These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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42 firms in Singapore fined for breaching Covid-19 safety rules
More firms have been penalised for failing to adhere to workplace safe management measures despite repeated calls to make working from home the default and to ensure safe distancing at the office. Between Sept 28 last year - when the measures were last eased - and Jan 15, there were 42 employers fined for such lapses, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) told The Straits Times. The most common violations were firms getting their employees to report to the office although they could work from home, and for failing to put clear safe distancing markers in common areas at the workplace. MOM fined the 42 companies after inspecting 5,380 workplaces. This comes after the ministry imposed 52 fines of $1,000 each on errant employers in June last year, and ordered seven workplaces to shut for lapses. In December, it had also launched an operation targeting the transport and storage sector in anticipation of increased activities due to the festive period. While the vast majority of firms have been compliant, MOM said it will continue to step up inspections and highlight areas employers should pay attention to. Workplace safe management measures, which include caps on the number of workers allowed back in offices, were put in place at the end of the circuit breaker period in June last year. They were last eased on Sept 28 when more employees were allowed to return to the workplace. Last month, the Singapore National Employers Federation, the National Trades Union Congress and MOM said working from home should remain the default arrangement to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission in offices. The tripartite partners had reviewed workplace restrictions after Singapore moved to phase three of its reopening in December, but decided to hold off on any further adjustments. They cited the risk of new Covid-19 strains, which could be more transmissible, as well as the recent uptick in virus cases in the community. Of the four active clusters now, three have links to the workplace. Companies in various sectors said they have got used to working remotely, although some differed on the extent to which such arrangements should continue post-pandemic. – The Straits Times
Fomca: High time to revamp Covid-19 policy; current approach a total failure
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) said the time has come for the government to revamp the Covid-19 policy as the current approach was a total failure. Its secretary-general Datuk Dr Paul Selvaraj said the country needs to be "intelligent with a little bit of common sense" to lead the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. "It is indeed sad that the fight against Covid-19 is led by insensitive, and unintelligent leaders. The latest announcement by the Minister (Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob), though there is no law, is that resident managements have the right to allow only those who have taken Covid-19 tests to enter their apartment. "No wonder the fight against Covid-19 is a massive failure. Health failure as cases keep going up. Economic failure as people continue to suffer, without adequate financial support, when they lose their jobs or incomes," he said in a statement today. Selvaraj described the recent move as a consumer protection failure. "Implementing that at the border is crucial, implementing it at your own home is absurd and senseless." "Firstly, any medical test is confidential, except maybe to the Minister who has decided that any third party has a right to personal medical information. "No third party, except the relevant medical authorities, have the right to that information and to act according to that information towards the person, including directing him to seek treatment immediately. No one else has that right. What next Minister? When we go to the supermarket, do we need to show that we have no Covid-19 to enter? "Secondly, has the test to be taken once only or every time that the person goes out. Because most people go to work or to purchase essentials every day or almost every day. That means they are exposed every day. Does that mean each time they return they have to take a test? "Thirdly, if residents cannot afford to pay for the tests, as they have lost their jobs due to the failed economic protection policy, is the government going to carry it out for free. "Currently, you cannot just go to a government hospital as say you want a test unless you are in the high-risk group. You have to pay for tests in private hospitals. People are already suffering economically; do not make it worse," he said. He also questioned would the government protect the committee for actually implementing the drastic action if tenants or house owners sue them as there was no law on the matter. "The total insensitivity to the rakyat suffering the crises is causing only more suffering. If you have failed miserably to stop the health crises and the economic crises, you should not create a new crisis for consumers by refusing entry to their own homes. "You have started with condominiums and apartments. What next? Resident associations in residential areas."– New Straits Times
Thanathorn ordered to erase vaccine supply criticism
