These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Singaporean teen who threatened to kill EPL football player and his family admits to harassment
A Singaporean teenager who threatened to kill English Premier League football player Neal Maupay has admitted to his offences. Derek Ng De Ren, now 19, also threatened to kill the family members of Mr Maupay, a forward with Brighton. The football player and his family were in Britain when the threats were made in June and July last year. Ng pleaded guilty on Wednesday (June 2) to harassing him. According to earlier reports, the Premier League alerted the Singapore Police Force after its investigations showed that the person responsible for the "serious online abuse" towards Mr Maupay was in Singapore. On June 20 last year, Mr Maupay scored the winning goal against Arsenal in a match which saw Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno carried off the pitch injured after a tussle with him. Ng, who is an Arsenal supporter, later sent the threatening messages via social media platform Instagram. In one message four days later, he said: "You think you will get away for injuring Leno? No way in hell bruv... But don't worry you will be safe you won't be hurt. "It's more fun watching you feel pain when your loved ones go through suffering." He sent Mr Maupay another message the following day, abusing him with vulgar language. In another message on June 26 last year, Ng said: "Your family will be attacked later in the day, just watch." Five days later, he sent Mr Maupay another message, saying: "You think by reporting my account you're safe? I will kill you and your family." On Wednesday, the court called for reports to assess his suitability for probation and reformative training. Offenders given the latter will be detained in a centre and made to follow a strict regimen that includes foot drills and counselling. Ng will be sentenced on July 7. For each count of harassment, an offender can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $5,000. – The Straits Times
An extension of the Home Ownership Campaign till year-end good for first-time homebuyers
The Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) will now end on December 31, 2021, and industry players are expecting active transactions in the coming months as first-time homebuyers will be motivated to buy. Due to the rise in Covid-19 cases, the government put the country under total lockdown from June 1 to June 14 and introduced the RM40 billion "Program Strategik Memperkasa Rakyat dan Ekonomi Tambahan" (Pemerkasa Plus) aid to help the people and tackle the economic impact of the two-week lockdown. The Pemerkasa Plus aid includes extending the HOC till the end of this year. The campaign was supposed to end on May 31, 2021. The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) Malaysia has lauded the government's decision to extend the campaign from June 1, 2021, until December 31, 2021, under the PEMERKASA incentive. Rehda president Datuk Soam Heng Choon said the seven-month extension will benefit the property industry as a whole and contribute to the rebuilding of the nation's economy. He also said the extension of the HOC is representative of the government's commitment to alleviating the people's burden during this trying time, as potential purchasers may be hard-pressed to pay for the stamp duties and would benefit from the discounts offered on the house prices. "HOC has been well sought-after by purchasers due to its incentives namely the waivers on the memorandum of transfers and loan agreement stamp duties as well as the minimum 10 per cent discount on the property price," he said in a statement. The HOC was first introduced in 2019 to stimulate the property buying process and the sale of unsold properties. The real value for potential buyers comes from the financial incentives that are being offered as part of the campaign. The incentives include full stamp duty exemption on instrument of transfer for any residential properties worth up to RM1 million, partial stamp duty exemption for properties worth RM1 million up to RM2.5 million, further stamp duty exemption on the instrument on securing a loan, and a minimum 10 per cent discount on properties. Between January and December 2019, RM37 billion worth of sales (or 57,000 residential property transactions) were achieved under the HOC. There was no HOC from January 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and surge in positive cases, coupled with the implementation of Movement Control Order by the government to curb the spread of the virus. In order to support businesses and strengthen the nation's economy, the Prime Minister introduced the Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan during his speech on June 5, 2020. The reintroduction of HOC 2020-2021 (June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021) was amongst the many initiatives that were presented. HOC 2020-2021 recorded total sales of RM25.65 billion (34,354 properties) as of February 28, 2021. The Rehda Property Industry Survey for 2H20 and market outlook for 1H21 and 2H21 released in March this year show that among the 121 respondents who participated in HOC 2020/2021, 89 per cent of respondents said the campaign had helped them bring in sales. Soam said between June 1, 2020, and early May this year, close to 50,000 units have been sold in Peninsular Malaysia under the campaign, with the discounted value of about RM6.3 billion given by developers. "While we await the new gazette before the extension can formally take effect, we hope that people will take advantage of the campaign and take this opportunity to search for their dream homes," he said. – New Straits Times
