These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Cruises to other countries in ASEAN may set sail later this year: STB
Singaporeans may be able to take a cruise to other countries later this year, with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) commencing discussions with the authorities in ASEAN.
Speaking at the STB's year-in-review media conference on Tuesday (Jan 25), Ms Jeannie Lim, assistant chief executive of policy and planning group, said Singapore is in a good position, having developed the first set of safe cruising standards.
"We are in talks with the different governments in terms of harmonising some of these cruise safe standards, so that at least there is agreement on what are the safety protocols and processes that we will follow.
"And this will take some time. But we do hope to be able to restart some ports of calls hopefully later this year," she said.
Only cruises-to-nowhere with no ports of calls are currently allowed in Singapore. Such cruises started in November 2020.
Only two cruise lines here have been given the green light to offer these sailings. They are Genting Cruise Lines' Dream Cruises and Royal Caribbean International.
STB said consumers can look forward to Royal Caribbean's cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas, which will have new experiences onboard.
Royal Caribbean said earlier that Spectrum of the Seas will offer three- to nine-night sailings that will visit Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, starting from Oct 21 this year. – Straits Times
'Big Umno win may lead to GE15'
The prime minister may decide to dissolve Parliament and call the 15th General Election (GE15) if Umno sweeps the Johor snap polls, said political analysts.
They said the Johor election, which would be held within two months, could be the last state election before GE15, as Umno would want to take advantage of its momentum.
Geostrategist Associate Professor Dr Azmi Hassan said should Umno secure a majority in Johor, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob would be "forced" to dissolve Parliament as this was the best time for Umno to push for national polls, after securing the mandate in Melaka a few months ago. "Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) are at their weakest point after the Melaka and Sarawak state elections.
"So, the plan is (for Umno) to use the state polls to hold elections as a means or prelude to the general election," he told the New Straits Times.
If a win in Johor was not enough for Ismail Sabri to call for elections, Azmi said another state election could happen.
"I can't say where, but it could be in Perak, where Umno is dominant."
Another political analyst, Professor Dr Kartini Aboo Talib @ Khalid, also said Umno would push hard for GE15 while it had the upper hand against its opponents. – New Straits Times
Saudi trip 'breakthrough'
Experts believe Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's visit to Saudi Arabia heralds a major breakthrough in efforts to restore diplomatic ties between the two countries, which have been strained for more than 30 years.
The visit is also expected to boost economic ties, especially via the renewed export of labourers to Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Prayut will be in Saudi Arabia today for an official two-day visit which will end tomorrow in order to strengthen relations.
Gen Prayut was invited by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammad bin Salman, also Saudi Arabia's deputy prime minister and minister of defence, according to a Thai government source.
This is the first official government visit in 30 years, said the source.
Saudi Arabia decided to downgrade diplomatic ties with Thailand and adopt a number of measures after the murder of Saudi diplomats and the disappearance of a Saudi businessman in Bangkok following the Saudi gems theft case in 1989.
These included replacing the head of its diplomatic mission with a charge d'affaires, prohibiting Saudi Arabian nationals from travelling to Thailand and stopping Thai workers from being employed in the Middle Eastern nation. – Bangkok Post
Vax hesitancy still high in Mindanao: Duterte
President Rodrigo R. Duterte said there is still a high percentage of vaccine hesitancy among Muslim communities in Mindanao.
"For the information of everybody, in Mindanao, the Muslim community are resisting the bakuna (vaccines)," Duterte said during his pre-recorded Talk to the People aired on Monday night.
Duterte made the remarks on low vaccine uptake after 100 passengers bound for Zamboanga were stranded at the North Harbor Terminal 4 due to the “no vaccination, no ride” policy of the government.
"I am not confident about their taking – the allowing the vaccines into their bodies because I think it’s something more of religious belief," he said. "Pero iyan ang tingin ko. Sa Mindanao ayaw talaga. Marami dyan ang (That's how I see it. People in Mindanao don't want to. Many of them are not vaccinated because) simply they do not want to."
Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) already assisted the unvaccinated passengers to return to their respective hometowns. – Philippine News Agency
HCM City takes the lead in COVID-19 fight: PM
HCM City has made important contributions to COVID-19 prevention and control through changes in mindset, approach and decisive pilot steps that have made the city safe again, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said during a visit to the city on Monday.