The Criminal Court has ordered leading government foe Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit to remove allegations on social media that the state's coronavirus vaccine policy is opaque and unfairly favours a company owned by His Majesty the King, the government said on Sunday. However, Mr Thanathorn’s Progressive Movement denied the videos were illegal and urged YouTube and Facebook to preserve freedom of expression. The clips could still be viewed late on Sunday. The Digital Ministry said the Criminal Court ruled that Mr Thanathorn's posts on social media and his movement's website could breach national security. The videos accuse Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's government of lack of transparency in allowing Siam Bioscience, which is owned by His Majesty, to supply most doses despite a lack of vaccine experience. Critics say former junta leader Gen Prayut rigged a vote in 2019 to retain power – a charge he denies – and have broken a national taboo by increasingly criticising the monarchy. Siam Bioscience received a 600-million-baht subsidy to develop capacity to manufacture AstraZeneca vaccines domestically and across Southeast Asia. The court did not comment when contacted by Reuters. Mr Thanathorn's movement said it had not received the ruling. "We continue to stress that the content is not false or a threat to national security," tweeted Pannika Wanich, a prominent Progressive Movement member. "We hope YouTube and Facebook will stand by the rights and freedom of expression." Mr Thanathorn was banned from politics for 10 years after a court dissolved his previous Future Forward Party last year over loans deemed illegal. He denied the charges. Now the government has lodged a case against him over the video, accusing him of insulting royalty, a charge punishable by up to 15 years' prison.The government says Siam Bioscience manufacturing is on track to deliver a first batch of 61 million doses to the public by June. There was no immediate comment from Mr Thanathorn or Siam Bioscience on the court ruling. The palace traditionally does not comment on political disputes. Thailand on Sunday reported 829 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 18,782 cases and 77 fatalities since the outbreak started last January. – Bangkok Post
PH eases travel restriction on countries with cases of Covid-19 variant
The Philippine government has lifted the travel restriction on passengers from over 30 countries with known cases of the Covid-19 variant, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said. “Yung dati nating status quo bago nagkaroon ng mga travel ban, restrictions sa iba’t ibang bansa ay babalik po tayo sa status quo na ‘yun,” Nograles said in an interview over Teleradyo. (Our status quo before we had travel ban, restrictions on other countries, we will return to that status quo.) Earlier, the government limited the entry of foreign passengers following the detection of the Covid-19 variant, said to be more infectious, in various parts of the world. “Hindi ibig sabihin ang turista ay maaari nang pumasok dito, hindi po. Yun lamang may visas na existing at valid,” Nograles noted. (It does not mean we’re now open to tourists. Only those with existing and valid visas are allowed.) Nograles noted that the country may still impose the restrictions based on the available capacity of quarantine facilities. “Anytime na tingin po natin, yung Bureau ng Immigration at Bureau of Quarantine, na medyo hindi na makakaya ng ating capacity to accept foreign nationals ay puwede po tayong magsuspend muli,” he said. (Once we see that the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Quarantine can no longer handle foreign arrivals, we can suspend their entry again.) According to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), foreign nationals allowed inside the Philippines are those with valid visas and former Filipino nationals qualified under the Balikbayan program. Other conditions set for their entry to the country are having a pre-booked accommodation for at least seven nights in an accredited quarantine hotel or facility and being subject to Covid-19 swab test on the sixth day from the date of their arrival. – INQUIRER.net
Hà Nội shuts schools ahead of planned holiday break over COVID-19 community outbreak
After recording 11 community COVID-19 cases, Hà Nội authorities decided to close schools starting Monday (February 1), one week ahead of the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. Chử Xuân Dũng, Deputy Chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee and head of the city’s COVID-19 response committee, on Sunday agreed with the proposal from the city’s education and training department to let all students in the capital city – in public or private kindergarten, primary, secondary high, high, and vocational schools – stay home as a measure to contain the outbreak. Hà Nội People’s Committee called for “utmost readiness” and prepare to handle all possible developments of the outbreak to ensure the safety and health of the educational officials, teachers, school’s staff and the students. If the outbreak is contained, students will return to school on February 16. The cases in Hà Nội are connected to the ongoing outbreak in the northern province of Hải Dương, the epicentre of the community wave of infections to hit the country since the pandemic began – this time marked by the presence of the more contagious coronavirus variant first reported in the UK. Six of the new cases reported this morning are relatives related to the 40-year-old Patient No.1,694 in Nam Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội – his wife, son, mother and father-in-law, and brother-in-law, leaving his six-year-old daughter in the family of seven to be the only member to test negative. Notably, his son – N.Đ.N.K, a nine-year-old third grader – went to Xuân Phương Primary School, Nam Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội during January 18-29 and 57 students, 12 teachers and 11 parents were identified as the direct contacts and had to go into quarantine. The venue for quarantine was decided to be the Xuân Phương school itself. The military and local police officers have cordoned off the school, and family members of the quarantined people could be seen outside the school perimeters on Sunday to supply food, clothes, and other necessary items. One parent is permitted to stay with their child who has to quarantine at the school. Health workers have collected samples from the quarantined cases on Saturday night, with results pending. Those who came into contacts with these quarantined cases are asked to self-isolate at home, under the supervision of the local administrations. Phạm Xuân Tiến, deputy director of the Hà Nội Education and Training Department asked students to stay home and schools to organise online sessions. By doing so schools would be better prepared for even more complicated developments of the pandemic after the Tết holidays, he said. Hà Nội was the ninth locality in Việt Nam to announce school closures following the slate of community cases in Quảng Ninh and Hải Dương provinces reported on Thursday. – Viet Nam News
