These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Woman who made racist remarks on MRT train charged in court
A woman caught on video making racist remarks appeared in a district court on Friday (June 18), and was charged with offences including public nuisance. Tan Beow Hiong, 57, made the headlines earlier this year after she was recorded grilling passengers about their race on an MRT train. Both her YouTube channel and employment as a property agent have been terminated. In an earlier post on Facebook, property consultancy Knight Frank Singapore said her conduct had been brought to its attention and it had terminated her services. "One of Knight Frank's core values is to be a responsible business to people and the community," it said. "The company maintains zero tolerance for hate speech and racism that threaten the foundations on which Singapore is built." Tan, who was an associate with the company, has also been delisted from the Council for Estate Agencies' public register. In an earlier statement to The Straits Times, YouTube also said her channel was removed due to violations of its harassment and cyber bullying policies. "We have strict policies that prohibit harassment on YouTube, including content that maliciously insults someone based on their race, gender expression, or sexual orientation," said its spokesman. "We quickly remove content that violates these policies when flagged." Tan will be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric observation, and her case has been adjourned till July 2. – The Straits Times
Targeted screening in industrial sector main reason behind spike in Covid-19 cases, says N9 MB
Targeted Covid-19 screening conducted by employers in the industrial sector on their staff is the main contributing factor to the spike in positive cases within 24-hours in Negri Sembilan. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said screenings on close contacts as well as symptomatic persons had also caused the number of infections in the state to go up. He said 36 per cent of cases reported to the state health department's Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre came from clusters, close contacts (41 per cent) and sporadic (23 per cent). "Of the overall new cases, 78 per cent involved workers in the industrial sector, special care centres (13 per cent) and community (9 per cent). "There are 53 per cent sporadic cases that were detected which stemmed from workplace screenings (saringan pekerjaan) or symptomatic testings on workers in the industrial sector. "The increase in cases reported yesterday was clearly the result of targeted screening conducted by employers on their staff especially in the Seremban district," he said in a statement last night. He added that the reason for cases shooting up was also due to the close contact screening conducted by the district health office to curb the spread of Covid-19. Aminuddin said the state government advised the people to practice self-lockdown during the Movement Control Order 3.0 to break the chain of infection. "Self-lockdown can be done by just staying at home and only leaving for urgent matters. "Adhere to all the standard operating procedures (SOP) if you have to go out," he said. Separately, the latest data shared by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on his official Facebook page yesterday showed that Negri Sembilan recorded 1,086 cases compared to 607 the day before. The number placed Negri Sembilan as the second highest state with the most infections behind Selangor which logged 1,858 cases. Meanwhile, state health, environment, cooperative and consumerism action committee chairman S. Veerapan said as of 12pm yesterday, the overall cases stood at 30,125 cases. So far, there are 244 deaths from the virus in the state. He said two new clusters were identified in the districts of Seremban and Kuala Pilah which are the Pondok Batu Lapan and Bari (Kuala Pilah) clusters which registered 58 and 47 cases respectively. "Cumulatively, there are 7,975 active cases according to the District Risk Reduction Programme which records the total cases reported in the past 14-days in Negri Sembilan so far," he said. – New Straits Times
Prayut plans to visit Phuket
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will visit Phuket next Friday to ensure the resort island's reopening on July 1 goes smoothly. The Phuket plan will kick-start the government's hopes to reopen the whole country in October. From July 1, Phuket will waive quarantine requirements for foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 under the "Phuket Tourism Sandbox" model, which is being touted as a model for the reopening of the tourism industry. However, as a precaution, tourists will have to remain on the island for 14 days before they are allowed to travel to other destinations in the country. Sources said the PM will inspect preparations for the screening of foreign tourists at Phuket International Airport, before moving on to Thalang district, where he will be briefed on details of the Phuket Tourism Sandbox and meet business operators to discuss measures to revive the province's economy. Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said the Phuket Sandbox model is the first step towards the full reopening of the country. Mr Supattanapong said details of the Phuket reopening will be presented to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) today and local authorities and businesses in Phuket will then be able to go ahead with the plan. "When Phuket reopens, we will then consider other provinces that are ready," the minister said. "It is the prime minister's intention to see the country reopen in 120 days, beginning in Phuket from July 1. All those involved must work together," he said. He also said the Phuket reopening is an experiment and there is still room for improvement, adding the Phuket Sandbox is a drill which will prepare all parties for the tourism high season later this year. Mr Supattanapong said that when it reopens, Phuket will serve as a meeting place for Thai and foreign investors to discuss their businesses, apart from being a tourist attraction. Phumkit Raktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association, said 13 tourism associations in the province will hand a letter to the prime minister to ask him to lift a ban on vaccinated Thais in foreign countries from visiting Phuket. Local businesses did not see any reason to prevent these Thais from visiting the island, Mr Phumkit said. He said the matter was discussed at a meeting of the subcommittee of the CCSA on Wednesday. During the meeting, some agencies expressed concern that if Thai returnees were allowed to visit Phuket using their passports, they could use their ID cards to sneak out of the province before completing the 14-day stay requirement, Mr Phumkit said. However, local businesses believed the government could put in place measures to control and monitor these Thai returnees, he said. "There is no point in reopening Phuket if Thais returnees from foreign countries cannot visit. "Thais should also be given the right under the Phuket Sandbox model," Mr Phumkit said. This is a major issue and the local private sector will push for the ban to be revoked before details of the Phuket Tourism Sandbox are approved at the CCSA's meeting today, he said. Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control (DDC), said the Phuket Sandbox is a model for social and economic recovery in line with criteria set by an academic committee under the Public Health Ministry. However, the Sandbox plan may have to be cancelled if the number of infections in the province exceeds 13 cases per day, Dr Opas said. Under the Sandbox model, foreign arrivals must come from countries where the Covid-19 situation is under control or the number of infections is moderate/low. They should also have had both vaccine doses at least 14 days before travelling to Thailand and the vaccine they received must be authorised by the World Health Organization. They should also have a Covid-free certificate issued within 72 hours of arriving in the country. – Bangkok Post
PH temporarily suspends OFW deployment to Oman
The Philippines is temporarily suspending the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Oman, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced on Friday. The decision came after Oman also included the Philippines in its travel ban. Bello said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) had received a communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday informing them that the government of Oman had included travellers from the Philippines in its travel ban. He said the DFA, in turn, recommended declaring a temporary suspension of deployment of OFWs as well to Oman. Bello, however, did not mention the specific reason why the Philippines also suspended the deployment to Oman and when the suspension will become effective. “Noong isang araw, noong nagkaroon ng emergency meeting ang governing board ng Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), we decided to follow the recommendation of the DFA and we declared a temporary suspension, hindi naman ban, kundi temporary suspension of deployment ng mga OFWs sa Oman,” he told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo. (The other day, when the governing board of the POEA had an emergency meeting, we decided to follow the recommendation of the DFA and we declared a temporary suspension, not a ban, for the deployment of OFWs to Oman.) Bello said he thinks that Oman may be seeing the Philippines as a “COVID threat” that’s why they included the country in the travel restriction. “Actually, ‘yung kanilang ban ay nag-enumerate ng mga countries and obviously ito ‘yung mga countries na mayroon ding restriction sa atin. Ang hindi ko nga maintindihan, bakit tayo dinamay, bakit tayo sinama?” he added. (They enumerated the countries included in the travel ban and obviously these are countries that also have restrictions in the Philippines. What I don’t understand is why did they include us?) Bello said that on Thursday, he received a call from the ambassador of the Philippines to Oman who told him that Oman’s foreign affairs minister would like to have a meeting with him. “We are scheduled to meet tonight through Zoom and I think the intention there is for us to have a mutual lifting of the suspension,” the Labor Secretary said. On Monday, Malacañang announced that the Philippines has extended travel restrictions for inbound travellers coming from Oman, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates until June 30. The travel restrictions, which were earlier implemented to prevent the entry of the coronavirus variant from India, were supposed to lapse on June 15. However, as of May 26, health authorities have so far detected 13 cases of the said variant in the Philippines. – INQUIRER.net
