These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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33,000 local job seekers in Singapore have found jobs and training places since onset of Covid-19: MOM report
Despite the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, 33,100 local job seekers have found jobs and training spots through the different government initiatives. They were part of 117,500 new jobs, training and attachment opportunities that the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package created by the end of August. Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said this on Wednesday (Oct 7) in her weekly jobs situation report, in which she gave an update on the opportunities created under the $2 billion SGUnited Jobs and Skills Package announced in May to curate 100,000 jobs and skills opportunities. From end-July to end-August, 25,500 opportunities were created, the report showed. They included about 17,000 jobs and about 7,900 company-hosted opportunities and training places. Government-funded opportunities or public sector jobs accounted for most of the growth, said the report. But of nearly 60,000 long-term jobs available, the private sector offered more, at 37,290. The top five sectors continue to be information and communications, healthcare, professional services, finance and insurance, and manufacturing. "It's good progress - not just progress in pulling together opportunities, but also good progress in getting people placed into them," said Mrs Teo at a media briefing. The 33,100 job seekers placed into opportunities at the end of August was an increase of 9,100 from the 24,000 placed as at end-July. – The Straits Times
Prisons Department employing drastic measures to curb virus spread among inmates
The Prisons Department has taken several drastic measures to address the rising number of Covid-19 cases among inmates. Its director-general Zulkifli Omar listed one such measure involved prisoners who were serving time under Section 15(1) of Dangerous Drugs Act that would be transferred to several National Service (NS) camps gazetted as temporary prisons. These NS camps, he said, could accommodate between 2,300 and 2,800 inmates in total. Another measure taken, Zulkifli said, was granting inmates release on licence (ROL) for minor offenders who were sentenced to one year of imprisonment, with less than three months left to serve. "Based on the Prisons Department's records until Oct 5, there are 11,018 inmates who are sentenced to less than one year with less than three months left to serve that can be considered under ROL. "All of those released under ROL must pass strict selection criteria and must first pass the Covid-19 screening carried out by the Health Ministry," he said in a statement today. On this note, Zulkifli urged the public to remain calm since the spread of Covid-19 among prisoners took place in heavily guarded and confined areas under the strict supervision of the Health Ministry and the relevant enforcement agencies. He said the Prisons Department had adopted the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the Health Ministry to treat, isolate and prevent the spread of the pandemic in every aspect of staff task assignment and the care of inmates nationwide. On the active Covid-19 cases logged by the Prisons Department until Oct 6, Zulkifli said the Tawau Prison had 77 cases involving inmates and 19 involving staff or their family members. – New Straits Times
Sarasas teachers set to face charges
Police say 13 teachers and teaching assistants in 10 Sarasas-affiliated schools have been found to have physically abused their students and will face criminal charges. Pol Lt Gen Amphol Buarapporn, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 1, which is responsible for crime suppression and prevention in some Central Plains provinces, said the 10 Sarasas schools were involved in 54 abuse allegations, affecting about 30 children. All 13 teachers and their assistants on Tuesday were questioned by police and later released on 8,000-baht bail by the Nonthaburi Provincial Court. Pol Lt Gen Amphol said he had instructed investigators to talk to the abused students with the help of a multidisciplinary team, insisting that justice must be done for all involved. The abuse of kindergarten students at Sarasas-affiliated schools has sparked a public outcry and led to calls for tough legal action against the abusive teachers and schools for ignoring the abuse and allowing many teachers without teaching licences to teach young kids. Parents of children who reported abuse in one of the classes have threatened to sue the teachers for five million baht each. In a related development, the Teachers' Council of Thailand has filed complaints against the principal and executives of Sarasas Ratchaphruek School in Nonthaburi province for violating the Teachers and Educational Personnel Council Act. – Bangkok Post
Jakarta’s plan to mark houses with self-isolation stickers gets mixed reactions
The Jakarta administration has announced its plan to put stickers on the houses of residents currently self-isolating. Tri Yunis Miko Wahyono, an epidemiologist of the University of Indonesia, said the stickers would immediately inform officers in the neighbourhood about the health status of people living in the marked house. “I think it is essential to use the stickers to inform other people about the health status of residents that live in the house,” Tri said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co, adding that it would warn other people planning to visit the house. He went on to say that self-isolating at home would not be easy, although possible. Requirements include the house having a dedicated bathroom for the COVID-19 patient. “Putting on the sticker does not mean that [the government is disgracing the house’s residents, but simply informing other people near that house to stay alert,” he added. Jakarta deputy governor Ahmad Riza Patria said the use of