These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Singapore named most Instagrammable place in the world by travel publication
Singapore has been named the most Instagrammable place in the world in 2022, travel publication Big 7 Travel said on Tuesday (Jan 18).
In its article on its annual hashtag tally, which is in its fourth year, it said the city-state is full of photo opportunities "from the iconic Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay to the vibrant kaleidoscope of street art through Haji Lane".
"In addition to permanent gems, since Singapore is one of Asia's art hubs, there's almost always a unique exhibit going on perfect for those 'wow' pics," it added.
The publication chose the winners using a scoring system that analysed the number of hashtags per destination, sample survey results from its audience of 1.5 million, and inputs from its global editorial team.
The destinations were ranked in order of their visual allure and popularity on social media.
The full list included 50 destinations.
In second place was Boracay in the Philippines, while Oahu, Hawaii, came in third.
Other places in the list included Paris, Istanbul in Turkey and Dublin in Ireland. – Straits Times
Health Ministry putting measures in place to deal with possible surge of Covid-19 cases
The Health Ministry has put several measures in place to prepare for the possibility of a surge in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said even though the Omicron variant is considered to be less severe than the Delta variant, the higher transmission rate could cause an increase in hospitalisation.
"They may be an increase in patients that require a short stay in the hospital particularly among high-risk groups such as senior citizens, individuals with comorbidity and children, which will pressure the healthcare system in the country," he said in a statement today.
As such, said Dr Noor Hisham, the ministry has turned district hospitals into hybrid hospitals to treat Category 1, 2 and 3 patients. "Covid-19 patients under Category 4 and 5 will be referred to specialist hospitals; cases who are stable will be isolated at home, monitored by Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CAC) till the isolation period ends.
"Patients will be treated with identified antiviral medicine at early stage at CAC and Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres," he said.
He stressed that the whole government, whole society approach is vital in ensuring there is no surge in Covid-19 cases caused by new variant.
"Hence, continue to adopt and strengthen self-control, continue to comply with the standard operating procedure and get vaccinated so that Covid-19 cases can be under control in the country." – New Straits Times
Govt to help dropouts return to school
The government has launched a project to encourage children who dropped out of school to return and finish their education.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said at the project's launching ceremony at the Education Ministry on Monday that he's glad that many agencies are participating to help school dropouts return to their schooling.
This is good for a more equitable society and for the children's future, Gen Prayut said.
According to Education Ministry records, 238,707 children were recorded as having dropped out of school. The ministry has successfully recovered 127,952 of them.
Students dropped out of school for many reasons, including financial problems or their personal problems, he said.
The prime minister asked the agencies to look into any individual or lingering problems to prevent repeated dropouts.
At the project launch, a memorandum of understanding for the project was signed by the education minister and the heads of other related agencies.
Meanwhile, Gen Prayut advised children to have a positive mindset about their education. If they make the most of their education, it will assist with their career opportunities in what is becoming an increasingly competitive era, he said.
Gen Prayut also congratulated those teachers who raised funds -- on top of government financial support -- to purchase electronic devices for their students to use during online learning. He said the government has limited finances and spending must be done carefully but added that school projects, both big and small, are important. –Bangkok Post
Over 500 areas under granular lockdown amid surge in infections
Some 540 areas across the country have been placed under granular lockdown as the country continues to grapple with a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said Monday night.
In fact, there are 97 LGUs under Alert Level 3. In the implementation of our granular lockdown nationwide, we can see that 31 cities and municipalities are affected, with 268 barangays and 540 areas currently under granular lockdown – 60 are in the National Capital Region while a total of 717 households or 1,482 individuals are affected),” Año said in his report to President Rodrigo R. Duterte during his Talk to the People briefing. Meanwhile, Año said the DILG has issued a memorandum circular to LGUs, police officers, and traffic bureaus to implement the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) “no vaccination, no ride policy” in compliance with the President's order to restrict the movement of the unvaccinated. Año, meanwhile, reported that personnel of the DILG and its attached agencies, including him, were not spared from the surge in infections.
As of Monday, Año said the Philippine National Police (PNP) has the highest number of Covid-19 active infections with 4,015, followed by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) with 471 and the DILG central and regional offices with 98 cases.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) recorded 91 cases, followed by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) with 60; Philippine Public Safety College, 13; Philippine Commission on Women, 13; Local Government Academy, 10, National Youth Commission, four; and National Commission for Muslim Filipinos, one.
Meanwhile, four governors and 21 mayors have so far contracted Covid-19. – Philippine News Agency
VN puts seven localities at high risk of COVID-19
Viet Nam's coronavirus risk assessment has seven localities belonging to the "orange zone," 23 in the "yellow zone" and 33 in the "green zone".
Green indicates a low-risk of COVID-19, yellow medium-risk and orange high-risk.
