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.
75 unlinked Covid-19 cases in S'pore in past 2 weeks raising concerns
The number of unlinked Covid-19 cases in Singapore has been going up steadily this month, giving rise to concerns that there are undetected reservoirs of infections in the community. There were 75 unlinked local Covid-19 cases reported from May 7 to May 20 (Thursday), compared with the total of 68 unlinked cases reported from the start of the year, before the spike. On May 14, Mr Lawrence Wong, co-chair of the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19, cited the rise in unlinked cases when announcing tightened restrictions such as capping the size of gatherings and number of visitors per household at two people, and making work-from-home arrangements the norm. The average daily number of unlinked cases was trending downwards at the start of this year. In January, there were about 0.58 unlinked cases per day, falling to 0.46 in February and 0.26 in March. But the average number of unlinked cases last month rose to 0.7 per day. It then climbed to 4.15 cases per day from May 1 to May 20. This trend, and the rise in overall cases and clusters amid a more transmissible Covid-19 variant, has some speculating that Singapore is headed for another circuit breaker. The authorities have said that while the possibility of further tightening remains, such a move is not set in stone. – The Straits Times
'More deaths if no total lockdown’
The government must be prepared for an exponential rise in deaths and a collapse in healthcare services if it does not impose a total lockdown in Malaysia promptly. Epidemiologist Dr Malina Osman, a public health expert from Universiti Putra Malaysia, said the writing was on the wall with 331 deaths recorded over the past seven days (up to yesterday) and a 11 per cent increase in cases over the same period. "If we don't impose at least a two-week full lockdown from midnight, we could be dealing with a lot more deaths." She declined to disclose the number of deaths or the rate of the spike that her models had projected for fear that it would happen. Last month, Dr Malina predicted that active cases would reach 50,000 by mid-May if a ban on activities that did not involve mask wearing was allowed. Up to yesterday, active cases stood at 50,171. "The sacrifices, lockdowns, economic pressures and the emergency imposed will be pointless because all it would have done was prevent elections. "A huge loss of lives would happen anyway because we refused to impose a full MCO at a crucial juncture." She said it would not be long before doctors would be forced to choose who got to be warded in Intensive Care Units (ICU), as the ICU capacity for treating Covid-19 patients had reached 89 per cent in the Klang Valley and 74 per cent nationwide up to Tuesday. Four-fifths of Covid-19 ICU beds in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kedah, Sarawak, and Negri Sembilan have been taken up. "We do not want to go the way of India, where people are dying on the streets and doctors have to choose who gets treated and who don't in critical wards." She said the RM5 billion spent on procuring and distributing vaccines would also not be optimised if the National Security Council did not impose a total lockdown as soon as possible, as deaths would continue to rise. She said the situation was critical as the number of daily cases might not reflect the true picture due to widespread community transmission, with the Health Ministry's testing and tracing resources pitted against an overwhelming number of cases. – New Straits Times
Kingdom eager to reconnect
Thailand is ready to join efforts to boost regional and global economic cooperation in a post-Covid-19 world, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told a Nikkei Forum event on Thursday. During the International Conference on the Future of Asia (Nikkei Forum) organised by Nikkei, Gen Prayut delivered his speech on "Shaping the Post-Covid Era: Asia's Role in the Global Recovery" via teleconference at Government House. He said the Covid-19 outbreak has prompted several countries to fix their weaknesses to get back on their feet, to re-emerge from the pandemic with strength and as quickly as possible. Countries working together in search of new possibilities and multilateral cooperation is key to turning the crisis into an opportunity and boost the region's capacity to revive itself, Gen Prayut said. "I am confident that Asia will be able to play a leading role in the global economic recovery with a more vigorous, flexible and sustainable growth," he said. "In particular, a strategic partnership between Thailand and Japan is a vital beginning for a comprehensive recovery." "Japan has played an important role in the Thai economy for a long time," Gen Prayut added. "Thailand has been committed to improving the business environment for foreign investors." He said Thailand is ready to act on recommendations made by Japanese companies in Thailand. These recommendations reportedly include the continuity of economic and investment policies, including the Eastern Economic Corridor scheme; and the development of infrastructure projects such as rail systems. Others are the high-speed train project linking Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi, and U-Tapao airports, upgrading the skills of engineers and experts in key industries; upgrading regulations, particularly customs procedures and corporate income tax; and promoting opportunities for open, free and fair trade. Gen Prayut revealed Thailand is being urged to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the government is ready to consider making the move. – Bangkok Post