Uncle-turned-celeb wanted for Nong Chompoo's death
The provincial court of Mukdahan on Tuesday issued a warrant for the arrest of the uncle-in-law of three-year-old girl "Nong Chompoo" who was found dead on a mountain last year - a man that media coverage made a minor celebrity. Chaiphol Wipha, 44, is wanted for depriving a child of parental care, abandoning a child under nine years old in a way that caused her death, and tampering with a body to influence and autopsy and police investigation. The warrant concerns the death of Orawan "Nong Chompoo" Wongsricha, who was found dead and naked on a mountain in Phu Pha Yon National Park, a few kilometres from her home in a village in Dong Luang district, on May 14 last year. Police sources said the arrest warrant was based on evidence from clothing, shoes, three hairs whose owner was identified through DNA examination, 36 cut hairs from the girl, other forensic evidence, and witnesses' accounts. On Wednesday morning police went to Mr Chaiphol's house in Ban Kok Kork village in tambon Kok Toom of Dong Luang district but he was not there. The mystery surrounding the girl's death dates back to May 11, 2020, when the toddler went missing from her home in Baan Kok Kork. The parents went to run an errand, so they left their elder daughter to look after her sister. She reportedly told police that her little sister had simply wandered off and disappeared. After a four-day search, Nong Chompoo was found dead and naked in a forest on Phu Lek Fai mountain, about two kilometres from her home. An autopsy found evidence of physical assault and sexual violation. Police doubted the girl could have walked up the hill by herself. They believed the culprit was close enough to the family for the girl to allow him to pick her up without any protest. The case sparked a media frenzy, with two TV channels; in particular, treating it like a reality show with daily updates for months. The TV stations have been accused of trivialising the crime in pursuit of viewer ratings, and perhaps even interfering in the course of the investigation. Mr Chaiphol became a minor celebrity, was briefly in the show, had many fans, reportedly received huge donations and always insisted on his innocence. – Bangkok Post
PH eyes up to 5 million of 80 million US surplus COVID-19 vaccines – Galvez
The Philippines has requested to get between 3 million and 5 million doses of the 80 million surplus doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the United States, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday. “Alam natin na kailangan din ng ibang bansa ang mga vaccines. Ang ano namin is kung mabigyan po tayo ng 3 to 5 million, maganda na po ‘yon,” Galvez said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel. (We know that a lot of countries need vaccines. What we hope to get is 3 to 5 million doses, that would be great already.) “We requested for almost 3 million AstraZeneca at saka yung other vaccines, considering that AstraZeneca will not be used in the U.S. but they have stocks,” he added. (We requested almost 3 million AstraZeneca and the other vaccines, considering we know that AstraZeneca will not be used in the U.S. but they have stocks.) The Philippines is among the countries to receive the excess vaccine doses from the U.S., Manila’s envoy in Washington earlier announced. Philippines Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Romualdez said President Joe Biden will announce the distribution of the 80 million doses this week. Galvez said he received a letter from the U.S. Embassy in Manila that the Philippines will be among the priority countries to be given the surplus doses. “We are very hopeful na yung sa 80 million, malaki yung magiging share natin dahil alam ng US na talagang kailangang kailangan po natin,” he added. (We are very hopeful that in that 80 million, we would have a big share because the U.S. knows we really need the vaccines.) Galvez surmises that the U.S. could make their donation through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility, a global platform aiming to provide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially for low and middle-income countries. – INQUIRER.net
Localities prepare for exams amid COVID-19 pandemic
