These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Elderly to start getting Covid-19 vaccine earlier, from end-Jan: Lawrence Wong
The elderly will start receiving their Covid-19 vaccinations earlier than expected from later this month, as the Government steps up its roll-out of the vaccine, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong. Mr Wong, who co-chairs Singapore's Covid-19 multi-ministry task force, on Wednesday (Jan 13) said the elderly will get help to make bookings for the vaccine. The Government had previously announced that seniors aged 70 and above would start getting jabs from February. "Towards the end of the month, we will begin the programme for the elderly, where we will invite them to come to the nearest polyclinic, Public Health Preparedness Clinic (PHPC) or vaccination centre on a booking system," said Mr Wong after receiving his Pfizer-BioNTech jab at the Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital. The booking system is required to avoid a wastage of vaccines, where the jabs are prepared but no one is there to receive them. Mr Wong said letters will be sent out to inform the elderly of when they can make bookings for their vaccinations. Volunteers will be trained to help seniors make online bookings, and information in different languages will be disseminated in HDB estates. Mr Wong said: "This process will take a bit of time. So we will also step up our outreach and engagement efforts, particularly to the elderly across all our HDB estates, to let them know what this is about, give them more information in different languages, and also to help them with the booking because not everybody will be familiar with the IT system." After the elderly, vaccines will be progressively made available to other segments of the population here. Mr Wong said this will be done in phases, and timed together with the arrival of vaccine shipments. We do expect a significant ramp up from now onwards, and once again, we would encourage everyone to step forward, be vaccinated when you are offered the chance to be vaccinated," he added. Singapore's Covid-19 vaccination exercise began on Dec 30 with 40 healthcare workers at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. Since then, more front-line staff have received their jabs, including those working in the National University Health System (NUHS), Ren Ci Bukit Batok nursing home, as well as Home Team officers. – The Straits Times
Cops: More city traffic seen on Day 1 of MCO 2.0
City roads, especially in the Golden Triangle area, recorded a higher number of vehicles on the first day of the Movement Control Order 2.0, compared with the first MCO. Kuala Lumpur Traffic Investigations and Enforcement Department chief Assistant Commissioner Zulkifli Yahya said although traffic was clear on most roads, there was a significant increase in the number of vehicles yesterday. "There is an estimated 30 per cent increase in vehicles today (yesterday) in the city. "However, motorists' compliance rate with the standard operating procedures (SOP) improved this time around." Zulkifli said four teams from the city traffic police headquarters had been assigned to conduct roadblocks. "Although motorists can move about for essential purposes, police remind them to adhere to the SOP and travel only when it is necessary. "Limit outdoor activities that involve contact and do not misuse the permission given." In Petaling Jaya, district police chief Assistant Commissioner Nik Ezanee Nik Faisal said police had deployed 300 policemen to set up four roadblocks and close five roads. "The road closures are in Jalan Gasing 5/26, Jalan Mahogany, Jalan Jati and the road from Kota Damansara to Sungai Buloh. "PJ residents can expect at least another four roadblocks and a few more road closures in the coming days." Nik Ezanee said police had received complaints from residents affected by the closures, but he said this was necessary as the spike in Covid-19 cases in some parts of the district was at a critical level. A motorist, who wanted to be known only as Wahyu, 28, said the traffic was unusually busy on the first day of the enforcement. He said employers should not allow workers to go to the office if they were not from the essential service sector. "They (motorists) probably obtained a permission letter from their employers to move around. "They should work from home as it is not safe to go out." Another road user, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were a lot of vehicles yesterday, especially heading for Kuala Lumpur. He said he was required to go to the office as he worked in the essential services sector. – New Straits Times
Police seek clues on 'k-powdered milk' makers
Police are at their wit's end trying to find the producers of "k-powdered milk", a new drug cocktail which is believed to have killed seven people in Bangkok. Pol Col Thongchai Buarangsri, superintendent of Wat Phraya Krai station, said on Wednesday police have not yet found any credible evidence which points to the producers. The superintendent added the three other people who became sick after taking the drug could not be questioned yet, as they are still hooked to ventilators. Last week, seven people died in Bangkok after taking k-powdered milk, also known as "k-nom pong", which experts have determined to be a combination of heroin, ketamine, methamphetamine and sleep medication. The Bangkok South Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for four individuals who have been charged for selling the illicit substance. They will be detained today. Sources close to the investigation said the quartet admitted to investigators they supplied the drug which was taken by the victims. That said, they refused to say who produced the drugs or how they acquired them. Two of the