stickers to mark houses was in line with Gubernatorial Decree No. 980/2020 on isolation management for COVID-19 handling. He said the rule was made to help officers treat self-isolating patients, and to inform people surrounding the patients. “It is important to let the officers and the neighbourhood know that there are residents conducting self-isolation at their homes,” the deputy governor said in a statement, which was made available on Oct. 1, according to kompas.com. However, the plan has also drawn opposition. The Jakarta Ombudsman said the house marking could lead to stigmatization of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients self-isolating at their homes. “People may shun them,” Jakarta Ombudsman head Teguh Nugroho told tempo.co on Oct. 2. He suggested the government increase the role of neighbourhood units (RT) and community units (RW) to help monitor residents self-isolating at home, instead of marking their houses. – The Jakarta Post
‘Time to go, Mr. Speaker’: House better off with Velasco than ‘hooligan’ Cayetano, says Atienza
Calling Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano a “hooligan,” Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said Wednesday the House of Representatives would be better off with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco at the helm. In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Atienza said that everyone in the House of Representatives is competent, debunking claims of some lawmakers that Velasco should not be elected as Speaker over questions on his competence mainly due to his alleged inactivity. “I will personally vouch, kung between Cayetano and Velasco, you are not even comparing because malayong-malayo ang ugali ni Velasco,” Atienza said. “Congress will be better off with a man, a gentleman like Velasco and not a hooligan like Cayetano. ‘Yan ang diperensiya nilang dalawa… Anyone can be a Speaker because for that matter, as long as you can get the support of your peers, then you can be a Speaker,” he added. Atienza then made his message clear as he reiterated his earlier claims that Cayetano no longer has the support of his colleagues: “Time to go, Mr. Speaker. Time to go.” During Tuesday’s session, Cayetano moved to terminate the period of debates and amendments to House Bill No. 7727 or the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB). MANILA, Philippines – Calling Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano a “hooligan,” Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said Wednesday the House of Representatives would be better off with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco at the helm. During Tuesday’s session, Cayetano moved to terminate the period of debates and amendments to House Bill No. 7727 or the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB). With the period of debates and amendments closed, a motion was made to approve the proposed 2021 budget on second reading. – INQUIRER.net
Flexible strategy helps Việt Nam win fight against COVID-19
The flexible and creative application of a strategy to prevent, detect, isolate, zone and control COVID-19 had played a decisive role in Việt Nam’s successful battle against the pandemic, experts have said. "This has been an important strategy and contributed to the success of disease prevention and control," said Associate Professor Trần Như Dương, deputy head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemic, adding that the strategy had been consistently applied since the start of the pandemic. “When a COVID-19 case is detected in the community, the first thing to do right away is to track all the people who have had contact with the patient and quarantine them. “Those who have had close contact with the patient, known as F1, are people at high risk of being infected and can become a source of infection in the community,” he said at a national teleconference on Saturday to review the fight against the pandemic. Tracing F1s as soon as a case is detected is a key part of disease containment because there is a very small window in which to track and quarantine contacts before they become infectious. The incubation period between contact with the virus and start of symptoms might be just 1-2 days or up to 14 days. Therefore, it was critical to trace and locate contacts as soon as possible before they could potentially infect others, Dương said. He also said that the identification of suspected cases should be based on epidemiological risk of infection. – Viet Nam News
Foreigner flouts quarantine, seen partying, say locals
Khmer Times has received reports that a Frenchman, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Siem Reap, did not only flout his mandatory 14-day quarantine but was seen at a number of large events around the town during the 14-day period. The first event the man was reportedly seen at was a music event held in the Navutu Dreams Resort, which involved a large-scale pool party held on the September 26. The man was then reportedly spotted again at another event at an event in town. Siem Reap provincial spokesman Sok Thol told Khmer Times yesterday that he was so far unaware of the case. He said that usually if a foreigner comes from Phnom Penh after they have tested negative for the virus, he would be required to come to the quarantine centre in the provinces for 14 days, and for further testing. He said that if Cambodians come back from Thailand, they will be required to undergo monitored 14-day quarantine at the Siem Reap Provincial Teacher Training Centre. However, he said he does not deal with foreigner quarantine procedures. “You would need to ask the relevant officials in the case of the French patient,” he said. On Monday, the Ministry of Health announced that a 27-year-old French man travelled from France via Singapore on September 20, waited at a hotel in Phnom Penh for two nights until his first test came back negative, then left in a minibus to his home address in Siem Reap. – Khmer Times