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.
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Financial institutions to face higher penalty for cyber attacks, disruptions under new Bill
Financial institutions could face higher penalties for a cyber attack or disruption to essential services if a new Bill is passed in Parliament.
Financial institutions today rely heavily on technology to deliver financial services, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) board member Alvin Tan told Parliament on Monday (April 4) during the second reading of the Financial Services and Markets Bill.
"However, the current maximum penalties that can be imposed for breaches of technology risk management requirements are not commensurate with the potential widespread impact to FIs' (financial institutions') customers and the financial industry that could result from such breaches," he added.
With the passing of the Bill, the maximum penalty for each breach of a technology risk management requirement will be raised to $1 million.
A technology event that impacts a financial institution's customers or other industry participants could involve breaches of several such requirements, so the financial penalty could be much more than $1 million for a serious cyber attack or disruption to an essential financial service. Such situations include ATM network and online trading disruptions.
"The quantum proposed is intended to underscore the critical importance of technology risk management to FIs' operations and the sound functioning of the financial system," said Mr Tan, who is also Minister of State for Trade and Industry, as well as for Culture, Community and Youth.
The quantum was derived after considering existing penalty regimes of other jurisdictions and Singapore government agencies, he added. – Straits Times
Petrol dealers body urges govt to penalise purchasers
The government should consider penalising owners of foreign-registered vehicles filling up their tanks with the subsidised RON95 petrol, said the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM).
Its president, Datuk Khairul Annuar Abdul Aziz, said petrol station operators already adopted strict measures to ensure that RON95 petrol was not sold to foreigners.
However, he lamented that there were times when such transactions occurred due to limitations, such as lack of staff monitoring foreign-registered vehicles at the premises and being a self-service industry.
The government, he said, should not just have their eyes on issuing fines to petrol station operators in an effort to curb such sales, but also assist in initiating action against the offenders. "Why is the emphasis on us? Why not take action against those who flout the ruling and take advantage of it? There is photo evidence with the registration plate.
"When we notice such sales, we can stop the transaction immediately. But if there is no penalty, they will continue to do so. When there is a penalty, it will serve as a deterrent.
"There should be standard operating procedures on how we go about it, from discovering the offence and evidence submission to how we get them fined. There must be a process in place," he told the New Straits Times. – New Straits Times
Subs deal at risk: PM
A huge government-to-government submarine procurement deal faces the axe, if China is unable to fit the engines specified in the purchase agreement, warned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday.
He was answering reporters' questions following reports that a German company had refused to supply MTU396 diesel engines to China to be fitted into the S26T Yuan-class submarine being built for the Royal Thai Navy (RTN).
Gen Prayut, also defence minister, said he had instructed the navy to do its best to get the deal over the line, but if China could not fulfil the agreement, the contract would have to be scrapped.
Asked if he was concerned the issue would be brought up in the planned no-confidence debate, Gen Prayut said was he prepared as he had justified the purchase already several times in response to questions. "What do we do with a submarine with no engines? Why should we purchase it? If the agreement can't be fulfilled, we have to figure out what to do. Isn't that how we solve a problem?" he replied.
When asked if the government can terminate the contract, he said the matter will be considered by authorities concerned and in line with the procurement process and the prime minister need not intervene at every stage.
He insisted that any cancellation will not affect Thai-Chinese relations and both sides have been working closely to resolve the issue. – Bangkok Post
73.5% of target population now vaccinated vs. Covid-19
About 73.47 percent of the country’s target population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
In its latest case bulletin, the DOH also reported that 75.83 percent of the senior citizens have been inoculated against the disease.
The elderly group is composed of 8,721,357 individuals while the country’s target population for inoculation is 80 percent (90,005,357 individuals) of the country’s entire population.
As of April 3, DOH data showed that 66,125,962 individuals are fully vaccinated while 12,154,567 people have received their booster shots.
On healthcare utilization, the DOH reported 692 severe and critical cases admitted in hospitals nationwide due to Covid-19 as only one case was added to the tally for the recent week.
Only 16.5 percent or 492 out of the 2,990 intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the country are used while 16.7 percent or 4,230 out of 25,340 non-ICU beds are utilized.
For the period from March 28 to April 3, the DOH logged 2,697 new cases while the daily average cases for the recent week is 382 or 2 percent lower than the new infections reported from March 21 to 27. – Philippine News Agency
Viet Nam aims to be leading macadamia exporter in the world
Viet Nam aims to be one of the world's leading countries in producing and exporting macadamia products by 2030.
