These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Global measures to tackle inflation may cause recession, but must be taken: PM Lee
The global economy is currently facing high inflation, and there is a risk that measures taken to combat this problem may lead to a recession - but action must be taken nonetheless, lest inflation become a very serious problem for the world, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
PM Lee was speaking to Japanese media group Nikkei on Friday (May 20), ahead of its International Conference on the Future of Asia, which he will attend in Tokyo this week.
During the interview published by Nikkei on Monday (May 23), Nikkei's editor-in-chief Tetsuya Iguchi pointed out that global economic growth has been sustained by the expansion of debt and loose monetary policy for the past 15 years. He said that central banks have been forced to tighten their monetary policy as inflation has risen, which, in turn, may negatively affect economic growth and the global financial market.
In response, PM Lee noted that the global economy had recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic faster than anybody had expected, in part due to stimulus measures.
"However, the stimulus measures continued to be applied very generously, for political reasons, even as the economy was already visibly recovering in the United States, and also in Europe," he said, adding that this contributed to a spike in inflation even before the crisis in Ukraine. – Straits Times
Marked rise in international traffic at Malaysia's airports following border reopening
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) local network of airports recorded an increase of 52 per cent in international traffic after the border reopened on April 1.
In a statement, MAHB said it had been recording an average of 23,000 international passenger movements daily since then, with numbers peaking above 30,0000 during the recent Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive break.
On the whole, the airports recorded a total of 642,128 international passenger movements out of which Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Penang International Airport and Langkawi International Airport showed the most significant increase by more than 200 per cent respectively compared to the preceding month. Meanwhile, the group recorded a total of 2.78 million passengers for Malaysia in April, with domestic passenger movements totalling 2.13 million or 77 per cent. MAHB managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood said airlines were picking up momentum by actively resuming their international flight routes as airports continued to see good growth after border reopening.
"This adds on to our optimism for faster recovery. We are also pleased that our Tioman STOLport (TOD) has resumed operations this month to serve SKS Airways' (KI) Subang Airport– TOD flight route. "KI is currently the only carrier with a scheduled service flying this route four times weekly.
"We will continue to work closely with our partner airlines to speed up the pace of recovery for both domestic and international sectors," he said.
The group added five airlines that resumed 17 international routes last month including Vietjet Air, Scoot, AirAsia Thai, AirAsia and AirAsia X.
In April, the group recorded a total of 4.9 million passenger movements for both Malaysian and Turkish operations, down 7.9 per cent from March. – New Straits Times
Poramet wins Pattaya mayoral election
Poramet Ngampichet of the Rao Rak Pattaya group is poised to be declared winner of Sunday's election for Pattaya City mayor, with the unofficial vote count showing he is clearly ahead of the three other candidates.
In the unofficial tally announced by the Pattaya election committee, Mr Poramet came first with 14,349 votes.
Sinchai Watthasartsathorn of the Pattaya Ruam Chai group was second with 12,477 votes, followed by Kittisak Nilwatthanathochai of the Progressive Movement with 8,759 and Sakchai Tanghor, an independent, with 990 votes.
Of the 78,081 eligible voters, 38,320 (49.96%) turned out to vote - far behind the goal of 70%.
Officials said 36,575 (95.45%) of the ballot paper cast were called valid, and 1,001 (2.61%) invalid. The rest, 744 (1.94%) were "no vote" ballots.
In the election of city councillors, Mr Poramet's team of candidates clinched all 24 seats in the Pattaya City Council, from the four constituencies.
The election results have yet to be endorsed by the Election Commission.
Mr Poramet, a former Chon Buri MP and former adviser to the culture minister, is close to Sonthaya Kunplome, who was appointed Pattaya City mayor in September 2018 by the Prayut Chan-o-cha government. – Bangkok Post
US CDC opens new country office in Manila
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially opened this month a new country office in Manila as part of its commitment to strengthen and expand its existing cooperation with the Department of Health (DOH) to advance a broad range of shared health priorities, including increased health security in Asia.
The DOH and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also commemorated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Health and Medical Sciences focused on increasing collaboration between the United States and the Philippines on public health emergency preparedness and response; the prevention and control of vaccine-preventable and communicable diseases; and the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is a poignant reminder of why strong international partnerships are so critical for our global health security. With the opening of the US CDC Philippines country office, we are further reinforcing the long-standing HHS partnership between our two countries and our work together to build a healthier world,” HHS Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs Loyce Pace said in a news release Monday.
Dr Romel Lacson will serve as CDC’s first Country Director for the Philippines. In collaboration with partners, Lacson will implement CDC-supported health programs and lead the agency’s peer-to-peer relationship with the DOH to address shared health priorities.
“In this new era, partnership is more essential than ever. We must be willing to take on challenges together and create opportunities together. This is why the launch of this office and our work together is so important,” Lacson said.