Visiting the municipal Department of Health on the occasion of the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year), the government leader hailed the hard work of the city's health sector during the city's fight against the pandemic in the context of the highly contagious Delta variant and a shortage of vaccines and treatment drugs.
He said in such difficult conditions, many "unprecedented" policies to rein in the pandemic and support people had been built, promulgated, and implemented on an unprecedented scale.
He noted that HCM City was also the first locality to launch the vaccination drive, contributing to turning Viet Nam from a country with a very low vaccination rate into one of the six countries with the highest vaccination coverage rate in the world.
To date, the city has reopened its doors and proactively implemented the policy of safe and flexible adaptation to and effective control of the pandemic. – Vietnam News
Omicron community infections in Cambodia rises to 214 in 50 days
Cambodia’s community infection cases of the Omicron variant of concern of coronavirus have reached 214 since the first case was recorded on December 14, 2021. On Monday, January 24, 40 new cases of COVID-19, all of Omicron variant, were announced the Ministry of Health and of this 15 were local community infections while the rest were imported cases, continuing the trend from the onset of the new variant.
Overall, the Omicron case numbers have increased to 613 Omicron with a majority of them coming in by air in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and a smaller name through the land border with Thailand.
The death toll since March 11, 2011 has stood still at 3015 for the 20th consecutive day and this speaks well of Cambodia’s vigorous vaccination policy which is in its fourth dose programme although the administration of the first dose for adolescents is yet to be completed and the second dose administration is also lagging behind.
The first COVID-19 case was detected in Cambodia in late January 2020 in Preah Sihanouk province on a Chinese national and despite some scares, the major event which shook Cambodia’s health system to the core was the infamous February 20 Community Event which raised infection numbers to six digits and death toll to four digits rapidly. – Khmer Times
Two junta soldiers join PDF in Magway after deserting their posts
Two Myanmar military soldiers have deserted their posts in Magway Region’s Yesagyo Township and joined the local People’s Defence Force (PDF) to fight the junta, the PDF has said.
The soldiers both deserted from Infantry Battalion 256 on January 18 because, among other reasons, they were being fed poorly, according to the resistance fighters who took them in.
“They said they wanted to stand on the people’s side, that they didn’t even get enough food although they were made to do the dirty work for the generals, and that they were not just joining the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) but also wanted to fight back against the junta,” said Wai Gyi, the leader of the Yesagyo PDF.
One of the soldiers, who is called Ko Thet and comes from Ayeyarwady Region, ran away while he was on guard duty and took an M1 semi-automatic rifle with him, the PDF said in a statement.
“He said that he was only allowed to carry the rifle only when he was on guard duty,” Wai Gyi said.
The other deserter, Saw Kler Bwe Htoo, escaped while his military unit was stationed at Sin Chaung village, 10 miles south of the town of Yesagyo. – Myanmar NOW
Govt readies 80,000 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients
The Indonesian government has prepared 80 thousand beds in different hospitals for COVID-19 patients, especially amid the spread of the Omicron variant, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has informed.
"Our hospital is ready for 80 thousand beds, while some 5,000 of them have been filled. There are still (unoccupied) rooms and it (bed capacity) is being increased to 150 thousand beds. We are also preparing oxygen, medicines, and health workers," Sadikin said after attending a limited meeting on the enforcement of community activity restrictions (PPKM) on Monday.
He informed that his ministry has stocked up 400 thousand (tablets) of Molnupiravir and another 400 thousand tablets will be imported and distributed to pharmacies soon. The ministry has also procured 20 million tablets of antiviral Avifavir, which has been shown effective against the virus, he added.
Regarding Omicron cases in Indonesia, Sadikin said that although the number of confirmed positive cases has increased, the death rate has been lower than that caused by the Delta variant.
"Of the 1,600 confirmed cases of Omicron, only 20 patients needed oxygen and two people died. This is still lower than during the Delta variant period. People do not need to panic but remain vigilant as always. Be alert and careful because the transmission is high, there is no need to panic because the need for hospitalization and mortality is low," he added. – AntaraNews.Com