suspects were charged in relation to the deaths which occurred under Wat Phraya Krai police's jurisdiction. They were identified as Chatree Srisombat, 19, charged with selling narcotics, and Noppakao Obthom, 26 charged with narcotics possession. The suspects were also taken to Police General Hospital for drug tests to determine if they had taken part in drug abuse, the sources said. The other two suspects were separately charged with possessing k-powdered milk with the intent to sell in other areas – one was arrested in Bangkok's Sai Mai district, while the other was nabbed in Pathum Thani's Lam Luk Ka district. Police determined they were not linked to the suspects arrested by Wat Phraya Krai police, a source said. The suspect arrested in Sai Mai district, identified as Ratthanachoke "Jim" Kiratichote, 21, told police he bought the drugs from a woman in Sai Mai for 470 baht per gramme. He had planned to resell it for 600 baht a gramme, police said. At a briefing at Government House on Wednesday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the only way to curb the drug trade is by cutting demand for illicit drugs. "As long as there is a demand for drugs, someone will attempt to smuggle and/or produce them," he said. – Bangkok Post
Sriwijaya Air crash victim families give blood for DNA matching
Relatives of Indonesia's plane crash victims formed a grim procession at a Jakarta morgue Tuesday, to give blood so investigators can try to match their DNA to body parts plucked from the murky depths of the Java Sea. Scores of bags filled with human remains are arriving by the day in the aftermath of Saturday's crash. The Sriwijaya Air flight slammed into the sea just four minutes after take-off, after plunging about 3,000 meters in less than a minute. It is an agonizing wait for some families, who still hold out hope for survivors amongst the 62 people who were onboard, including 10 children. "We haven't accepted it yet," Inda Gunawan said of his married brother Didik Gunardi, who was on the Boeing 737-500. "Our family is hoping for a miracle that he is still alive." But Gunawan, like dozens of others, gave a blood sample at a makeshift tent outside the Jakarta morgue, the bleakly-named Post-mortem Command Post. "At first I didn't believe the news about the crash," Gunawan continued. "But then I saw the passenger manifest. We were in shock." Emma Yusja, 54, whose hairstylist daughter Syifa Kamila was in Jakarta to pick up supplies for her salon, was also praying against all odds. But she too gave blood at a hospital in Pontianak on Borneo island, the flight's intended destination. Funeral traditions in Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, call for a quick burial of the dead. But the process of identification could take weeks or more. Some 300 forensic examiners and other trained staff are sorting through remains, collecting blood samples as well as anything else that could help match them with passengers onboard. Late Monday, flight attendant Okky Bisma, 29, became the first confirmed victim after investigators matched fingerprints from a retrieved hand to those in a government identity database. "Rest in peace up there darling and wait for me... in heaven," Bisma's wife Aldha Refa wrote on Instagram. "Thank you for being the perfect husband when you were on earth." Rapin Akbar, who gave blood at the Jakarta morgue, had five relatives on board. They included his older sister, as well as his nephew, his nephew's wife and their seven-month-old baby. "Hopefully they'll find the bodies quickly so we can bring them back...for burial," the still-shocked Akbar said. "(My nephew) had planned to go back to Pontianak on Sunday but changed his mind and decided to fly on Saturday instead. "He called me to say the flight was delayed and sent me a picture of their baby. It was (their) first." Amongst the other passengers onboard were a pair of newlyweds, who were headed back to Pontianak for a family wedding celebration. While relatives may want answers quickly, investigators said they would stick to getting it right. "Accuracy over speed is the priority," said Ahmad Fauzi, deputy head of the crash disaster identification team. "It's better to be slow and correct than fast but wrong." – The Jakarta Post
Gov’t pressed to rethink preference for Sinovac
Calls are mounting to have the government reconsider its “obvious” preference for the coronavirus vaccine of Sinovac BioTech despite its being less effective and more costly, with one opposition senator urging the Department of Health (DOH) to cancel the purchase of 25 million doses of the China-made COVID-19 shot. The vaccine is called CoronaVac, but people always refer to it by the shorthand for the manufacturer’s name, Sinovac. Sen. Francis Pangilinan asked the country’s COVID-19 managers and vaccination planners to reject CoronaVac as an option in the government’s multiplatform rollout of the vaccine, citing the latest reports about its unimpressive efficacy rate. “Sinovac, with just over 50-percent efficacy is six times more expensive than AstraZeneca (of the United Kingdom), which in contrast shows 70-percent efficacy,” Pangilinan said in a post on Twitter. “Sinovac is more expensive yet having almost 20-percent lower efficacy. Given these latest findings, we call on the DOH to cancel the purchase of Sinovac vaccines,” Pangilinan added. Asked to elaborate, Pangilinan said it did not make sense to choose the more expensive and less effective brand. “By rejecting Sinovac and selecting AstraZeneca or another vaccine with higher efficacy rates, we will be able to vaccinate millions more with better quality vaccines,” Pangilinan told the Inquirer in a Viber message. Sen. Panfilo Lacson also took to Twitter to complain about government pronouncements that only Sinovac shots