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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Singapore can afford to relax its travel testing restrictions: Experts
Experts are calling for the authorities to relax travel restrictions to Singapore, saying the Omicron variant has peaked and imported cases are contributing little to the Covid-19 case count.
Speaking at the Covid-19 Restrictions: When can they be eased further? discussion hosted by The Straits Times, the experts say it is time to do away with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and possibly even antigen rapid tests (ARTs) for vaccinated travellers entering the country.
The discussion on Tuesday (March 15), held in SPH Studios, featured Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore Teo Yik Ying; Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious diseases consultant at the National University Hospital; and executive director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) Leo Yee Sin.
It was moderated by ST's senior health correspondent Salma Khalik.
Prof Fisher noted that imported cases are a tiny fraction of daily Covid-19 case count in Singapore.
As at March 14, the country saw 101 imported cases and 8,941 local cases.
Describing current testing measures required for travel as an "expensive inconvenience which deters travellers", Prof Fisher said easing travel to Singapore will create livelihoods for everyone, from bus operators to cafe owners.
"When you weigh up the social and economic benefits of freeing up this travel, it has value," Prof Fisher said.
Prof Teo said Singapore needs to maintain its strategic advantage as an air hub and should allow anyone who is vaccinated to enter the country instead of relying on vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs). – Straits Times
CAP calls for introduction of Halal-Haram Act
The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has urged the relevant authorities to introduce the Halal Haram Act, to help ensure producers act more responsibly in labelling food products as Halal. CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader said, currently, the burden of proving the Halal status of a product was on the consumers.
He said, for more than 30 years now, CAP had been calling for the Halal Haram Act.
"There were several meetings attended by CAP on the issue but to date there has not been much progress. "The drafting of the laws and policy-making have been side-lined by the authorities for years," he said today.
Cases pertaining to the abuse of the Halal logo, according to Mohideen, are often reported and the worst of its kind surfaced in December 2020.
He said the nation was shocked when it was reported that there was a cartel that had allegedly been bribing customs officials to import and sell meat that was not slaughtered according to Islamic customs or sourced from unapproved stakeholders.
He said the cartel had imported frozen meat from China, Ukraine, Brazil, and Argentina and then repackaged it in the southern state of Johor.
He added that some of the imports included kangaroo and horse meat, which were then mixed with and sold as Halal beef, triggering outrage among Muslim consumers who said this was sacrilegious to their Islamic faith.
Mohideen said it was reported that the meat cartel had been bribing senior government officers from government agencies to bring non-certified meat into Malaysia and passing it off as Halal-certified products.
"It was learned that the cartel imported meat from non-Halal certified slaughterhouses in a number of countries and had been in operation for more than 40 years. – New Straits Times
PM might not finish full term
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has for the first time refused to pledge that he will complete his term or outright deny the possibility of an early House dissolution before the official end of his tenure in March next year.
When asked previously, the prime minister had indicated that there would be no early election and he would remain in office until March 2023 or beyond.
Gen Prayut was responding to comments reportedly made by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon during his meeting with representatives of small coalition parties on Monday at the Five Provinces Bordering Forest Preservation Foundation office on Phahon Yothin Road.
Gen Prawit is said to have told them the government needed the small parties' support until the Apec summit in November, after which there would likely be a House dissolution with a general election early in the new year.
The deputy prime minister on Tuesday admitted he talked about the possibility of a House dissolution, but said it just a personal opinion. The government would be at ease by then and he just thought the timeline made it a suitable period for a poll, regardless who would be at an advantage or disadvantage.
"House dissolution is for the prime minister alone to decide," he said.
The prime minister also said it was speculation on Gen Prawit's part. "We have talked. He told me it is the prime minister who makes decisions," he said.
Asked whether he intended to stay on to complete his term or would dissolve the House of Representatives after the Apec summit, Gen Prayut said he saw no reason to talk about that right now. – Bangkok Post
Almost 700K rice farmers benefit from RCEF Mechanization Program
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has been upgrading the rice farmers' methods of doing work by providing free machinery and equipment.
The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) said some 682,502 farmers nationwide were recipients of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund's (RCEF) Mechanization Program as of December 2021.
"Our goal is to reduce the production cost of rice farmers so they can save up some for their savings and other farm needs. These (pieces of) machinery, which are given by the government for free, are meant to make the farmers' lives more convenient, work will be faster, and there will be more yield compared to manual or traditional way of farming," PhilMech Director Dionision Alvindia said in a virtual press briefer on Tuesday.
He added that his office has so far procured 19,542 machinery – of this number, they have already distributed 16,167 machinery.
"We just need to clarify that while these are free, we call on the farmers to please join groups as we prioritize farmer cooperatives and associations as beneficiaries of the program," Alvindia added.
He also cited that these accomplishments are due to the signing into law of the Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019. It aims to ensure food security and to make the country’s agriculture sector viable, efficient and globally competitive. – Philippine News Agency
Viet Nam drops COVID-19 vaccine certificates, quarantine requirements for foreign arrivals
The Ministry of Health on Wednesday officially issued the long-awaited COVID-19 protocols for foreign entries into Viet Nam.
The regulations state that visitors with negative COVID tests can enjoy quarantine-free travel from day one.
