These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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S'pore's autonomous universities to admit more students amid Covid-19 disruption of overseas options: Chan Chun Sing
Singapore's autonomous universities will be able to admit more students this year as overseas study options continue to be disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing. In a Facebook post on Monday morning (May 24), Mr Chan said the local universities would have "some flexibility" to admit more students, but that admissions would not be made easier. "The autonomous universities will continue to uphold admission standards, and ensure a high quality of education," he said. Last year, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the six autonomous universities would make about 2,000 more offers across a range of courses. In January this year, former education minister Lawrence Wong revealed that about 1,000 extra places were given out across the autonomous universities. Some of these places went to those who had planned to study overseas, while others went to those who opted to study instead of joining a weak job market. Mr Chan added that MOE will continue to monitor the global Covid-19 situation and work closely with the autonomous universities to support students. The pandemic, along with rising anti-Asian hate crimes in the West, have led to a drop in the numbers of Singaporean students applying to traditionally popular higher education destinations. Statistics on the British government website show that the number of student visa applications from Singaporeans to Britain fell from 2,535 new applications in 2019 to 1,421 last year. For Australia, applications fell from 1,315 in 2019 to 530 last year, a 59 per cent decrease. – The Straits Times
Nearly 10,000 fail to turn up for Covid-19 jab in Kelantan
Nearly 10,000 people, mostly those aged 60 and above, failed to turn up to receive their Covid-19 vaccination recently. Kelantan Health director Datuk Dr Zaini Hussin said these people were scheduled to receive their vaccination but did not turn up at designated Vaccine Delivery Centres (PPV). "Majority of them are elderly people and supposed to receive their jabs in stages since last month but did not show up. "Some have given their reasons but many chose to remain silent by not providing any reasons for their failure to receive the jab," he added. Dr Zaini said the inoculations under phase two of the state-level National Immunisation Programme (NIP) for the elderly is still on-going. He said the department was planning to open more PPVs in districts without such centres. "So far, we have opened PPVs in Pasir Putih, Jeli, Machang, Kuala Krai, Bachok and the district here," he added. On the number of people who registered for the vaccination via MySejahtera, he said the figure was still low. "As of yesterday, more than 340,000 people registered their names via MySejahtera and I believe the number is still low because many still have this 'wait and see' attitude," he added. – New Straits Times
All in Phuket tourism sector to be vaccinated by July 1
All people directly involved in the tourism sector in Phuket will be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus before the holiday island reopens to international visitors, still planned for July 1. Phumkit Raktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association, said on Monday that 94,000 people employed in the province's tourist industry would be inoculated against Covid-19. All residents with household documents registered in the province were also targeted to receive vaccines, he added. Phuket has about 400,000 people registered as native residents. The island employs about 500,000 Thai and foreign workers in tourism and other businesses. The island's vaccination drive plans to cover 70% of the population by the end of June so it could reopen to foreign arrivals in July. Provincial deputy governor Piyapong Chuwong on Monday confirmed that all people with the household registration on the island would be one of the priority groups for inoculation. He was speaking as people lodged complaints asking the province to look into vaccinations for residents outside the island. – Bangkok Post
Wet season coming: ‘Habagat’ onset expected by end-May to mid-June
The effects of the southwest monsoon or habagat may be felt by the last week of May or the middle of June, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Monday. “For now, nakikita natin na posible na ‘yung last week ng May or midweek ng June, ‘yan ang range na nakikita natin for the onset of southwest monsoon,” Pagasa weather forecaster Ezra Bulquerin said on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo. (Currently, we see that the onset of the southwest monsoon may start by the last week of May or the middle of June.) Bulquerin added that there is no weather disturbance will affect or threaten the country in the next three to five days. On Monday, the easterlies or warm winds coming from the Pacific Ocean are expected to prevail but isolated rain showers may still occur in the afternoon and evening, according to Pagasa’s forecast. – INQUIRER.net
WHO reviewing Viet Nam’s proposal to become mRNA COVID-19 vaccine producer: Official
Dr Kidong Park, WHO Representative in Viet Nam, spoke exclusively to the Vietnam News Agency on the Vietnamese government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and WHO’s support in Viet Nam's efforts to become a vaccine producer. We are very closely monitoring the situation of the ongoing outbreak in Viet Nam. It has been evolving fast and is complex in nature. It has quickly spread to a number of cities and provinces, including in industrial zones. Two types of variants of concern (B.1.1.7 and B.1.617.2) have been detected. These factors make case investigation and contract tracing very challenging. The next few weeks will be crucial in controlling this outbreak. With the aggressive contact tracing and testing, it can be expected that more cases will be identified, and more provinces/cities could be reporting cases. There is a very high risk of additional cases to continue to be reported in the coming days from the community, and possibly from people who are isolated as F1. Viet Nam has intensified its response measures that have been proven to work in the past outbreaks. These have been adjusted on a daily basis as the situation evolves. We do hope and have confidence that Viet Nam could suppress current outbreaks with a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach. Similar to other developing countries, Viet Nam is facing many challenges, including limited vaccine supply, uncertainty of the shipment schedule, short vaccine shelf life, etc. As of 14 May, about 950,000 people have been inoculated in Viet Nam since the first vaccination on 8 March 2021. Good news is that Viet Nam received additional 1,682,400 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX Facility on 16 May 2021. These additional vaccines will further expand the vaccination of priority groups in the coming months. WHO is a co-creator of the COVAX Facility. The COVAX Facility is committed to provide COVID-19 vaccines covering up to 20 per cent of the population to its participating countries, including Viet Nam, by the end of 2021. In addition, WHO and partners are seeking to expand the capacity of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to produce COVID-19 vaccines and scale up manufacturing to increase global access to these critical tools to bring the pandemic under control. To implement this idea, WHO is seeking expressions of interest from manufacturers of medical products preferably in LMICs, which could host a COVID-19 mRNA hub which will assemble the technology up to good manufacturing practices-grade pilot lots for clinical trials; and transfer the appropriate know-how and technology to existing or new manufacturers in LMICs to enable them to develop and produce COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. In the coming weeks, WHO will issue another call for interest from manufacturers in LMICs interested in receiving the technology developed by the technology transfer hub(s). A vaccine manufacturer in Viet Nam has already expressed its interest to become a mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine technology transfer hub. It is being reviewed by WHO Head Quarters. It is expected that Viet Nam will also apply for large scale manufacturing of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. If Viet Nam will host a mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine technology transfer hub, it will contribute to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine production in Viet Nam as well as in the region. – Viet Nam News
Cambodia “Preparing To Welcome Back Foreign Tourists In Q4”
A new video released by the Ministry of Tourism seems to indicate that Cambodia is preparing to welcome back tourists in the 4th quarter of 2021, in a move designed to “revive Cambodia’s tourism industry hit hard by the global COVID-18 crisis” This move comes after figures for 2020 show that Cambodia suffered a tourism decline of around 80% compared to 2019 – which has caused widespread job losses in the vital tourism sector. The video, entitled Cambodia Preparing To Welcome Back Foreign Tourists In Q4 states that the Ministry of Tourism is studying the possibility of welcoming international visitors in the fourth quarter of the year. It says that “Foreign tourists who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 will be exempted from quarantine or will have the quarantine period shortened”. The video further says that the Ministry of Tourism is working with relevant authorities to ensure that Cambodia’s tourist destinations are safe” In 2019, tourism contributed around 32% of Cambodia’s total GDP, according to OECD figures. – Khmer Times
12 more police officers defect from regime in Chin State, say resistance fighters
12 police officers in the Chin State town of Kanpetlet have defected to join the struggle against the coup regime, a local group of resistance fighters said. The Chinland Defense Force (CDF) announced on Saturday that it had taken responsibility for the security of the defectors, who include a sergeant and two lance-corporals and are all ethnically Chin. They defected two days after the CDF attacked a police outpost in the town on May 13. The CDF, whose members are mostly Chin people from the state’s nine townships and other areas, was formed in April amid crackdowns on anti-coup protesters. It urged other police officers to defect as soon as possible. It also published statements from the defectors that said they no longer want to serve under the military dictatorship. In the wake of the February 1 coup, many members of the police force in Chin State left their posts to join the nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Over 200 of them fled across the border to Mizoram in India, according to a Reuters report. Other defectors took shelter in local communities. “We welcome our ethnic Chin people who joined the CDM and came to collaborate with us. We are taking care of them,” said a spokesperson for the CDF in Kanpetlet who asked not to be named. If the police officers wanted to join the armed resistance and fight against the military the CDF would welcome them, he said. It would also have no objections if they wanted to live with their families somewhere safe, he added. – Myanmar NOW
Tax revenue reached Rp374.9 trillion until April-end 2021: Indrawati
Tax revenue until the end of April 2021 had reached Rp374.9 trillion, or 30.94 percent of the total target for this year of Rp1,229.6 trillion, according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Indrawati noted that despite the tax revenue of Rp374.9 trillion having contracted 0.46 percent (YoY), it was still better than minus three percent during the corresponding period last year. "The growth is negative 0.46, but as compared to last year, this growth is already better because in April 2020, the contraction in tax revenue is three percent, so there is a change in direction," the minister noted here, Monday. According to Indrawati, based on all types of taxes, there were indications of recovery despite not all sectors having recovered, thereby indicating that tax revenues had begun to change direction for improvement. "Hence, our challenge is not all sectors have recovered, but some have recovered significantly," she remarked. The minister detailed several types of taxes that experienced recovery, including corporate income tax that grew to 31.1 percent and domestic value-added tax (VAT), which despite having contracted on a net basis, grew by 6.4 percent on a gross basis. "Our net domestic VAT contracted but grew by 6.4 percent on a gross basis. This shows that the underlying transaction has gone up. We will also look at various other indicators of economic recovery,” the minister expounded. However, Indrawati called for the need for strong synergy to achieve the revenue target for restoring the economy and boosting the people's welfare as the COVID-19 pandemic had not ended. The minister stated that one form of this synergy was the inauguration of 18 new Intermediate district tax offices (KPPs) to complement the existing 20 intermediate KPPs, including 15 intermediate KPPs in Java and three intermediate KPPs outside Java. Indrawati affirmed that the addition of 18 Intermediate KPPs was not only to increase the number of Intermediate KPPs but also to offer better and more integrated services for taxpayers. The minister emphasized that through this step, a total of 38 intermediate KPPs were assigned responsibilities and contributed to 33.79 percent of the total revenue target. "This means the performance of Intermediate KPPs will greatly determine the performance of our overall tax revenue," she stated. – AntaraNews.Com