Viet Nam calls on WHO to accelerate transfer of COVID-19 vaccine supply and production technology
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has proposed the World Health Organization (WHO) accelerate the transfer of vaccine production technology to Viet Nam to help the country become a regional vaccine production centre. Dam, who leads the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, had an online meeting yesterday with Dr Takeshi Kasa, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, to discuss vaccine supply, Viet Nam’s response to the outbreak and the country’s access to vaccines. Deputy Minister Dam spoke highly of WHO’s role in the fight against the pandemic and thanked the organisation for offering assistance to Viet Nam over the past one and a half years since the pandemic broke out. He said the Vietnamese Government has made efforts to accelerate the implementation of its vaccination strategy to achieve herd immunity soon and resume socio-economic activities as well as ensure public health and social security. He proposed the WHO promote vaccine delivery under the COVAX Facility and transfer of vaccine production technology to Viet Nam, aiming to help regional countries soon get access to vaccines. Dr Kasa said he appreciated Viet Nam's effective COVID-19 response measures, noting that drastic and focused direction from senior leaders along with communications on pandemic prevention and control measures have been effectively implemented with the engagement and strict observation of the entire community. Viet Nam has become a good example in the region for its response to COVID-19, he said. He spoke highly of Viet Nam’s precise and effective approach to vaccines. Viet Nam has made stable investments in pandemic prevention and control, especially attracting the participation of the private sector and promoting public-private partnerships (PPPs) for technology transfer and vaccine production. In the context of the pandemic, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific recommended countries not to loosen preventive and control measures even if the majority of the population have been vaccinated. He pledged to continue to support and stand with Viet Nam in responding to the pandemic. The representative said he would accelerate the transfer of vaccine supplies under the COVAX mechanism and vaccine production technology to Viet Nam. The two sides agreed to strengthen co-operation and exchange policies and safety regulations on vaccination to maximise the role of the WHO in supporting countries in combating the pandemic. The WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific thanked the Vietnamese Government for donating US$500,000 to the COVAX mechanism and successfully treating a WHO expert who contracted COVID-19. – Viet Nam News
Schools stay closed despite appeals
The Ministry of Education yesterday said that all schools will remain closed and children will continue with their online classes. Although there have been requests by some management to re-open their schools, the ministry said they have to look into the safety and welfare of the children, especially with the ongoing Covid-19 cases and deaths. Ministry spokesman Ros Soveacha told Khmer Times yesterday that the ministry still encouraged all stakeholders, especially educators, to continue implementing the online teaching for the safety of students against the coronavirus. “The ministry will maintain its stance that all state and private schools throughout the country remain closed by continuing to monitor and evaluate the status of the February 20 Community Event,” he said. The ministry was responding to the Cambodia Higher Education Association (CHEA)’s call on Wednesday requesting that schools be re-opened. Soveacha said the public and private educational institutions must continue to teach remotely under the new normalcy as the new life path of the education sector. The ministry, he added, has called on private education providers, private education recipients and stakeholders to discuss, negotiate and find appropriate solutions with a high level of mutual understanding on how to move on under this pandemic situation. “We understand that all of them have suffered from Covid-19. At the same time, the ministry adheres to the principles of the government,” he said. CHEA yesterday highlighted seven points to the ministry, especially with private schools badly affected by the closure. CHEA requested that higher education schools and K-12 classes be re-opened by them adhering to the principles, standards, and hygiene measures set by the Ministry of Education and requested for national exam dates to be fixed. It also said that only schools in Covid-19 hotspots be closed, full immunisation for students and private educators in provinces to reduce risk of contracting Covid-19, urge the National Bank of Cambodia to reduce interest rates so that private educational institutions can seek deferred payments from private banks, to suspend payments to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and be able to receive the benefits provided by the NSSF as usual, to increase the speed of the Internet for the education sector by requesting the Ministry of Posts to better respond to students’ use of online learning and to suspend the withholding tax on the salary of private education educators, if possible, to be reduced to 6 months. Heng Vanda, chairman of the board of the Cambodian Higher Education Association and Director of Vanda Institute told local media that private educational institutions in Cambodia were deteriorating due to facing financial crisis and that is why they want the schools to re-open. He said that if the ministry does not reopen schools, private educational institutions will be forced to lay off staff because they can no longer afford to pay salaries. – Khmer Times