OCTA: Average daily NCR COVID-19 cases drop by 25%
New COVID-19 cases per day in the National Capital Region (NCR) have dropped by an average of 25 percent over the past week, the OCTA Research group reported Friday. According to OCTA, the average daily cases in the NCR dropped to 1,299 from May 14 to May 20, a 25-percent decline from the previous week. Meanwhile, the reproduction number in NCR was at 0.54, also lower than the 0.57 reproduction rate recorded from the previous week. OCTA also noted that nine NCR local government units (LGUs) were classified as moderate risk as of May 14 to 20. These are Navotas, Malabon, Caloocan, Manila, Pasay, Muntinlupa, Taguig, Valenzuela and Quezon City. “An LGU with an average daily attack rate (ADAR) of less than 10 per 100,000 is of moderate risk according to DOH, while an LGU with an ADAR greater than 10 is considered high risk,” OCTA said. Further, OCTA reported that the weekly positivity rate in the NCR was 11 percent while the healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) was considered safe at 48 percent. As of May 20, the total active COVID-19 cases in the country were at 51,912 while the running total of confirmed cases in the Philippines was at 1,165,155. – INQUIRER.net
Viet Nam ready for big election day
Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, preparations have been completed in all constituencies nationwide for more than 69 million voters to elect deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure on Sunday. According to the Government, thanks to the work of the National Election Council, the NA Standing Committee, the Government, the Prime Minister, the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee, and local Party committees and authorities, election preparations have been carried out in conformity with the Politburo’s directions and legal regulations. For example, in the central city of Da Nang, from early this week, voters were called on to submit their health declarations on the app DanangSmartCity, to the Zalo account 1022, or at khaibaoyte.danang.gov.vn. After submitting the declarations, voters will receive a QR code to show at the entrance of polling stations. “The online health declarations are expected to help ensure safety for the election,” said the city People’s Council Chairman and head of the city’s Election Commission Nguyen Minh Triet. Triet said that due to the complicated developments of COVID-19 in the city, many election units have faced difficulties in verifying the number of voters, particularly as more and more voters are in quarantine. To date, the city has 36 concentrated quarantine areas, 19 locked-down areas, 49 areas with entrance restrictions and more than 6,000 people who reportedly had contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases. He said all 525 polling stations in the city had conducted drills to respond to COVID-19 incidents, arranged specific voting times for groups to avoid crowds and appointed backup staff to replace poll workers who are quarantined before election day. – Viet Nam News
No respite in sight: City Hall extends PP curfew for another week till May 27
Phnom Penh City Hall has decided to extend the capital-wide curfew for the seventh week in a row until May 27 to curb the spread of Covid-19. It is also extending the ban on alcoholic drinks sales and large gatherings while emphasising the need to follow health measures put in place by the government and Health Ministry. However, to ease the burden of long-suffering residents, the City Hall has decided to reopen large public markets from May 24 with strict health measures put in place. Small markets such as temporary ones, those in factories and markets surrounding hospitals will remain closed. Phnom Penh Governor Khuong Sreng said yesterday that it is necessary to keep the curfew until the number of new Covid-19 cases have been greatly reduced. He also warned that stricter measures will be taken against curfew violators. “The next step is to have stricter enforcement of the curfew and all those who travel between 8pm and 3am must be stopped, detained and fined without being let off with a warning,” he said. “Our move to strictly implement fines is not because we want to ‘extort’ money from the public. It is to make sure that people follow the measures in place to prevent any further spread of the coronavirus,” he added. – Khmer Times
