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.
Aviation industry expected to make $13.5b net loss this year, turn profits next year: Iata
The aviation industry is expected to make a net loss of only 1.2 per cent in revenue this year, and should turn a profit as early as next year as air travel continues to rebound more strongly than previously expected.
This amounts to a net loss of US$9.7 billion (S$13.5 billion), down from US$42.1 billion in 2021 and US$137.7 billion in 2020, International Air Transport Association (Iata) director-general Willie Walsh said on Monday (June 20).
By the end of the year, passenger numbers should reach 83 per cent of levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, airlines in North America, as the strongest-performing region, will even be out of the red by the end of this year despite continued risk factors such as the war in Ukraine and higher inflation and interest rates, he added.
"People who longed for the freedom to fly are taking to the skies again - and in growing numbers. By next year, most markets should see traffic reach or exceed pre-pandemic levels," Mr Walsh said.
He was speaking during Iata's annual general meeting in Doha on Monday, where he gave an improved forecast of the sector's recovery. His report was a much-anticipated keynote for the beleaguered sector, with Iata representing 290 airlines and comprising 83 per cent of global air traffic.
In October, before the war in Ukraine broke out, Iata had said airlines would lose US$11.6 billion this year. The new figure shaves this by US$1.9 billion despite arguably more challenging circumstances, with a war and fuel prices - airlines' single largest source of expenditure - expected to increase by 50 per cent this year. – Straits Times
'Set up independent Law Reform Commission to review archaic laws'
The government has been urged to set up an independent body in the form of a Law Reform Commission to study and review 147 legislations deemed archaic.
Special advisor to the Prime Minister (Laws and Human Rights) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said it was important for the commission to remain as an independent body and not placed under the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).
The Pengerang member of Parliament proposed for the commission to be led by pre-eminent members of the judiciary, Bar Council and academicians.
"The commission will not only complement the work of the AGC but will also increase the efficiency of law-making processes. "Retired judges, academicians and politicians have years of accumulated experience that we can draw upon, let us not waste great talents and minds," she said in a statement today.
Presently, said Azalina, there was already a law governing the Commissioner of Law Revision and Law Reform under the AGC according to the Revision of Laws Act 1968 [Act 1].
"Just amend [Act 1] to upgrade the Commissioner to a full Commission to be a statutory independent body to keep the laws of Malaysia under review and to recommend reform where it is needed without being under the Executive control," she said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Friday announced that he had instructed the Legal Affairs Division under the Prime Minister's Department to review several pieces of legislations including 147 "archaic" laws, in order for a decision to be made on whether these laws should be amended or repealed.
This, he said, was among the transformations being undertaken by the government to strengthen the legal system in the country. – New Straits Times
Owner of Japanese sushi chain flees fraud claims
The franchisor of Daruma Sushi Co has fled the country, leaving behind chaos after more than 500 people lodged fraud complaints with police and the consumer protection body against the popular Japanese buffet restaurant chain.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) commissioner, said on Monday an immigration check showed the company owner, whose name was not disclosed, left for Dubai at 11pm on Thursday. He was travelling alone, and his final destination was unknown. The commissioner spoke following talks with a number of victims - e-voucher buyers, franchisees and suppliers - at the Consumer Protection Police Division.
Their lawyer, Ratchaphol Sirisakhon, said the company had caused more than 400 people to suffer financial losses that could run to about 100 million baht. A large number of victims filed fraud complaints with the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (ONCB).
The franchisor's disappearance came only one day before all 27 branches of Daruma Sushi closed their doors, citing the need to improve the server.
Daruma Sushi had offered e-vouchers for a salmon buffet at a steeply discounted 199 baht. Salmon lovers snapped up the offer, with some buying more than 2,000 e-vouchers and reselling them at a profit. – Bangkok Post
Marcos tells Sara Duterte to look after welfare of teachers
President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday said he wants Vice President and incoming Department of Education (DepEd) Sara Duterte to look after the welfare of country’s teachers.
Marcos made this remark after Duterte revealed that the incoming President instructed her to review the implementation of the country’s K to 12 program.
He said he did not want to pre-empt the plans of the incoming vice president, but reminded her not to forget the plight of teachers.
“I keep reminding her to look after the teachers. The teachers need to be guided, need to be given training so they would improve in their jobs,” Marcos said in a press conference in Mandaluyong City.
Aside from ensuring that teachers receive fair salaries and benefits, he wanted them to be provided skills training as well as teaching supplies and equipment.
“Teachers are the easiest people to teach,” he added.
Marcos said he also wanted Duterte to assess the current medium of instruction being used in schools.
“There was also the question of when we start to teach English…When we move from the lingua franca to English,” he added.
Marcos said there is a need to improve the quality of education in the country.
He also said he is hopeful that the country's literacy rate would improve under his administration.
Duterte earlier said she would prioritize giving students quality education and improving the living condition of the teachers. – Philippine News Agency
Cambodian PM Hun Sen thanks Viet Nam for help in defeating genocidal Pol Pot regime in 45th anniversary
Viet Nam and Cambodia on Monday jointly held an event in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the historical journey by now Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen to seek Vietnamese help to overthrow Pol Pot's genocidal regime (June 20, 1977- 2022).