CDC is the United States’ public health agency and lead implementer of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through its new office, CDC will also provide DOH with critical technical assistance and support services to intensify the country’s HIV and tuberculosis prevention, treatment, and care efforts, and to slow the twin epidemics. – Philippine News Agency
15th-tenure National Assembly’s third session opens
The 15th-tenure National Assembly (NA) convened its third session in Ha Noi on Monday.
The opening session is broadcast live on Radio the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV1), the Viet Nam Television (VTV), and the NA's TV channel.
Before the opening, leaders of the Party, State and Viet Nam Fatherland Front and NA deputies laid wreaths in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum.
During the 19-day session – the longest since the beginning of this tenure – the legislative body will consider and approve five draft laws and three draft resolutions, which are designed to continue implementing the policy of safe, flexible adaptation to and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic so as to recover the economy and support people and labourers in the new normal.
After the opening remarks delivered by NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh was to deliver a report on supplementary assessment of the implementation of the socio-economic development plans and the state budget in 2021 and in the first months of 2022.
Chairman of the NA’s Economic Committee Vu Hong Thanh was to present a verification report on this issue.
President of the VFF Central Committee Do Van Chien then was to deliver a report on the ideas and recommendations of voters and people nationwide sent to the third session.
The State budget settlement in 2020 will be the focus of the afternoon sitting. – Vietnam News
Election fever: Parties kick off polls campaigns with sweet promises
As the Commune Election campaigns kicked off this weekend, the leaders and senior officials of the most popular political parties have made a lot of promises to get support from voters across the country with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and main opposition Candlelight Party targeting a “victorious” outcome.
The CPP began its campaign in every commune across the country, with senior party officials travelling to meet people where they promised better livelihoods, quality public services and infrastructure development.
CPP acting president Sar Kheng, who is also Minister of Interior, yesterday travelled to lead the campaign in Battambang province and joined the party rally in Kamrieng district with thousands of supporters.
In his speech, Kheng highlighted the effectiveness of the government in controlling the spread of Covid-19, especially to save the lives of people infected with the disease and the rapid vaccinations to quickly build community resilience which enabled Cambodia to re-launch economic and social activities in all areas.
Kheng instructed commune chiefs, commune police chiefs, clerks, village chiefs, deputies and head of commune health centres to pay the highest attention to solving the people’s challenges and concerns, saying if you “do a good job for the people, the CPP will inevitably get the support of the people.” – Khmer Times
Myanmar junta accuses Malaysia of ‘abetting terrorism’ by meeting National Unity Government
Myanmar’s military council issued multiple objections to a meeting held last week between personnel from the Malaysian government and the National Unity Government (NUG), a junta spokesperson said in a press conference on Thursday.
On May 14, Malaysia’s foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah met with Zin Mar Aung, who holds the same position within the NUG – a cabinet formed and endorsed by elected lawmakers ousted in the February 2021 coup. They reportedly discussed issues concerning humanitarian aid, as well as the establishment of a direct relationship between his administration and the NUG.
The informal meeting was held in Washington DC days after the closing of the ASEAN-US Special Summit in the American capital. Myanmar’s junta is barred from attending such events and, more than one year after staging the coup, has not obtained widespread recognition by the international community.
Gen Zaw Min Tun, the military council’s deputy minister of information, repeatedly referred to the NUG as a “terrorist organisation” during Thursday’s press conference and suggested that collaboration with the administration amounted to “abetting terrorism.”
“We strongly object to such actions,” he said.
According to the general, the junta sent a letter to the Malaysian ministry of foreign affairs warning members of the government and parliament not to engage in such a meeting again, and relayed the same message to officials at Malaysia’s embassy in Yangon. – Myanmar NOW
Merah Putih Vaccine heading for phase 3 clinical trial
Main researcher of the Merah Putih Vaccine clinical trial at Airlangga University, (Unair) Surabaya, Dr Dominicus Husada, SpA (K) confirmed that the vaccine development process will reach phase three of the clinical trial in June 2022.
"Clinical trials will run according to plan. Currently, we are preparing for phase 3," Husada remarked while contacted by ANTARA on Friday.
Husada's side is preparing several aspects related to the clinical trial, including participants receiving vaccine injections, vaccines, researchers, budget, and the readiness of the hospitals responsible for the jabs.
Phase three clinical trials will study immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 from a larger number of participants than the phase two. An estimated 3,500 participants will be involved in the phase 3 clinical trials and will be monitored for 6-12 months.
Husada said that his side had not collected 3,500 participants yet, so efforts were being made to reach that figure.
Meanwhile, the results of the phase 2 clinical trial studied the two aspects of safety and benefits. In terms of safety, the Merah Putih vaccine is proven safe, which has been proven throughout clinical trials. – AntaraNews.Com