myanmar military on Thursday, almost two months after Senior General Min Aung Hlaing seized power in a coup and plunged the country into chaos. The US announced the measures against the military’s two major conglomerates, Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). The UK only announced sanctions against MEHL. The two companies account for a large majority of the Tatmadaw’s business empire, which covers mining, beer, timber, banking, construction, insurance and cigarettes, among other industries. Andrea M Gacki, Director of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the sanctions targeted “the Burmese military’s control of significant segments of the Burmese economy, which is a vital financial lifeline for the military junta.” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “Today’s sanctions target the military’s financial interests to help drain the sources of finance for their campaigns of repression against civilians.” Activists welcomed the move but said governments must now act to ensure foreign oil companies with natural gas interests in Myanmar, such as Chevron, are not allowed to fund the regime. "The US should also impose sanctions to prevent Chevron paying gas revenues to the military," said Anna Roberts, Executive Director at Burma Campaign UK. The oil giant, along with France’s Total, South Korea’s Posco, and Malaysia’s Petronas, have come under increasing pressure to ensure that around $1bn in yearly revenues from natural gas projects in Myanmar do not end up in the hands of the coup regime. Payments from Total are likely to be the regime’s biggest source of tax revenue, activists at Justice For Myanmar said last month. Since the February 1 coup, a movement to boycott products made by military companies has gained momentum across Myanmar. Bars and shops have stopped selling Myanmar Beer; traders have destroyed batches of Red Ruby cigarettes, and people have been urged to throw away their Mytel SIM cards. Paul Donowitz, Myanmar Campaign Leader at the pressure group Global Witness, said the new sanctions were “an important step in cutting off key sources of funding to the military regime.” “MEHL and MEC provide vast amounts of revenues to the military, helping to enable its illegitimate power grab and fund its abuses against the people of Myanmar,” he said. The European Union must now follow suit with its own sanctions against the companies, and the UK should follow the US in sanctioning MEC, he added. Burma Campaign UK said in a statement that it was “essential” the British government “moves swiftly” to sanction MEC as well. "We welcome this long overdue action by the British government," said Roberts. "We hope they will move swiftly to expand these sanctions to all military companies in order to stop British companies doing any form of business with the military, including providing financial and insurance services." – Myanmar NOW
COVID-19 fight: Police chief approaches ulemas for support
National Police Chief, Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, has continued his courtesy visits to ulemas and Muslim figures to discuss collective action on handling the COVID-19 pandemic. "Through this visit, we hope the police's messages will be assisted by ulemas, so that they can easily be accepted by Muslim communities," he said in a statement on Thursday. Prabowo made the statement following a courtesy visit to Habib Syech bin Abdul Qodir Assegaf in Solo city, Central Java province the same day. During the meeting, Prabowo appealed to the widely respected ulema to support the government's national vaccination program, launched to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. "A successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic will affect our economic recovery efforts, but our society has remained polarized owing to the last elections," he remarked. In response to Prabowo's request, Habib Syech bin Abdul Qodir Assegaf said he would support the government and police efforts to handle the pandemic. "We are all working together to achieve one goal. Let us collaborate. The best people are those most beneficial to other people," he commented. Coronavirus infections initially surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. Since then, COVID-19 has had over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces in Indonesia, under its grip, which has resulted in a massive number of deaths. To safeguard Indonesians from the lethal virus, the Indonesian government has secured COVID-19 vaccine doses through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. It has also rolled out a national vaccination program since January 13, 2021, with President Joko Widodo becoming the first recipient of the Sinovac vaccine jab. The Health Ministry is planning to inoculate about 181.5 million people under the vaccination program, which is expected to take 15 months. Indonesia's COVID-19 infection rate crossed one million cases on January 26, 2021. The Indonesian Health Ministry is currently collaborating with the military and national police to bring down the country's infection rate. To achieve this end, the police has prepared 13,500 personnel from its health service division as vaccinators and 40,336 others as contact-tracers. – AntaraNews.Com