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.
Stay informed with The ASEAN Post.
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport closed for two weeks after second Covid-19 case emerges
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport will be closed for two weeks from Friday (Jan 8) after a second unlinked Covid-19 case working at the hotel's Azur restaurant emerged. The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Jan 7) said it is closing the hotel till Jan 21 as a precautionary measure, as it cannot exclude that transmissions could have occurred at the hotel. The hotel will stop accepting new guests, and foreign air crew and guests currently staying there will be checked out progressively, said MOH. Incoming air crew will be housed in alternative facilities, it added. Restaurant and event spaces within the hotel will also be closed, and deep cleaning and disinfection carried out. MOH has started to test all staff working at the hotel for Covid-19. The second case who works at Azur is a 43-year-old Malaysian woman who delivers pre-packed meals to air crew and hotel guests. She was one of two unlinked community cases reported on Thursday. The work permit holder is the second Azur staff to test positive for the infection after a Korean national was confirmed as a Covid-19 patient on Wednesday. Like the Korean, she does not interact with diners at the restaurant. MOH said she developed symptoms while at work on Jan 3 and went to a general practitioner clinic on Tuesday where she was tested. Her result came back positive for Covid-19 infection the next day, and she was brought to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in an ambulance. Her serological test result has come back negative, indicating that this is likely a current infection. Preliminary investigations reveal she is probably not infected with the more infectious UK strain of Covid-19, said MOH. – The Straits Times
Covid-19: Experts urge new strategies
New strategies that include stricter measures implemented under the Movement Control Order (MCO) should be enforced swiftly to curb the spread of Covid-19 nationwide. Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said Targeted Enhanced MCO (TEMCO) should be considered in Selangor and the Klang Valley, which recorded a high number of daily cases. "The authorities should review and strengthen the current approach, especially in regard to public health intervention at primary care and community settings," he told the New Straits Times yesterday. Dr Zainal Ariffin said by implementing TEMCO in identified areas, the country's economic activities and essential business sectors would still be able to resume. However, he said, the government should also look into increasing medical and health resources, as well as related recovery requirements during the pandemic and beyond. "The authorities should also increase manpower in carrying out enforcement in health and safety areas, and in vaccine procurement to ensure access to effective Covid-19 vaccine," he said. Dr Zainal Ariffin said it would be a difficult decision whether to implement either a full-scale MCO similar to what was done in March last year, or to continue with life as usual. He said the obvious result of the full-scale MCO would be a drop in Covid-19 infections and transmissibility, but it would also mean upending lives and forcing the country to lose an estimated RM2.4 billion daily. "There are also issues such as the declining mental health among the public during the pandemic, as well as the concern about a 'lost generation' in regard to children's education. "These puts the future of an entire generation at risk when learning is hugely disrupted." On the other hand, Dr Zainal Ariffin said by not imposing any form of lockdown, the impact could be devastating for the health sector. Epidemiologist Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud said any plans to enforce the MCO must be done with due diligence as it would affect the livelihoods of many. "The Conditional MCO (CMCO) appears flawed and it does not seem to have much effect in curbing people's movement, which in turn, has resulted in high contact and infection rates." – New Straits Times
TV Channel 3 building closed, employee has Covid-19
The management of TV Channel 3 closed its Maleenon 2 Building on Rama IV Road from Thursday night for disinfection after an employee tested positive for Covid-19. Channel 3 anchor Pitchayatan Chanput on Friday morning announced the closure of the broadcasting building, saying that a male graphic artist who worked on the fifth and sixth floors of the building had Covid-19. The building was closed from 10pm on Thursday. Staff on both floors were considered at high risk of catching the disease. All would be tested for Covid-19, she said, during a programme broadcast from the parking lot outside the building. Miss Pitchayatan said staff on other floors were deemed at low risk of infection. She worked on the ninth floor. Elevators were risk factors in the building, but they were regularly cleaned, she said. TV Channel 3 building had been regularly disinfected and management had introduced a work-from-home policy and staggered hours, to reduce crowding in the workplace, she added. – Bangkok Post
Indonesia frees cleric linked to Bali bombing
A radical cleric linked to the deadly Bali bombings was freed from prison early Friday, Indonesian authorities said, stirring grief and anger among victims nearly 20 years after Indonesia's worst terror attack. Abu Bakar Bashir, 82, is considered the spiritual leader of militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the Islamist network responsible for the 2002 Bali terror attack that killed more than 200 people, most of them foreign tourists. The firebrand preacher had completed an unrelated jail term for helping fund militant training in conservative Aceh province. But he has long been suspected of involvement in the holiday island bombings, Indonesia's worst terror attack. A white van with Bashir inside left Gunung Sindur prison around 5:30 a.m. local time, accompanied by members of Indonesia's elite counter-terror squad, Densus 88. "He was handed over to his family and a team of lawyers who came to pick him up at the penitentiary," national prisons spokeswoman Rika Aprianti said. Bashir was expected to return to his hometown Solo city in Java later Friday. Originally sentenced to 15 years in 2011 for funding militants, his term was later cut due to regular sentence reductions handed to most prisoners in Indonesia. Bashir had been previously jailed over the Bali nightclub bombings, but that conviction was quashed on appeal. He has repeatedly denied involvement in the attacks and his exact role in the blasts has long been the subject of debate. Bashir's lawyers had appealed for his release citing his age and risk of contracting Covid-19 in the Southeast Asian nation's notoriously overcrowded prison system. Bashir has refused to renounce his extremist views in exchange for leniency. Two years ago, plans to grant him early release on humanitarian grounds sparked a backlash at home and in Australia. Dozens of Australians were killed in the Bali attacks and the early release plan was shelved. – The Jakarta Post
