These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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4,800 workers issued stay-home notice after new Covid-19 cluster at Sungei Tengah Lodge
A new cluster at a dormitory in Kaki Bukit was announced by the Ministry of Health on Sunday (Aug 23). One of the newly confirmed cases is linked to four previously confirmed cases to form a new cluster at Homestay Lodge at 39 Kaki Bukit Avenue 3. It is among the 73 new cases linked to migrant workers living in dormitories confirmed on Sunday, out of the total of 87 cases. Two were also linked to the cluster at Sungei Tengah Lodge announced on Saturday, about a month after it had been closed as a cluster, bringing its total to 58 cases. The Manpower Ministry (MOM), Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and MOH said in a joint statement before midnight that all 58 cases were asymptomatic. MOM has issued a stay-home notice to 4,800 workers at the dormitory as a precautionary measure and will test them in the next few days, while BCA has issued a safety time-out notice to 20 construction projects where the Covid-19-positive workers had gone to work. MOH also confirmed that a 38-year-old Vietnamese male work pass holder is the sole community Covid-19 case. – The Straits Times
Nora Anne's inquest starts today
The inquest proceedings into the death of Irish-French teenager Nora Anne Quoirin, will be heard at the Coroner's Court, Seremban Court Complex here today. The proceedings will be conducted before Coroner Maimoonah Aid, starting at 9am. The court has decided that only nine journalists could sit in the public gallery to cover the case after taking into account the physical distancing rule as established by the National Security Council (MKN). However, as early as 8 am, local media representatives from various agencies, were seen streaming into the court compounds, to follow the case which had received wide media attention. Also seen present in the vicinity was Nilai district police chief, Mohd Nor Marzukee Besar. Last Friday, the Federal Court Chief Registrar's Office was quoted as saying that the Malaysian Judiciary would carry a live-streaming of the proceedings through its official website and social media platforms, adding that the public could follow the proceedings from 9am. The proceedings will last for two weeks from Aug 24 to 28 and will continue from Sept 1 to 4. – New Straits Times
Driver caught with 140,000 meth pills
A pickup driver was arrested with 140,000 methamphetamine pills in his possession at a checkpoint in Sangkhlaburi district on Sunday. Police said the arrest was made after a Toyota Vigo pickup was stopped for a search at the Nam Kerk checkpoint, manned by military and police personnel, in tambon Nong Lu. The pickup was heading for Sangkhlaburi town along the road from the Three Pagodas border pass. A search uncovered 70 packages hidden in various parts of the pickup. They contained 140,000 meth pills in total. A small amount of crystal meth was also found in the vehicle. The driver, Chen Sichan, 49, was arrested. Mr Chen allegedly said he picked up the drugs from a man near the Three Pagodas border pass on Sunday morning. He was to be paid 50,000 baht after completing delivery of the drugs to a person waiting at a petrol station in Kanchanaburi town. – Bangkok Post
Graft suspect's office destroyed in AGO blaze
A fire that gutted the main building of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) compound in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, has raised questions over ongoing investigations into high-profile graft cases led by the law enforcement body. The fire broke out on Saturday evening on the sixth floor of the building before quickly engulfing the entire structure. It lasted for more than 10 hours, according to the South Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency. It took 325 personnel and 65 fire engines to extinguish the flames at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday. The blaze hit at a critical time for the AGO, which is currently working on some of the largest corruption cases in the country. One of the cases involves Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra, a former businessman who has been convicted in the Bank Bali corruption case. Attorney General ST Burhanuddin told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that the building was the location of the human resources, legal and planning departments. The fire, he said, affected the intelligence office, but the office had a backup of its data elsewhere. – The Jakarta Post
Evidence enough to indict PhilHealth execs – Lacson
Testimonies of whistle-blowers and official records presented at Senate hearings proved that the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) was under the thumb of a corruption “mafia” composed of its top officials, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Sunday. It was PhilHealth’s resigned antifraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith who first accused PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales and the rest of the executive committee of operating as a syndicate in funnelling P15 billion into fraudulent transactions in 2019 alone. Lacson, a former national police chief, said the Senate committee of the whole was able to secure sufficient evidence to warrant the indictment of Morales and at least three of his subordinates for malversation of public funds, violation of the antigraft law and other criminal offenses. He said the panel, led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, had already handed over documents to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who was tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte with leading a multiagency investigation into the various schemes that led to the health insurance firm racking up huge losses. – INQUIRER.net
HCM City should become a smart and modern city soon: PM
HCM City should strive to soon become a smart and modern industrial city, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. He made the statement at a working session with the Standing Committee of the municipal Party Committee on Sunday. The PM asked the city authority to analyse more clearly internal and external factors that affect the development of the city to have solutions, especially those relating to science and technology, innovation, human resources, infrastructure and climate change challenges. While agreeing with the content of the draft political report of the 11th term HCM City Party Congress for the term of 2020-2025, PM Phuc said more should be done to obtain higher goals. He cited the fact that the city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) had met its potential. There was still a big gap between local residents in terms of living standards. “If the city keeps following the old model, it will be difficult to develop. If no renovation is adopted and without an increase in labour productivity, the GRDP of other localities namely Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh and Ha Noi can catch up and even surpass it,” Phuc said. – Viet Nam News
Threatened by Facebook disinformation, a Buddhist monk flees
In just four days, the reputation of a Buddhist monk who had spent decades fighting for the human rights of Cambodians was destroyed. First, grainy videos appeared on a fake Facebook page, claiming that he had slept with three sisters and their mother. Then a government-controlled religious council defrocked the monk for having violated Buddhist precepts of celibacy. Fearing imminent arrest, the monk fled Cambodia, destined for a life in exile, like so many people who have stood up to Asia’s longest-governing leader. The monk, Luon Sovath, was the victim of a smear campaign this summer that relied on fake claims and hastily assembled social media accounts designed to discredit an outspoken critic of the country’s authoritarian policies. A New York Times investigation found evidence that government employees were involved in the creation and posting of the videos on Facebook. – The Cambodia Daily