These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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NIE to train teachers in using AI in classroom, invest in research
Teachers will be trained to employ artificial intelligence as the technology becomes more common in the classrooms and the daily lives of students with smartphones and other everyday gadgets.
By 2026, topics about artificial intelligence in education will be offered for trainee teachers at all levels, including undergraduates, post-graduate and in-service teachers at the National Institute of Education (NIE).
NIE will also invest in research and innovation to use artificial intelligence for education, it said in a statement on Wednesday (May 25). The initiatives will be part of a new five-year plan called AI@NIE.
The programme, launched by NIE on Wednesday, is the culmination of a study on how artificial intelligence can be used in Singapore's education system.
The study was conducted by an NIE task force and working committee set up in 2020, said NIE director Christine Goh. She was addressing an audience of about 80 people who participated in person and who had tuned in virtually for the event held at NIE, which is part of the Nanyang Technological University campus in Jurong.
Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman in a speech said Singapore is in a good position to tap opportunities created by the use of artificial intelligence.
The country's digital infrastructure is well developed, it is well connected to the Internet and most Singaporeans are digitally literate, he added. – Straits Times
32pc of children in Malaysia fully vaccinated against Covid-19
The country has completed the immunisation of 32 per cent or 1,137,100 children aged five to 11 under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) as of yesterday.
The Health Ministry's CovidNow portal reported that 1,687,515 children or 47.5 per cent of the group have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
For adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, a total 2,911,110 individuals or 93.6 per cent have completed their Covid-19 vaccination while 3,007,571 or 96.7 per cent of them have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
As for the adult population, 16,087,068 or 68.4 per cent of the group have received their booster dose. A total 22,973,652 or 97.6 per cent of the adult population have completed two doses and 23,249,948 or 98.8 per cent have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
As of Wednesday, a total 9,958 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were dispensed daily.
The cumulative number of vaccines administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme in the country now stood at 70,839,946.
Malaysia also recorded a slight increase in Covid-19 daily cases exceeding daily recoveries after three days.
The Health Ministry's CovidNow portal reported there were 2,430 new coronavirus cases as of Wednesday (May 25), compared to recoveries at 2,192 on the same day. – New Straits Times
Public unity 'key', says capital's new governor
Bangkok governor-elect Chadchart Sittipunt wants city residents to band together in making the capital liveable again.
Unity was the message that dominated Mr Chadchart's wish list as he and his twin brother, Dr Chanchai Sittipunt, an associate professor and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, celebrated their 56th birthdays on Tuesday.
Two days on from his landslide victory in the gubernatorial election, Mr Chadchart said he wanted nothing more than to see people in Bangkok "put our quarrels aside and love one another" as he sets about fulfilling the 214 pledges he made on the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon denied he was partly to blame for the ruling Palang Pracharath Party's (PPRP) defeat at the weekend. Party leader Gen Prawit was responding to questions about the poor PPRP showing in the council polls held the same day, in which its candidates captured only two of 50 seats. Its arch rival, the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, walked away with 20.
Early this week, Dr Warong Dechgitvigrom, leader of the Thai Pakdee Party, said the defeat could be traced to the "three Pors" – Gen Prawit, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda. Dr Warong said the three most powerful figures in the government were indecisive and lacked unity, which effectively undermined the PPRP's political strength. – Bangkok Post
DOH to carry out '4-door strategy' to prevent monkeypox
The Department of Health will implement the four-door strategy to prevent the entry of monkeypox into the country, a health expert said Wednesday.
The four-door strategy is the framework of the National Emergency Operational Response Plan to prevent and control emerging infectious diseases.
In a televised public briefing, DOH-Technical Advisory Group member, Dr. Edsel Salvaña said the strategy would involve Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat and Reintegrate (PDITR) approach.
Salvaña noted it would start with border control and followed by other measures – testing, contact tracing, wearing of masks, and vaccination – the same prevention path the government has observed in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
“Monkeypox will be included here because of the monitoring we make sure people are asymptomatic when they’re on the planes,” he said.
Health experts say monkeypox is not deadly and its spread is easier to prevent compared to Covid-19.
Vaccines against smallpox may be used to avoid monkeypox and there are proven medications.
“It’s not like Covid-19 about which we know nothing when it started in March 2020,” Salvaña said.
While the country does not have a stockpile of vaccines for monkeypox, Salvaña said the government has links in case procurement would be needed. – Philippine News Agency
Reaching growth target a challenge for this year: NA chair
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue yesterday day expressed his concern that this year’s growth target will be hard to reach.