Major parties sit out meeting with junta’s election body
Leaders of most of Myanmar’s major political parties have decided not to attend a meeting with the country’s junta-appointed election body on Friday. The meeting will be just the second held since the military appointed all new members to the Union Election Commission (UEC) in the wake of its February 1 coup, which it staged on the pretext of alleged irregularities in last year’s election. The first meeting, held in late February, was attended by 53 political parties, only 10 of which had won any seats in the November 2020 general election. Major ethnic parties such as the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), the Arakan National Party (ANP), and the Kachin State People's Party (KSPP) are among those that will not be in attendance on Friday. Also absent will be the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS), formed in 1988, and the United Nationalities Democracy Party (UNDP), which was founded in 2019 by former members of the National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD, which won last year’s election by a landslide, was due to form a new government when it was ousted by the coup. Most of its leaders are now in detention or in hiding. Aung Moe Zaw, the chair of the DPNS, said in a video uploaded to the party’s Facebook page on Wednesday that his party refused to attend the Friday meeting because it rejected the coup regime’s “illegitimate” actions. It also boycotted the previous meeting. “We are a political party that always says we are working for the public. They are killing and arresting members of the public on a daily basis and even threatening us with arrest. I myself have been charged with incitement. I don’t think we should attend the meeting for any reason,” he said. The long-time pro-democracy activist added that the party would continue to boycott the regime until the path to democracy is restored in the country. He also called on other political parties to stand together with the people. The chair of the SNLD, Sai Nyunt Lwin, told Myanmar Now that his party – which won 42 seats in last year’s election – did not even consider attending the meeting on Friday. The SNLD, which is the largest ethnic party in the country, is more concerned with ongoing clashes and the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. The party was also absent from the first junta-led UEC meeting in February. The KSPP and the ANP, which both joined the February meeting, said they decided against attending this time around for a number of reasons. “We were busy with Covid-19 issues and with our plans to relocate our party headquarters,” said KSPP central executive member Jan Hkung, adding that there was no discussion in the party about whether to accept the invitation of the military council’s UEC. Tun Aung Kyaw, the joint secretary of the ANP, said that his party did discuss the possibility of attending the meeting, but decided against it on security grounds. “As we all know, even administrators have been shot in the head. And there have also been explosions,” he said. – Myanmar NOW
Indonesia must go against all forms of colonialism: Muhammadiyah
Indonesia must stand at the forefront in efforts against any form of colonialism, in keeping with the National Awakening goal of the early independence era, according to the Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organization. “Do not let somebody turn our ways from the nation’s aspiration that our founding fathers had built in the early (years since the) independence of the Republic of Indonesia in 1945,” chairman of Muhammadiyah’s central executive board, Haedar Nashir, wrote in a press release received here on Thursday. If a country arbitrarily indulges in aggression against another nation, Indonesia should consistently oppose such an action and take it as a part of its affairs, he added. Indonesia must defend any nation that is wronged and oppressed by other countries since the practice of colonialism has been globally rejected, he said. “What is the right of a country to expand (its dominance over) other nations? God has created all human beings to live independently around the globe,” he added. He called on all Indonesians to use the National Awakening Day as an opportunity to uphold the nation's commitment towards the values and essence of independence. Such a momentum will be aimed at course-correction, he said adding, there is no wrong way to achieve Indonesia’s goal. All people in the nation must help increase awareness about the value of independence to make Indonesia independent, united, sovereign, advanced, righteous, and prosperous, in line with the aspirations voiced at the time of independence, he added. “The Indonesian citizens should be aware of their basic rights to be free from all forms of oppression, exploitation, violence, and ruthlessness committed by the colonialists,” he stressed. – AntaraNews.Com