Since the COVID-19 outbreak, all eyes are on China and its response to containing the spread of the virus. On 31 December, 2019, the Chinese government reported that it was treating dozens of patients infected with a new virus. Just two weeks later, the first death was reported. As of today, more than one million cases have been confirmed.
Yesterday, The ASEAN Post published an article titled, “The Future Of Consumption In ASEAN” that discussed the four “mega-forces” identified by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that will determine the pace and scale of the region’s growth.As ASEAN as a bloc is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030, the region’s consumer habits are also expected to change in that period.
Do 5G mobile telephones and networks pose health risks? Worries about the effect the technology has on humans and the environment have persisted as it has been deployed in various countries.
COVID-19 has brought the worst economic impacts in the modern era, hitting the world from both, demand and supply sides simultaneously. By 18 September 2020, COVID-19 has infected more than 543,180 people in ASEAN which consists of the 10 member countries that are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The industrial meat system is out of control. Not only does it contribute to the destruction of the climate, biodiversity, soil, and forests, but it also poses a direct threat to human health. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) warnings about zoonotic diseases – caused by pathogens that are transmitted from animals to humans – were largely ignored.
Abortion is an extremely taboo topic in some parts of conservative Southeast Asia.ASEAN member states such as the Philippines and Lao do not permit abortion. Whereas Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand only allow abortion if a medical practitioner deems that continuing the pregnancy poses a danger to the mother’s life and health. As many countries criminalise abortion, some women and girls with unwanted pregnancies could resort to unsafe abortions to terminate their pregnancies.
The Seychelles, a string of 115 verdant, rocky islands in the Indian Ocean, recently announced – in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic – that it would protect 30 percent of its glittering turquoise waters from commercial use.Safeguarding some 410,000 square kilometres (158,000 square miles) of the sea will benefit wildlife on the shore and in the water, including 100,000 giant tortoises and some of the world’s last pristine coral reefs.
On Thursday, Thailand declared a state of emergency and called for a nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar to Malaysia's Movement Control Order (MCO), the country's borders are now closed to foreigners while only businesses deemed essential can remain operational. “Thailand is at a turning point in the outbreak and the situation could get a lot worse,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said in a televised speech.
Last fall, 16 leaders from governments, businesses and international organisations gathered in New York to conduct a simulated response to a hypothetical global health emergency. We looked at the challenges that could arise in such a scenario, which was increasingly likely given the world has about 200 epidemic events per year.
In 1988, Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, made a speech in Bruges, Belgium. She summarised her views in a related magazine interview in which she said “They are casting their problems at society. And, you know, there's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first.
In 10 days, the global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases more than doubled from about 153,000 on 14 March to over 372,000 on 24 March.
On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte widened a month-long quarantine of Luzon to the entire Philippines in what local media are calling a six-month state of calamity. It is inevitable that the move will stall business operations and economic growth.