The project approved by the Government on March 15 aims to develop macadamia cultivation and processing in 2021-2030 sustainably.
Under the scheme, the macadamia export value is hoped to reach about US$400 million in 2030 and $2.5 billion in 2050, with the percentage of macadamia in shells being less than 40 per cent.
In 2030, macadamia nut output is expected to reach about 130,000 tonnes and increase to about 500,000 tonnes in 2050.
The country aims for 130,000-150,000 hectares of macadamia farms by 2030, mostly in the north-western and Central Highlands regions.
Based on the evaluation of macadamia farming efficiency in 2021-2030, the area could be expanded to about 250,000 hectares in 2050.
Under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the General Department of Forestry said it had developed a plan to guide localities to implement the scheme effectively.
It also continues to develop the macadamia production by applying advanced technology and good agricultural production practices (VietGAP, GlobalGAP), and promote organic agriculture to produce quality and competitive macadamia products for domestic and international markets. – Vietnam News
Masks off? PM mulls gradual easing of facemask mandate
Cambodia is considering easing the mandatory use of facemasks, despite the Covid-19 virus and its variant still circulating widely, due to the country’s successful battle to contain the endemic. Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that he is looking into the possibility of gradually easing the facemask mandate.
During a ceremony to inaugurate 38 roads in Siem Reap province, Mr Hun Sen said the removal of the mandate will begin in provinces which record low Covid-19 infections.
“I have been considering easing the mandatory wearing of facemasks to protect against Covid-19 transmission,” he said. “We have been serious in the fight against Covid-19 for more than two years, so we can now relax some strict health measures such as wearing masks.”
Cambodia has strictly imposed the mandatory use of facemasks, with fines being imposed on rule-breakers, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The facemask mandate has been eased in many countries around the world. So, Cambodia with a high vaccination coverage can test the implementation of this in some provinces first,” Mr Hun Sen said.
“I am considering stopping the use of masks in any province to test the easing of the mandate. For example, if we choose Preah Vihear or Oddar Meanchey provinces, then people there no longer need to wear facemasks,” he noted. “However, if they leave the province and go to Siem Reap then they must wear masks again.”
Ministry of Health spokesman, Hok Kim Cheng said yesterday they will work with relevant ministries to implement the Prime Minister’s suggestion and choose the province or district to kick start the easing of the facemask mandate. – Khmer Times
Insein Prison court hands three-year sentences to 10 student activists
A court inside Yangon’s Insein Prison last week gave three-year sentences to 10 people–a journalist and nine student activists–for their opposition to the military dictatorship.
Among those sentenced for sedition under Section 505a were five members of students’ unions in Yangon, four university students, and a freelance journalist named Zaw Lin Htut, who is an alumni.
Su Yee Lin, the chair of the Eastern Yangon University Students’ Union, was arrested along with Zaw Lin Htut, also known as Phoe Thar, in Thingangyun Township on December 19.
The pair will have two months taken off their sentences for time served, their lawyer said.
The junta has filed another two charges against Su Yee Lin, who is also known as Lin Lin, under immigration laws, the lawyer said, though he was not able to give further details. The pair are in good health, he added.
Zaw Lin Htut was jailed in 2019 for mocking the military as part of a satirical troupe called the Peacock Generation. He was released the following year. The others sentenced at Insein Prison last week included Khant Thu Aung, the chair of a branch of the Yangon Economic University Students’ Union, and Yin Myat Noe Oo, the branch’s treasurer.
They were arrested in April last year at the Kyauk Myaung market in Tamwe along with Phyo Kyaw Naing, member of the union, and Min Hein Khant, a former union member. – Myanmar NOW
US donates 35.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia
United States has donated some 35.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia and 500 million doses of vaccine globally as of March 17, 2022.
With an additional 3.5 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arriving in Jakarta on Sunday (April 3), the United States has donated 35.8 million doses of COVID vaccine to Indonesia and over a half billion vaccines to more than 110 countries in every region of the world, the US Embassy in Jakarta said in a statement here on Sunday.
According to the Embassy statement, for every vaccine administered in the United States, nearly one more has been shipped overseas. Such an effort has been carried out in nine months towards reaching President Joe Biden’s pledge to donate more than 1.2 billion safe and effective vaccines worldwide.
"Vaccines are one of the best tools to control this pandemic. With vaccines, we help protect each other from infection and engage again fully for a healthier and more productive world," US Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director in Indonesia Jeff Cohen said.
"The United States remains committed in solidarity and partnership with the Indonesian people and our many partners. Together, we will defeat COVID-19," he stated. – AntaraNews.Com