Anti-regime group bombs condo project linked to junta cabinet member
A high-end condominium project owned by the family of a junta cabinet member was bombed on Thursday morning, in the latest of a series of attacks on pro-regime targets. The construction site of the 68 Residence luxury condominium project in Yangon’s Bahan Township was hit by an explosion at around 5am on Thursday, sources said. An anti-regime group calling itself the Yangon Urban Guerrilla Group claimed responsibility for the blast, which it said was designed to inflict maximum damage to the foundation of the building. A member of the group said that C4 explosives were used in the attack, which had been carefully planned for over a month. “It will have to be rebuilt from the start because we bombed the foundation. If the owners lie and say it doesn’t need such a restart, the buyers will suffer,” he said, noting that the group includes a number of engineers. A resident of Bahan who lives near the construction site, which is located at the corner of Kabar Aye Pagoda and Sayar San roads, said he heard the explosion but didn’t feel any tremors. The guerrilla group also claimed responsibility for the shooting on May 22 of three soldiers guarding a high school in Yangon’s Thingangyun Township. One soldier was killed in that attack. The 27-floor 68 Residence was one of several controversial high-rise projects approved under Yangon Region’s former chief minister, Phyo Min Thein, who was ousted by the February 1 coup. The main backer of the project is Thet Thet Khine, who was appointed by the regime to be its minister for social welfare, relief, and resettlement. The former lower house MP for Dagon Township in Yangon was a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) until her resignation in 2019. She later went on to found her own party, the People’s Pioneer Party (PPP), with former military officers and ultranationalists. The party failed to win any seats in last year’s election. Her family also owns the Shwe Nan Taw jewellery shop, one of the largest jewellery retailers in the country. Attacks targeting regime forces and junta-appointed officials have occurred on an almost daily basis in recent weeks, as the military continues to tighten its grip on power after ousting Myanmar’s NLD-led civilian government. – Myanmar NOW
Gojek undertakes massive vaccination drive across 29 cities
Indonesian on-demand platform Gojek said it has launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive for driver-partners across 29 cities and districts to ensure the health and safety of partners as well as customers. In a statement issued here on Thursday, the company said its vaccination drive is the largest among online transportation companies and is part of its commitment to ensuring the highest health, safety, and cleanliness standards. Though coronavirus cases have continued to grow in Indonesia, there has been an increase in people’s activities outside of their homes, and this has upped the risk of further COVID-19 spread, according to Gojek’s chief transport officer, Raditya Wibowo. “For that reason, for approximately the last four months, we continue to optimize our vaccination program in order to increase the safety and security of our driver-partners and Gojek customers on the road,” Wibowo said. The company has also launched a feature within its app that allows passengers to check the vaccination status of their designated driver-partner. The feature is available on the latest version of the app, he informed. Gojek has continued to collaborate with several parties, including Halodoc, the central and regional governments, as well as other related authorities to speed up the vaccination of all partners in Indonesia, he added. Meanwhile, director of land transportation at the Ministry of Transportation, Ahmad Yani, has lauded the measures carried out by Gojek and dubbed its vaccination drive, which has covered 29 areas in less than four months, as an “extraordinary achievement”. “I am optimistic that if all cross-sector players contribute to accelerating the government’s vaccination drive, as Gojek has been doing, we will soon recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. According to the director of the Center for Policy and Public Management at the Bandung Technology Institute’s School of Business and Management, Yudo Anggoro, the vaccination program has become the focus of many parties because it would not only benefit public health, but also give people who need to carry out activities outside the home a greater sense of security. “Especially in the transportation sector, we found that the triggering factor for people's sense of security, when required to travel, was the transportation driver's vaccination status. This is, of course, the result of the collective efforts of the government and the private sector (players), such as Gojek, who continue to expand the vaccination program according to their respective fields and industries,” he said. – AntaraNews.Com