Poser as to how many migrant workers under quarantine had escaped from centres in Battambang
Officials at Kamrieng and Sampov Loun, Battambang province, located close to several border crossings say only a handful had escaped from the two centres. “However, they were quickly found as they were from these areas and as such, we notified their relatives and family as well as looked for them in coffee shops and eateries as these workers only wanted to be briefly reunited with their family members. “Once brought back to the centres, they were lectured and discouraged from doing it again as it could lead to infections among those they came into contact with, especially of their results came back positive, thus spreading the COVID-19 virus to others unknowingly,” said Trai Roth, Deputy District governor of Sampov Loun. Although the same narrative was provided at Kamrieng by its deputy district governor Kong Sambath, several migrant workers quarantined in two of the centres said that this information was incorrect as they had witnessed more than a handful of workers fleeing the centres and some were never traced or located or brought back to the centres. “They are not afraid as they are not fined or given other forms of punishment but only to complete their quarantine which is re set to the day they are brought back, meaning their total quarantine could be more than 16 days at times. “They are lonely, miss their families or have no money to buy better food and essentials such as soap additional water,” the quarantined workers who spoke on condition of anonymity inside the classrooms of one of the two centres visited said. These accounts were collaborated by other information received from several provinces to which these migrant workers had fled to from the quarantine centres and though the exact numbers could not be verified, it was said to be in four digits. “However, the government at the grassroots levels, the village and commune, have effective mechanisms to alert the authorities if they came across faces which were not seen for a long time and were aware that these faces had gone to Thailand to work.” – Khmer Times
Myanmar descends back into dictatorship as military declares state of emergency
The military has declared a one-year state of emergency following the arrest of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government officials, as well as prominent activists such as 8888 veteran Min Ko Naing. Myint Swe, a former general who had been serving as Vice President, has been installed as acting President, the military-owned Myawaddy television channel announced on Monday morning. He has transferred state power to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, the statement said, adding that irregularities on voter lists from November’s election would now be scrutinized. Soldiers began swooping upon the houses of top government officials and National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders not long after midnight, just hours before a new parliament was due to convene in Naypyitaw. Initially, it was thought to be a Thai-style coup targeting only a few leaders of the ruling party. But as well the State Counsellor, President Win Myint, and the chief ministers of 14 states and regions, the military has reportedly also detained NLD leaders from township level positions along with most of the country’s prominent activists. Mya Aye, another 8888-generation leader, has also been detained. The NLD won a massive landslide victory in the November general elections while the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by former army generals, suffered an astounding defeat much as it did five years ago. The military occupied state-owned television stations in Yangon and Naypyitaw as well as a radio station owned by Yangon’s municipal government. Army trucks and soldiers lined the entrance to City Hall in Yangon. As people awoke to news of the coup, the military began cutting off all major mobile phone and internet services. Only a few small internet services such as 5BB, Myanmar Net and Fortune are working at the time of writing. Many civil society activists are said to be on the run. The signs of an impending coup were visible even before the elections were held last year, when the army began questioning the credibility of the upcoming poll. Min Aung Hlaing called a meeting in August with the heads of 43 political parties, most of them allies of the military-backed USDP. “There is nothing I dare not do,” he said in the meeting, during which party leaders asked him “for assistance” in the event of electoral fraud. The day before the elections were held on November 8, the military aired an old propaganda movie which said previous coups in Myanmar were due to internal chaos that obliged the army to step in, a line pushed by former dictatorships. But Min Aung Hlaing tampered fears of a coup when he said on election day that the military would “honour the will of the people.” After the NLD’s victory the USDP and several proxy began nationwide protests denouncing the results. The military echoed these sentiments in a series of statements, and finally claimed that it had found more than eight million errors on voter lists. – Myanmar Now