Four of Dacera’s friends maintain innocence
Four of Christine Dacera’s 11 companions on the night she died at a New Year’s party in a Makati hotel asserted their innocence amid claims by the police that the 23-year-old flight attendant was raped and killed. In a news conference on Thursday, Rommel Galido, Valentine Rosales, John Pascual dela Serna III and Clark Rapinan said Dacera died of natural causes and emphasized that there was no foul play involved. The Makati City Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday ordered the release from police detention of Galido, Dela Serna and John Paul Halili. The Prosecutor’s Office has returned the rape-with-homicide case to the police for further investigation, as confirmed by Philippine National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana. Rosales called the complaint filed by the Makati police “absurd.” “It’s impossible that we raped her because we[‘re] all gay. There is no straight man in that party,” said Rosales, adding that he was forced to come out to his family to prove his innocence. He also challenged earlier remarks by Makati police chief Col. Harold Depositar that gays under the influence were capable of assaulting a woman. The four said they did not see any drugs at the party. But Galido recalled an already intoxicated Dacera telling him she suspected that her drink might have been spiked. The four men said they were willing to undergo a drug test. They said that among the drinks they had were tequila, vodka, whiskey and cocktails. Dacera was found unconscious at a bathtub the next morning. One of her friends, Gregorio de Guzman, tried to revive her with CPR but to no avail. They called an ambulance from Barangay Poblacion, but none responded, then took her to Makati Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival. – INQUIRER.net
VN's exports maintain growth despite pandemic
Việt Nam exported US$281.5 billion in goods and services in 2020, a 6.5 per cent year-on-year increase while maintaining of a positive trade balance of over $19 billion, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a year-end conference held on Thursday in Hà Nội. It was accomplished against the backdrop of a COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the world's economy. Despite unprecedented challenges, the country's industrial sector reported a 3.36 per cent growth rate, especially the processing and manufacturing industry, a critical driver of economic growth this year, at 5.82 per cent. It was the result of a strong effort by trade agencies to help business and localities adapt and overcome adverse effects caused by the pandemic including seeking out new markets and boosting domestic market demand for Vietnamese products. Meanwhile, the ministry sought to ensure market stability and control over prices for vital commodities, especially in response to numerous natural disasters that hit the country in 2020. Some 880 business requirements were removed last year. In addition, 295 administrative procedures were made available online through the national public service portal. Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc called for a stronger innovation effort with the business sector leading in the front to help improve the country's ability to compete. On the topic of the Việt Nam-US trade relationship, the PM reaffirmed the Government of Việt Nam's position and willingness to balance trade with the US and to combat origin fraud. Việt Nam stays committed to joint action plans to ensure trade between the two countries remains harmonious and sustainable. He also reiterated Việt Nam's focus in monetary policy is to control inflation and stabilise the macroeconomic environment and not to create unfair competitive advantages in trade. Global integration remained a high-priority in the country's trade policy with major trade deals signed including the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). – Viet Nam News
CPP leaders dwell on nation’s gains since Victory Day, 1979
As the Kingdom celebrated the 42nd anniversary of the Victory Day known as “January 7 Day”, the top Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) leaders reminisce their four decades of achievements after the “killing fields” to sustainable development of the country. While the annual celebration of the anniversary of Victory Day was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, logos, banners and slogans were displayed at various venues to mark the event. Government and party officials from sub-national level to top leaders yesterday expressed their opinion the achievements under the CPP government. They included Prime Minister Hun Sen, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Senate president Say Chhum and Defence Minister General Tea Banh. In his message yesterday, Mr Hun Sen, who is also the CPP president, said “January 7, 1979” was the day that Cambodia was “liberated” from Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge genocidal regime, noting the regime turned Cambodia into a “dark killing field”. “This brutal regime has claimed the lives of millions of innocent people and wreaked havoc on the entire nation,” he said. He said that 42 years ago Cambodian people, including young children, lived under forced labour, with no holidays, not enough food, no hospitals, no schools, and no freedom. “This brutal regime left them with only skin and bones waiting to die. But after the nation’s liberation on January 7, 1979, under the leadership of the Cambodian People’s Party, the people’s full freedoms have been restored and the whole nation has been enjoying peace and development in all fields until today,” he added. At the same time, Mr Hun Sen said Cambodia has regained its prestige on the international arena under CPP’s leadership. – Khmer Times