He was speaking during the third working day of the third session of the 15th-tenure National Assembly (NA) in Ha Noi.
NA deputies reviewed the socio-economic development results in 2021, and discussed plans for further development and budget allocation this year.
Discussing the economic growth targets that the 13th Party Congress set for the next five years, NA chair Hue expressed his worries that the country must try much harder to achieve the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of 8-8.5 percent this year.
The congress set a GDP growth target of 6.5-7 percent each year from 2021 to 2025, but it was only 2.58 percent in 2021. This puts more pressure on this year to achieve the targets for the whole five-year period.
“It’s a very big challenge,” Hue said.
He also pointed out that State’s budget spending is difficult since there is limited capital, and the economy's ability to absorb capital is very low.
Public investment in 2021 reached more than 70 per cent but official development aid (ODA) was only 32.85 percent, he said. The VND340 trillion (US$15.42 billion) economic recovery package has not been allocated, while it’s only valid for this year and next year. – Vietnam News
Authorities probe child trafficking angle in abuse of five-year-old girl
The Cambodia National Council for Children (CNCC) is investigating a child trafficking angle after a woman was arrested for abusing a five-year-old girl in Phnom Penh. The girl was employed by the 37-year-old woman as domestic help a year ago.
Nhep Sopheap, general secretary of CNCC, said: “A five-year-old child was severely assaulted by a 37-year-old woman. She hit the girl like an animal and the government strongly condemns this child abuse. The council and relevant officials are investigating this case, and we are looking into child trafficking in this incident.”
Sopheap added that Phnom Penh authorities have found that the five-year-old child was given to the accused by her parents and the victim has been living with the suspect since 2021. It is illegal to employ minors for work in Cambodia and there are laws to deal with violations of child rights in the country, she said.
The top official also revealed that there have been three reported cases of child abuse in the country this year. She said: “Abusing children is not acceptable at all and the government is working hard to put an end to this practice.”
The council on May 24 released a statement condemning the violence against the five-year-old calling it as an act of serious violation of children’s rights.
Em Dara, founder of Together for Children and Elderly, called for a speedy action against child abuse cases. – Khmer Times
SNLD to convene amid military threats of party suspension
The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) announced on Thursday that they would hold a major conference on Thursday and Friday in the Shan State capital of Taunggyi to re-elect party leadership, the current chair said.
The conference follows a February threat by the military council to suspend the prominent ethnic political party’s activities for three years for their failure to follow budgetary guidelines issued by the junta-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC).
A party audit was to follow, but was postponed until the end of June, and the military reportedly gave the SNLD permission to hold their upcoming meeting.
“There’s basically nothing that the political parties can do [under the military regime],” SNLD chairperson Sai Nyunt Lwin told Myanmar Now. “The date for the audit is in June, so it’s the perfect time for us to hold a conference now. I also don’t think the UEC will trouble us.”
During the two-day event, SNLD representatives from more than 50 townships nationwide will elect 70 central committee members, 30 central executive officers, vice chairs and a chairperson.
The conference comes one month after the death of the 78-year-old party founder and former chairperson Khun Htun Oo.
The SNLD is the first political party to convene in this way since Myanmar’s February 2021 military coup. – Myanmar NOW
GPDRR: Indonesia offers sustainable resilience to tackle disaster risk
At the 2022 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) event, the Government of Indonesia offered the world the concept of sustainable resilience as a solution to address the challenges of systemic disaster risk.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo highlighted this concept at the opening ceremony of the 2022 GPDRR in Nusa Dua, here, on Wednesday.
The sustainable resilience concept is considered to be a solution to tackle all forms of disasters, including facing a pandemic and concurrently supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Jokowi remarked.
He highlighted the need to apply several measures to build sustainable resilience.
"First, we should strengthen an anticipatory, responsive, and adaptive disaster preparedness culture as well as institutions in dealing with disasters," President Jokowi stated. According to the president, disaster mitigation education and government institutions that are synergistic and responsive to disasters must become a shared priority.
Jokowi explained that the second measure deemed necessary is for every country to invest in science, innovation, and technology, including in ensuring access to finance and technology transfer.
"Access to funding is an important issue that we must take seriously. Indonesia has developed a strategy for funding and disaster insurance by establishing a pooling fund and using development funds at local levels to support disaster mitigation and preparedness," he stated.
The third measure is by building infrastructure that is resilient to disasters and climate change. – AntaraNews.Com