would be available to Filipinos from February until June, showing, he said, that the Chinese manufacturer was essentially the “chosen one.” “Can somebody explain why preference is given to the second most expensive vaccine, has lower efficacy, a record of suspended clinical trials and has not even applied for EUA (emergency use authorization) over other vaccines that cost much less, more efficacious and are about to be granted their EUAs?” Lacson said. “That said, the national government should expedite the procurement of all qualified and available vaccines. To borrow [presidential spokesperson] Harry Roque Jr.’s words, it should not be choosy in buying vaccines,” he said. He also asked why Sinovac, a private Chinese company whose product’s efficacy is 50-70 percent, “appears to have the edge even over China’s state-owned Sinopharm, whose vaccine has a 79-86 percent efficacy and is used in the United Arab Emirates.” “Sinovac is also the second most expensive vaccine at P3,629 [for] two doses,” he noted. On Monday, the senators learned that the first batch of CoronaVac would be delivered on Feb. 20 but the manufacturer had not even applied for emergency use authorization, which is required for the rollout. – INQUIRER.net
HCM City sets high growth targets for industrial production, retail, exports
HCM City targets 5 per cent industrial growth in 2021 and its four key sectors growing by at least 6.7 per cent, according to its Department of Industry and Trade. The four are food processing, pharmaceutical chemicals-rubber-plastic, mechanical engineering, and electronics. The city also targets 10 per cent growth in retail sales of goods and services and exports to VNĐ905.563 trillion (US$39 billion) and $49.2 billion. Speaking at a meeting held on Wednesday to review the industrial and trading sectors last year and set tasks for this year, Nguyễn Phương Đông, the department’s deputy director, said: “In 2020 city enterprises restructured their production to make it market-oriented. The city’s industrial sector shrunk by 4 per cent last year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The electronics sector grew by 18.7 per cent. Local and foreign firms made products that … were exported to many countries and territories.” Computer and electronic components exports were worth an estimated $17.83 billion, an increase of 18.1 per cent from 2019, he said. The pharmaceutical chemicals-rubber-plastic industry grew by 4.7 per cent. “Many local rubber and plastic firms have successfully participated in global supply chains for the automobile, motorbike, mechanical engineering, and electrical and electronics industries. “Thanks to their proactive investment in technology and production management with an eye on long-term development, their products have high added value and meet the requirements of large multinational companies.” The food and beverage industry’s output fell by 0.7 per cent due to the impact of the pandemic and Decree No 100 that stipulated huge fines for drunk driving. The mechanical engineering industry’s output fell by 12.4 per cent mainly due to a decrease in the production of motor vehicles. Due to the impact of the pandemic, output dropped sharply in the second quarter and then recovered gradually, especially from September. Retail sales of goods and services were worth an estimated VNĐ1,224 trillion ($52.9 billion), a decrease of 1.3 per cent. – Viet Nam News
PM refutes news reports on Cambodia rejecting Sinovac
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday refuted foreign media reports that Cambodia refuses to accept China’s Sinovac vaccine. “I have never said such a thing. I have never mentioned this or that vaccine. We accept only vaccines which are recognised by the World Health Organization. The report by foreign medias are not true at all,” Mr Hun Sen told Fresh News. “Mr Hun Sen said Cambodia shuns China’s Sinovac vaccine in favour of COVAX shots,” Nikkei Asia wrote in its article. Or Vandine, Ministry of Health spokeswoman, on December 16 repudiated a report which said: “Cambodia has ordered 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but not the Chinese products.” Meanwhile, Mr Hun Sen, on Tuesday added $125,000 in additional aid to Banteay Meanchey province to prepare for Cambodian workers returning from Thailand. Health Ministry secretary of state Youk Sambath said that supplies include 5,000 general kits, 5,000 boxes of noodles and 10,000 cases of bottled water delivered to Banteay Meanchey province. Banteay Meanchey deputy director Ly Sary said that the government has taken into account the current situation and is providing adequate accommodation for migrant workers. It is delivering general kits of mosquito nets, blankets, pillows, and mats. Sek Sokhom, director of the Banteay Meanchey provincial Information Department, said that authorities provided gifts and assistance to nearly 3,000 workers in Banteay Meanchey province, with each worker receiving an equal amount of money and supplies. “Gifts from the government have already been distributed, such as noodles, cash, water and many other materials,” Sokhom said. According to the Ministry of Health, more than 120,000 workers have returned from Thailand and are being relocated to border provinces in Cambodia after an outbreak of COVID-19 in the Thai community of Samut Sakhon province. The Ministry of Health announced yesterday morning that the number of infected migrant workers rose to 33 with six new cases, making a nationwide total of 398. All the infected patients are currently being treated at the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Referral Hospital. Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday refuted foreign media reports that Cambodia refuses to accept China’s Sinovac vaccine. – Khmer Times