Localities have prepared various scenarios to hold 10th-grade entrance exams for students amid the COVID-19 outbreak, with some planning to hold the exams on schedule and others set to postpone them. Quang Ninh was the first northern province to hold the 10th-grade entrance exam this academic year on June 1. Currently, there are no students and teachers under quarantine in the province. All examination staff and nearly 14,000 students have completed medical declarations and those in charge of keeping exam papers and answer sheets have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Lao Cai is also set to hold the exam early and more than 7,380 students will take the exam between June 2-3. The provincial Department of Education and Training has required exam officials, teachers and students to strictly comply with regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control. All exam locations have been sprayed with disinfectant and prepared backup exam rooms for students who have cough or fever and those identified as F2. The department also asked the students’ families not to gather in front of the exam venues. Exam venues must mobilise areas for students who live far from the venues to take a rest at noon. By May 28, no students identified as F1 or F2 have been reported in the province. Pham Xuan Tham, head of the department’s Education Quality Management Division, said the department had issued guidelines to all exam venues to ensure health and safety for both teachers and students during the exam. In Ha Noi, the exam is scheduled to take place between June 10 and 11. The city’s Department of Education and Training has required students in grades 9 and 12 not to leave the city from now until they have completed the 10th-grade entrance exam for high school in the school year of 2021-2022 and the high school graduation exam of 2021. Educational officials, teachers, employees of schools who want to leave the city must have the leaders’ approval and must report back when they return. They must also complete medical declarations within 24 hours of returning to the city. In Hoa Binh Province, the provincial Department of Education and Training has announced plans to hold the exam between June 5 and June 7. The department has required no more than 24 candidates in every exam room and a distance of 1.2 metres must be applied around each candidate. In case social distancing is applied in the province, each examination room should arrange no more than 16 candidates and the seating arrangement for candidates must ensure a minimum distance of 2 metres between candidates. The entrance exam in Dong Nai Province will take place between June 4 and 5 as scheduled. Do Duy Khanh, deputy director of the provincial education department, said more than 3,000 exam officials would be tested for the virus before the exam day. According to the Ministry of Education and Training, all localities have completed the curriculum and are preparing for the entrance exam to the 10th grade. – Viet Nam News
100 days of mayhem: Feb 20 event the ‘smoking gun’ behind C-19 surge
As the Kingdom continues to reel from the devastation caused by Covid-19, yesterday marked the 100th day since the infamous February 20 Community Event which many believe is the “smoking gun” behind the tremendous surge in infections which have also resulted in fatalities. Before that day, Cambodia only had 366 cases since the first one was detected in Sihanoukville in January 2020. There were no deaths. However, after the community event the Kingdom now has logged a whopping 30,710 infections and 220 deaths across the capital and 24 provinces. Cambodians persevered and overcame the hurdles and deadly obstacles when combatting the Covid-19 pandemic for more than three months, but the number of infections has still not declined. The February 20 event was sparked by the selfish acts of four Chinese women who bribed their way out of quarantine to meet “prearranged clients” at several locations in the capital. Two of them had Covid-19 and from then onwards a knock-on effect began to take a grim grip on those who came into contact with the women and subsequently spread the disease to others. This prompted a serious response by the authorities to control the situation, including harsh measures such as lockdowns and curfews which caused hardship among people already suffering from the global economic fallout also caused by Covid-19. Such harsh measures have been lifted to ease the people’s burdens but the fight against the virus scourge continues in earnest. While the virus is still making its rounds in the country, people are more aware, take preventive measures without hefty fines and punishments and that is the secret of the success in holding the virus at bay, though the numbers seem staggering when compared to the same period in 2020. Efforts by recalcitrant Cambodians are still there, the so-called champions of democracy with incoherent policies except demagogy tried their ridiculous best to derail the government’s efforts to safeguard the people. Prime Minister Hun Sen stuck to his guns and his policies, deployed the army to take over vaccinations and hardly any country in the region or elsewhere can boast of such achievements. Over two million people were vaccinated within 110 days and the government hopes to inoculate up to six million people, not just Cambodians but also those expatriates working and living in Cambodia and diplomatic corps, which is just four million short of its targeted 80 percent vaccinated or 10 million people to attain herd immunity. Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng told Khmer Times yesterday that during the 100 days since the February 20 event, Phnom Penh authorities, including the Ministry of Health, were working to prevent the spread of the disease in a timely manner. There are many results involved in preventing large-scale infections. “We were able to control the February 20 Community Event in time. This pandemic is not only in Cambodia. It is a global problem but we have prevented it from spreading and stopped it from spreading to other areas,” Sreng said. Sreng added that the recent lockdown of Phnom Penh was intended to cut off transmission in order to maintain the longevity and well-being of the people. He added that now Cambodia has much more experience in dealing with the bad situation caused by Covid-19. Sreng added that the efforts were recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) which praised the government’s many measures to prevent Covid-19 quickly. “I estimate that through the cooperation between the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Health and the Phnom Penh Municipal authorities, Cambodia will be able to successfully put an end to the February 20 Community Event’s scourge,” he said. Health Ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said yesterday that the February 20 Community Event recently was a high-risk situation. – Khmer Times
Three village administrators killed in Myingyan, as attacks on junta officials continue
Four people, including three village administrators, have been killed since the weekend in three separate incidents in Mandalay Region’s Myingyan District, as attacks on regime officials continue around the country. Village administrator Myint Aung and his secretary Tin Tun were killed in the village of Kyaungpyu Kan on Monday amid accusations that they had called in regime soldiers to quell anti-coup activities there. Junta troops stormed the village twice after Myint Aung threatened opponents of the regime, according to a resident who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity. “We had to flee many times. He warned us that soldiers would come. He even fed them at his home,” said the villager, noting that Myint Aung was appointed to his position after the coup. He added that many Kyaungpyu Kan residents, including striking teachers and other anti-coup dissidents, fled the village after the two men were killed. The administrator of Myothar, a village in Myingyan District’s Ngazun Township, was also killed on Monday. Win Naing, who also served as a second warrant officer in the military, was stabbed to death by two unidentified men at a beer shop near the local police station at around 11:30am, according to a Myothar resident. He had been accused of taking photographs of anti-coup protesters and pointing out their homes to the regime’s authorities, resulting in several arrests. Win Naing had been the administrator since before the February 1 military coup, said the villager, who noted that he was killed despite tightened security in the village. “The place where the men stabbed him was not even a minute away from where the junta's authorities were interrogating people,” he told Myanmar Now. Last week, a bomb exploded near Win Naing’s house, but no casualties were reported, said the villager. “His house was hit by a bomb. Other houses were also hit. He ignored the people’s warnings,” he added. The two attacks came a day after another killing was reported in the village of Thapyaythar in Myingyan Township. At around 5:30am on Sunday, about 10 people in camouflage uniforms took village administrator Win Shwe from his house and killed him at a location outside the village, according to a local resident who said he could not provide any further details about the incident. Win Shwe was already village administrator before the coup. Local sources said he often cooked for and fed soldiers stationed in the village. Myingyan was the scene last month of fierce clashes between regime forces and locals armed with hunting rifles and homemade weapons. Attacks on local officials suspected of acting as regime informants have been reported around the country in recent weeks. On Tuesday, an official who was also a pro-military candidate in last year’s election was shot and killed in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar Township. At least two other officials were killed in Yangon last month, which also saw the shooting death in Mon State of a local township chair of the military’s proxy party. – Myanmar NOW
Over 10.7 million Indonesians fully vaccinated against COVID-19
With 82,465 people receiving their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, the number of fully vaccinated Indonesians has so far reached 10,714,300, according to the Task Force for COVID-19 Handling. The number of fully vaccinated Indonesians represents 26.55 percent of the 40,349,049 people targeted by the first and second phases of the national vaccination program. Meanwhile, the number of people receiving their first COVID-19 jab increased by 180,909 on Tuesday, taking the total count to 16,594,581, as per a report released by the task force. The figure accounts for 41.12 percent of the people targeted by the first and second phases of the vaccination program for healthcare workers, public service officers, and senior citizens. Overall, the government is seeking to vaccinate 181.5 million citizens, or 70 percent of the population, to create herd immunity against the virus. To achieve the target, the government has made efforts to increase the capacity of vaccination services, which are part of the government's efforts to thwart the spread of the SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. As of Tuesday, Indonesia’s COVID-19 caseload stood at 1,826,527, with 1,674,479 people recovering from the coronavirus and 50,723 others succumbing to the infection. – AntaraNews.Com