These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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US, Singapore 'deeply concerned' for Myanmar: Vivian Balakrishnan
Singapore and the United States are "deeply concerned and anxious" about the plight of the people of Myanmar, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Wednesday (Sept 29).
The people of Myanmar were already facing tough economic challenges and the coronavirus pandemic has further affected the country, Dr Balakrishnan told The Straits Times during his visit to Washington.
The issue of Myanmar had come up in Dr Balakrishnan's meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, he said.
The foreign minister cited rising poverty, political instability following a Feb 1 military coup and the violence it had generated, as concerns that the US and Singapore shared over Myanmar.
The US and Singapore believe, however, that the solution ultimately lies within Myanmar itself, he said.
"The people, the leaders - and the leaders across the entire political spectrum - need to sit down, negotiate, discuss in good faith for the sake of the future," said Dr Balakrishnan.
"We can't force this, but we can try to encourage, we can try to cajole, we can try in our own ways, to nudge them in that direction." - Straits Times
208 new Covid-19 deaths
Malaysia registered 208 Covid-19 fatalities on Wednesday, entering the sixth day of recording below 300 new deaths since Sept 24.
According to the Health Ministry's CovidNow portal, 64 deaths out of the total fatalities reported yesterday were classified as brought-in-dead (BID) cases.
To date, the virus has claimed 26,143 lives in the country, including 5,232 BID who succumbed to the virus before receiving treatment at healthcare facilities.
The seven-day average of actual deaths, as of Wednesday, was 88. - New Straits Times
Travel industry pleads for flood relief
Tourism operators in flood-hit provinces are urging the government to help resolve the flooding before the domestic subsidy campaigns start next month.
Wiwat Tharawiwat, president of the Thai Hotels Association's lower northern chapter, said prior to the flooding, the occupancy rate for 150 hotels in Sukhothai was in the single digits because of travel restrictions that require a full vaccination certificate and a negative Covid-19 test result.
Several provinces have been affected by tropical storm Dianmu, including Sukhothai, which was one of the hardest-hit areas.
He said the main roads are obstructed, preventing tourists from visiting tourism attractions like Sukhothai Historical Park.
"If the government can manage the situation before Oct 15, when travellers will start using tourism subsidies from the government, travel sentiment in the province will remain unfazed," Mr Wiwat said.
Hoteliers are receiving forward bookings for next month, but those reservations are not strong enough to boost occupancy to 20-30%, he said. - Bangkok Post
97.2K AFP personnel fully vaxxed vs. Covid-19
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has announced that 97,223 of all its personnel, including its civilian employees, have completed their two-dose vaccination against the dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as of September 28.
The latest data released by the AFP Thursday also showed that 155,063 personnel have been given their first dose of the life-saving jab. Vaccines utilized in the AFP's vaccination efforts are Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Pfizer, Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm.
Meanwhile, the AFP recorded 19,431 Covid-19 infections as of September 28 of which there are 17,345 recoveries, 38 deaths, and 1,372 active cases.
It also reported that it has quarantined 325 suspected and 240 probable cases at the different AFP military treatment facilities, emergency quarantine facilities, or at home. - Philippine News Agency
HCM City drafts plan to regulate traffic for October 1 reopening
The HCM City Department of Transport has drafted travel regulations starting from October 1 that specify where vehicles can ply based on COVID-19 levels.
With the city slated to gradually reopen and relax its strict social distancing orders from September 30, the department has circulated them to other relevant agencies for feedback before they are finalised.
The areas in the city will be categorised into three: under quarantine, high-risk and new normal.
In quarantine areas, only certain vehicles will be permitted for transporting essential goods or medical equipment, staff, frontline workers, and patients or for repairing infrastructure.
In high-risk areas, others like delivery vehicles, those transporting goods or employees related to banking and allied services like notarisation and registration, people who need to visit hospitals and equipment and materials for public construction works will also be allowed. - Vietnam News
Villagers in SR Red Zones cry out for food and goods
Some people in Siem Reap are complaining of a lack of food and supplies amid strict lockdown measures, while authorities say they are helping those in difficulties.
Tour guide Sun Sang said that for almost two weeks they have been living in a Red Zone with restrictions on not leaving their houses, and donations seem to be distributed only to the poor cardholders.
“I support the closure of the Red Zone to ensure the government’s strict prevention measures, but please help those of us who have lost our livelihoods,” he said.
Some 75% of Siem Reap residents depend on tourism, including those earning daily incomes like tour guides, Tuk-Tuk drivers, market vendors, retail and hospitality workers.
“Overall, Siem Reap’s economic lifeblood depends on tourism, and since Covid-19 affected the country, our work and businesses have been lost,” said Sang. - Khmer Times
Junta targets short-term tenants and pressures landlords to report residents' details
The Myanmar military has stepped up its inspections of home ownership and “guest registration” in an attempt to locate and arrest anti-junta guerrilla fighters after accusing them of hiding in plain sight as new and short-term tenants.
An anti-terrorism group formed by the junta issued an announcement earlier this month ordering homeowners and landlords to provide ward administrators with detailed information about all residents living in their properties.
Anyone who fails to register short-term tenants or guests who are later found to have carried out an attack against the coup regime will have their property confiscated, the junta warned.
In the announcement, the junta cited a June incident in Mandalay where its forces seized weapons, explosives, and ammunition from a rented house, as well as a shootout later in the month in which a military officer was killed during a raid on another rented home.
The third incident cited in the junta’s order was the attack on police officials on the circle train in Yangon in August. It said the attackers were found to have rented property in the former capital while they were carrying out anti-junta activities. - Myanmar NOW
New capital to have positive environmental, social impacts: minister
During the establishment of Indonesia’s new capital city in East Kalimantan, anticipatory measures will be taken to address the impacts of climate change, National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa has said.
Monoarfa, who also heads the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), also assured that the construction of the new capital has been carefully planned so that it will have a positive impact on the environmental, social, cultural, economic, as well as governance sectors.
"Hopefully, the city will not only accommodate domestic development, but also the global one," he remarked after submitting a Presidential Letter regarding the Draft Law on the State Capital City at the House of Representatives Building, Central Jakarta on Wednesday.
Monoarfa and State Secretariat Minister Pratikno directly handed over the letter to House Speaker Puan Maharani.
In addition to accommodating environmental conservation, the new capital city will also provide innovation opportunities in various sectors—especially the ones that support the state’s economic growth, the minister said. - AntaraNews.Com