Travellers entering Viet Nam via air routes will have to present proof of negative SARS-CoV-2 tests (except for children under two years old) done within 72 hours prior to departure in cases of RT-PCR/RT-LAMP or within 24 hours in cases of rapid antigen tests, and the results must be certified by the authorities of the country where the tests are conducted.
People entering via road, sea, and rail will be subjected to the same requirements.
If entrants cannot show proof of negative tests, they are required to take a test (either using RT-PCR/RT-LAMP method or rapid antigen tests) in the first 24 hours from the time of arrival.
If the results are negative, they may travel outside of their place of accommodation, with public health measures still in place, if the results are positive, they must notify health authorities for further instructions.
Children under two years old are not required to take COVID-19 tests, and they can still enter Viet Nam and take part in activities outside of the place of accommodation with their parents or relatives even if they have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 or contracted the virus before.
Arrivals must make medical declaration before entering and use Viet Nam’s COVID-19 mobile application (PC-COVID, available on both iOS and Android) during their entire stay according to regulations.
No mandatory quarantine is required, but in the first 10 days after entry, people should self-monitor their health and if any symptoms develop, ask for assistance from the nearest medical facilities. – Vietnam News
Cambodia may delay transition to endemic due to rise in cases and deaths
The transition from pandemic to endemic does not seem to be taking shape with the highly transmissible Covid-19 variant, Omicron, spreading like wildfire across the Kingdom. Furthermore, the health authorities are also seeing hundreds of Covid-19 cases and death every day and to make matters worse, the cases are exponentially increasing in many countries around the world, including sub-variants of the Omicron emerging in some countries.
According to health experts, Cambodia may delay the transition from pandemic to endemic with cases increasing since the first Omicron case on January 8, despite majority of population being double vaccinated and many having taken their booster shots.
Ministry of Health spokesman Hok Kim Cheng yesterday expressed concern over the new stealth of Omicron and even new variants of Covid-19 circulating globally and the Kingdom’s continuous fight against the coronavirus.
“Before Omicron variant came into the country, we were confident of shifting the Covid-19 pandemic to endemic. We were almost there and now it looks bleak due to the Omicron spreading rapidly and another new stealth circulating in other countries,” he added.
“We are closely monitoring the situation, including at all international entry points for imported cases, especially the new Omicron sub-variant that has surfaced in Hong Kong,” said Kim Cheng.
He pointed out BA.1.1, BA.1, BA.2. BA.3, or even BA.2.2 that are reported in Cambodia are all classified under the Omicron umbrella unless the variant like Deltacron that will be classified like another variant.
He said for now there are no new variant reported except Omicron. – Khmer Times
Myanmar army arrests cemetery worker after flowers are found on graves of student protesters
Members of the military arrested a staff member from the Aye Nyein Yar cemetery in Bago Region’s Pyay Township over the weekend after they reportedly discovered that flowers had been laid on the graves of two student protesters killed during a crackdown on demonstrations last year.
Cemetery security guard and caretaker Tun Delta Cron was taken into junta custody on Sunday afternoon, a family friend said.
“They took him saying they had some questions for him and he still hasn’t returned yet,” the individual told Myanmar Now on Monday.
Tun Tun’s duties included watching over the crematorium and cleaning gravesites.
The graves where the flowers were found belong to 19-year-old Htet Myat Aung and 20-year-old Phyo Wai Yan Kyaw, both of whom were killed one year ago on March 13.
Htet Myat Aung and Phyo Wai Yan Kyaw were shot in their chest when the military opened fire on a protest mob in Pyay’s Khayan Kone ward. They were buried side by side at the Aye Nyein Yar cemetery.
Myanmar Now was not able to contact Tun Tun’s family regarding his arrest. The township police department also did not return calls for comment.
Graves of several protesters slain since the February 2021 coup have also been vandalised nationwide, including, recently, those belonging to nine activists buried in Sagaing Region’s Salingyi Township. Photographs and imagery on the graves were desecrated in the attacks. – Myanmar NOW
President plants tree at Nusantara's kilometer zero point
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) planted endemic trees from 34 provinces across Indonesia at the kilometer zero point of the country’s future capital city Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan Province on Monday.
Monitored in a video uploaded by the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube account, which was witnessed here on Monday, Jokowi planted a red 'meranti' tree (Shorea leprosula), while First Lady Iriana Jokowi planted a camphor tree (Dryobalanops aromatica).
The activity was also attended by 34 representatives of all provinces. Each of them planted a tree from their respective regions.
The trees included candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus), cotton fruit (Sandoricum koetjape), rasamala tree (Altingia excelsa), rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), velvet apple (Diospyros blancoi), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), ‘kemang’ (Mangifera kemanga), and ‘bangkirai’ (Shorea laevis).
The tree planting activities were conducted following a ceremony involving combining water and soil brought by officials of the 34 provinces inside a huge jug.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan was the first representative to have handed out the water and soil, while East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor was the last to provide the water and soil.
The president noted in his remarks that the ceremony was conducted to signify the unity of Indonesia.
"It shows our diversity and strong unity in building the new capital city Nusantara," he affirmed. – AntaraNews.Com