Hot Off The Press

These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.

Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world. 

Stay informed with The ASEAN Post. 

S'pore should prepare for up to 30 years of US-China rivalry: George Yeo

Singapore should prepare for "easily" up to 30 years of competition between the United States and China, which could take the form of skirmishes off the sea or proxy wars, said former foreign minister George Yeo on Tuesday (Jan 11).

To avoid being caught in between and to maintain sovereignty, he suggested that Singapore work on reconnecting with its South-east Asian neighbours and establishing its own identity - one where being Singaporean means being "bigger" than just a nationality.

Mr Yeo, who is currently a visiting scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, was speaking as a panellist at a curtain-raiser for the annual Singapore Perspectives conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies think-tank. - Straits Times

16 Covid-19 clusters detected amongst umrah returnees, 7 confirmed with Omicron variant

The Health Ministry has detected a total of 16 clusters of Covid-19 cases involving those who went to Saudi Arabia to perform the umrah since Nov 25 last year.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said seven of these clusters involve the Omicron variant, six listed as presumptive Omicron while awaiting results of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), and three more are from the non-Omicron variant.

The Keratong 5 Saudi cluster from Rompin, Pahang is an Omicron index case cluster with the highest number of cases at 36. - New Straits Times

BoT jittery over rising living costs

The Bank of Thailand is concerned with higher prices for living costs, but not in terms of overall price stability, says the central bank governor.

The bank believes higher prices will not have an adverse impact on the macro economy and headline inflation will remain within its target, said central bank governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput.

Yet soaring energy and food prices could add to the cost of living amid a slow economic recovery, he said. - Bangkok Post

PNP adds more beds as active Covid-19 cases top 2.8K

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has added more quarantine facilities and beds inside its headquarters in Camp Crame as it continues to see a spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections among its personnel.

In its Covid-19 bulletin released Wednesday, the PNP Health Service said 444 new cases raised the active case tally to 2,843 out of a total of 44,317 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

"The PNP added 80 beds at the Training Service facility while additional 100 beds were placed at the Badminton Court to fully accommodate PNP personnel who tested positive (for) the virus,” PNP Chief, Gen. Dionardo Carlos, said in a statement. "We are adding more quarantine beds as a proactive measure just in case there will be more personnel who will need to undergo quarantine.” - Philippine News Agency

HCM City closes Hoc Mon COVID hospital

The HCM City Department of Health plans to close the Hoc Mon COVID-19 treatment hospital in Hoc Mon District as the number of COVID-19 cases has dropped in recent weeks.

The department has asked the Hoc Mon General Hospital to set up a new department with 150 beds and 20 ICU beds for treatment of COVID-19 infections.

The city has also set up many centres for rehabilitation and psychotherapy after contracting COVID-19 at hospitals like Pediatrics 1, Tropical Diseases, Le Van Thinh, Cho Ray and Thong Nhat. - Vietnam News

At least 5 cases of Omicron in Kampot believed to be connected with Cambodia’s first local Omicron case

Dr. O Vandin, Secretary of State and spokesperson for the Ministry of Health has stated that at least 5 people in Kampot province have been detected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The Secretary of State made her remarks as she spoke to reporters while inspecting the process of vaccination in Battambang province om January the 11th

It is believed that these cases can be traced to contact with Cambodia’s first ‘local’ Omicron case – a 23-year-old Cambodian man from Tuol Sangke, Khan Russey Keo, Phnom Penh. - Khmer Times

Halting access to oil, gas revenues would cause 'significant problems' for Myanmar junta

Hundreds of civil society organisations and student and labour unions have called on TotalEnergies to stop providing revenues to the military junta from the Yadana gas project.

An open letter signed by 789 organisations called on the French oil giant to channel its gas revenues into a protected account so that the regime cannot access the funds. 

TotalEnergies has said that the junta will no longer receive a share of profits from its pipeline to Thailand, but that only represents a small part of Myanmar’s earnings from gas. - Myanmar NOW

Booster vaccine program based on dose availability: minister

The Indonesian Government would give booster shots to the people at large by taking into account the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said 

Indonesia already has enough vaccines from the 2021 vaccine procurement contract that will arrive in Indonesia in early 2022, he said in a press statement issued here on Tuesday.

In addition, booster vaccines have also been obtained from other nations through donations such as through the COVAX facility and bilateral cooperation programs, he said. - AntaraNews.Com