These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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World News Day: Time to heed warnings of a hurting world
Getting to school as a boy growing up in Singapore in the 1970s could be a soggy affair at times.
Tropical downpours overwhelmed drainage systems, leaving parts of the island impassable. Students braved the rain and rising waters, turning up wet and bedraggled, if they made it at all.
Thankfully, this became a thing of the past by the late 1980s. Massive flood alleviation programmes caused this story to recede from newspaper front pages as a modern city-state emerged.
Yet, decades on, we seem to be heading back to the future.
Severe storms are now becoming more frequent.
The result: Last month, pictures and videos of upscale districts in central Singapore inundated hit the headlines again, causing much consternation.
But even as the authorities rushed to unveil plans in response to the public concerns, a minister warned that as intense rainfall was becoming more common with global warming, people might have to get used to flash floods from time to time.
Rising sea levels is an existential issue for this low-lying island, about a third of which is less than 5m above the mean sea level. The country's Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong has estimated that over $100 billion might be needed over the next decades to tackle the rising tides caused by warming seas and melting ice sheets. - Straits Times
Covid-19: 258 deaths recorded yesterday
Malaysia's fatality rate from Covid-19 has now risen to 25,695 after another 258 deaths were recorded yesterday (Monday, Sept 27).
Out of yesterday's deaths, 75 of them were brought-in-dead (BID) cases bringing the tally to 5,097, according to the data shared by the Health Ministry on CovidNow as of 11.59pm last night.
The seven-day average of actual deaths stood at 87.
In the Klang Valley, there were 81 deaths reported with 56 in Selangor and 25 in Kuala Lumpur.
Putrajaya had no new reported deaths.
In Johor, 53 deaths were reported, followed by Kedah with 46, Penang (21), Sarawak (19), and Sabah (12).
Kelantan, Pahang, and Perak each reported five deaths, Terengganu and Melaka each reported four deaths, Melaka (four), Perlis (two), and Negri Sembilan (one), while there were zero in Labuan. – New Straits Times
Flood risk in the capital as rain picks up
Authorities in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani have been told to brace for possible flooding after the Royal Irrigation Department decided to increase the discharge rate of the Chao Phraya Dam in Chai Nat in anticipation of more heavy rain.
Thanakorn Tantikul, director of the Ayutthaya irrigation project, said the decision was taken to prevent floods in the northern part of the country, as a monsoon trough makes its way down the length of the country towards the Central Plains and upper South.
He said provinces downstream of Chai Nat have been advised to prepare for a possible surge of water from the dam, which may cause floods in low-lying areas.
Separately on Monday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha posted on his Facebook page, saying while the intense downpours brought on by tropical depression Dianmu have begun to recede, heavy rain was still reported in isolated pockets, thus the risk of flash floods and/or landslides remained high.
"The government is doing its best to assist all people. Plans are also being prepared to prevent floods in the lower parts of the country, including Bangkok and its adjacent provinces," Gen Prayut said. - Bangkok Post
PNP lauds Senate measure raising statutory rape age to 16
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday lauded the Senate approval of the measure seeking to raise the age for determining statutory rape from 12 years old to 16 years old.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, in a statement, said the measure would be a "great help" in protecting young persons from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse.
"Naniniwala ako na panahon na rin upang repasuhin ang batas hinggil sa rape dahil na rin sa nagbabagong sitwasyon sa lipunan (It is about time the law on rape be amended due to the changing times),” Eleazar said. “Any measure that will ensure the creation of a safer environment for children will always be supported by the police organization."
As he expressed gratitude to the lawmakers over the bill's passage at the Senate, Eleazar said it was necessary to have an urgent response for child sexual abuse. - Philippine News Agency
HCM City gradually removes checkpoints in COVID-free areas
HCM City authorities are gradually removing barriers at pandemic checkpoints that blocked off alleys, residential areas and some roads in green (safe) zones.
Tran Phi Long, chairman of District 1’s People’s Committee, told Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper that some checkpoints managed by the district in wards’ green zones had been removed.
Checkpoints managed by city police would wait for direction from the city government for the next steps after September 30, he said.
Truong Minh Kieu, chairwoman of District 5’s People’s Committee, said district authorities were gradually removing checkpoints in green zones. Checkpoints in the red zones - zones with COVID-19 cases - are still in place.
“The removal is being done step by step" to ensure that locals understand pandemic prevention regulations. – Vietnam News
Delta causing a strain in provinces
The spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 is fast becoming a nightmare for provinces bordering Thailand especially after checkpoints were reopened for returnee migrant workers since August 13.
Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, Siem Reap, Battambang and Preah Vihear provinces, all frontline provinces, are facing a daily deluge of Cambodian migrant workers who are returning from Thailand.
Battambang provincial governor Ngoun Rattanak told Khmer Times yesterday that the number of Delta cases is rising due to the imported cases mostly from migrant workers and community cases are also increasing daily.
He that since the variant was detected in the province the number of cases in the province now stands at 300. - Khmer Times
Exports plummet by $534m at Muse due to COVID-19 border closure
Exports at Myanmar’s most important overland trade route have plummeted by $534m over the past year because of China’s shutdown of border gates at the Muse 105 Mile Trade Zone, new figures from the junta-controlled commerce ministry show.
Four of the five gates at Muse have been closed since April last year while the fifth was shuttered in July as Covid-19 cases surged across Myanmar.
Myanmar’s total export revenues at Muse fell to a little over $2.4bn for the past financial year, down from $2.95bn the year before.
Min Thein, vice president of the Muse Rice Wholesale Centre, said large amounts of rice and beans intended for export to China are now sitting in storage.
“All we could do was unload the trucks, put the stuff in the warehouse and wait for the gate to open,” he said.
Importers, truck drivers and warehouse workers have also faced hardship because of the shutdown. - Myanmar NOW
Minister Plate urges older adults to get vaccinated
Minister of Communication and Informatics, Johnny G. Plate, has asked older adults to get vaccinated without delay considering that they face the highest risk of death due to COVID-19.
"Let's take and accompany our elderly parents or relatives to the nearest vaccination booth. For those who have motor limitations, help make it easier for them to visit the location. If there are other concerns, such as comorbidities, accompany them to the doctor for expert advice," the minister said in a statement released on Monday afternoon.
Plate asked all parties, including families, to ensure older adults get vaccinated.
"Ensure they immediately get the vaccination jab to reduce the risk of serious illness and death. We know that older adults have a high risk of mortality," he said.
In addition, he also asked regional governments to make a strategy to expedite vaccinations and overcome the obstacles that hinder them. – AntaraNews.Com