The event took place at the "X16" point, a border area between Loc Ninh District, the southern province of Binh Phuoc in Viet Nam, and Memot District of Cambodia's Tbong Khmum, where the Cambodian leader first set foot in Viet Nam's land 45 years ago.
Cambodian leader Hun Sen, received by Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh in Binh Phuoc Province, expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese Party, State, and people for supporting him from the early days of his journey to save Cambodia from Pol Pot.
The two PMs took part in a tree-planting ceremony and also met and spoke with local residents, where PM Hun Sen underscored the Vietnamese people’s pure, sincere, and righteous international spirit and the special solidarity and friendship between Viet Nam and Cambodia.
Hun Sen, then a 25-year-old lieutenant colonel of Region 21 in eastern Cambodia, along with his comrades who first went into Viet Nam, at 2am in the morning, and only got his first meal in Loc Ninh on the evening of June 21, which he described as a life-saving meal.
Hun Sen said that without Viet Nam's help, he couldn't imagine how his life or the future of Cambodia would turn out. Together with Vietnamese volunteer soldiers, the force completely defeated the genocidal regime on January 7, 1979, bringing back peace to the nation and the people.
Over the past 45 years, the relationship between the two countries has been growing consistently, he noted. – Vietnam News
PM Hun Sen rejects accusation of leading Vietnamese Army to kill Cambodians
Prime Minister Hun Sen has once again rejected the accusation that he had led Vietnamese soldiers to kill Cambodian people. Addressing to the commemoration of 45th Remembrance Day of “Journey to Overthrow the Pol Pot Genocidal Regime” in Koh Thmar Village, Tonloung Commune, Memut District, Tbuong Khmum this morning, Mr Hun Sen said this accusation is totally wrong.
“Some people said I was the one who led Vietnamese soldiers to kill Cambodians, actually it is not like this. After the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed, Cambodia had only 5 million people, but now the population rose to around 17 million,” he said.
The Premier continued that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the hybrid Khmer Rouge Tribunal, was also the real witness. The Premier also underlined that after the liberation of Cambodia from the genocide regime of Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese soldiers withdrew from Cambodia on September 30, 1989, two years before the Paris Peace Agreement.
The Prime Minister took the opportunity to reconfirm Cambodia’s commitment to promote peace, development, cooperation, and friendship with the neighbouring nations.
Mr Hun Sen also reiterated that he has no right to cut any land to other nations, and Cambodia also never wants any land of other nations. – Khmer Times
Local leader of Myanmar military’s proxy party shot dead in southern Shan State
The vice chair of a local branch of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was shot and killed in southern Shan State’s Pindaya Township on Saturday, local sources reported.
Kyaw Nyein, 50, was at a private school that he owned in Pindaya when he was shot by a member of an armed resistance group active in the area.
“He dodged the first bullet and prepared to shoot back at me with his own gun, but I managed to get off another shot that hit him in the head. He died on the spot,” said the person who claimed responsibility for the killing.
It was unknown if there were any students present at the school at the time of the incident.
Kyaw Nyein was regarded as an influential figure in Pindaya. He ran as a USDP candidate in the 2020 election, but lost to his National League for Democracy rival in a landslide.
When the military staged a coup to overturn the results of the election in February 2021, Kyaw Nyein became a member of the newly installed junta’s regional administration team.
In this capacity, he often acted as a regime informant and a recruiter for the military-backed Pyu Saw Htee militia, according to Pindaya residents.
“A lot of people were arrested because of him. Some are still in prison,” said one local man who did not want to be identified.
Late last year, some residents of Pindaya and Ywangan, which are both part of the Danu Self-Administered Zone, began to form into armed groups to oppose the junta and its allies.
Since then, the military and the Pyu Saw Htee have carried out relentless attacks on those suspected of belonging to these groups, making numerous arrests and torching villages deemed hostile to the regime.
In response, the groups have attempted to target high-profile figures known to be key to the regime’s influence in the region. – Myanmar NOW
Committed to cooking oil, fuel subsidies despite fiscal burden: Widodo
President Joko Widodo has said that he is committed to providing subsidies for oil, gas, and electricity despite the government's current fiscal predicament.
"Although our fiscal burden is heavy, the government has committed to continue providing subsidies to the public, both Pertalite fuel and diesel fuel, as well as gas and electricity. We will continue to (pursue) this," the President affirmed during a Plenary Cabinet Session at the State Palace, here on Monday.
To ease the fiscal or budget condition, the President directed ministries, agencies, as well as state-owned enterprises to exercise extensive spending efficiency as far as possible.
"So that the government has fiscal leeway," he explained.
The President emphasized that the current policy is to ensure that the prices of goods, both energy and food goods, are in the affordable range for everyone.
He also ordered his staff to push for the production of domestic goods in order to cut down imports so that the availability of goods and price stability can be maintained in the market.
President Widodo specifically ordered Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, and Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan to ensure that the price of cooking oil in all provinces remains at Rp14 thousand per liter, as per the government's regulation. – AntaraNews.Com