Hai Phong City and the provinces of Binh Phuoc, Binh Dịnh, Hau Giang, Thua Thien-Hue, Tay Ninh and Vinh Long are orange zones, as per the Ministry of Health's latest update.
The yellow zones comprise Ba Rịa-Vung Tau, Bac Lieu, Ben Tre, Can Tho, Soc Trang, Ha Noi, Gia Lai, Hoa Binh, Ha Tinh, Hung Yen, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Quang Tri, Thanh Hoa, Vinh Phuc, Da Nang, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Dong Nai.
The remaining localities are green zones.
HCM City has been a green zone for two consecutive weeks, the ministry said. This is considered a positive sign, and the daily number of new cases, severe cases and fatal cases in the city are decreasing fast.
Ha Noi has seven districts - Cau Giay, Nam Tu Liem, Thanh Xuan, Ba Dinh, Gia Lam, Hoang Mai and Long Bien - belonging to the orange zone while 23 are yellow. – Vietnam News
Key backing: ASEAN sec-gen voices support for Cambodia’s initiatives
Prime Minister Hun Sen has received the backing of ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi for all of Cambodia’s initiatives as ASEAN Chair this year. The support, including the efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, was given yesterday during a meeting between the two at the Peace Palace.
Kao Kim Hourn, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister, said Mr Hun Sen briefed Lim on the key tasks including solving Myanmar’s crisis, the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific issues, Timor-Leste’s membership and the preparation for the ASEAN Global Dialogue on Covid-19.
“On Myanmar’s crisis, Samdech (Mr Hun Sen) briefed (Lim) on the outcome of his visit to Myanmar and presented the two initiatives – ASEAN Troika and humanitarian assistance provision mechanism to monitor the ceasefire in Myanmar – and especially to assess the progress of the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus that Asean leaders unanimously adopted in April last year,” Kim Hourn said.
The Prime Minister also asked the ASEAN General Secretariat to organise a meeting as Japan has reaffirmed its readiness to help Myanmar.
On the South China Sea issue, Kim Hourn said Mr Hun Sen requested Lim and all stakeholders mark the 20th anniversary of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC) and help coordinate and negotiate for the progress of the Code of Conduct (CoC) for the South China Sea.
The Prime Minister requested the ASEAN secretary-general to help prepare the ASEAN Action Plan on the Indo-Pacific to ensure peace and development in the region and ASEAN centrality, he said. – Khmer Times
Junta election commission claims to have found 3,246 cases of voter fraud in 2020 poll
The junta’s election commission has said it uncovered just 2,169 cases of double voting and 1,077 other cases of voter fraud during the 2020 election, numbers that amount to a tiny fraction of the millions who voted.
Min Aung Hlaing claimed in the wake of last year’s coup that he was compelled to topple the civilian government of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the 2020 poll in a massive landslide, because of widespread voter fraud.
But the junta’s own figures, revealed by election commission member Khin Maung Oo at a press conference on Friday, would mean that around 0.1% of the roughly 26 million people who cast ballots last year were guilty of fraud.
“We are still trying to take action against the 2,169 double voting cases who have the same names and ID numbers. Investigations are still underway,” Khin Maung Oo told the conference in the capital Naypyitaw.
About 70% of Myanmar’s 38,271,477 eligible voters took part in the election on November 8, the result of which was a humiliation for the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party.
Aung Kyi Nyunt, an NLD central executive committee member, said: “The whole country and the whole world knows that they’re lying. They keep saying there was voter fraud but they still can’t prove it.”
After the coup the junta installed as its election commission chair Thein Soe, who oversaw the rigged 2010 election that brought the USDP to power. Thein Soe cancelled the results of the 2020 poll after his re-appointment.
Khin Maung Oo said on Friday that 546 cases had been taken action and 342 have been filed to courts in relation to alleged offences, though he did not give details. – Myanmar NOW
Qualified HR to drive Indonesia to compete in digital industry
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) believes that qualified human resources (HR) will support Indonesia in competing in the digital economy.
To this end, the president has urged higher education institutions to provide opportunities to students to broaden their knowledge outside the educational program set by the university.
“Give students the opportunity to learn from anyone and anywhere. For instance, they can learn from the industrial world or the banking industry," Jokowi stated during his speech at the 67th anniversary of Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, West Java, Monday.
According to the president, qualified HR must be readied since the world will transform into a hybrid mode in terms of knowledge and skills.
To this end, students must be ready to learn new things amid changes that continue to emerge, Jokowi affirmed. "All students, in future, will understand mathematics, statistics, computer science, and understand languages, not only English, but also coding languages that will become more important in future," he emphasized.
The president believes that Indonesia held vast potential in the digital economy sector. Indonesia's digital market, in fact, is growing rapidly as compared to other ASEAN countries. He has forecast that by 2025, Indonesia's digital market would increase to Rp2,100 trillion. – AntaraNews.Com