These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Smuggling attempt foiled as 17 dogs and 8,520 vape pods found in lorry from Malaysia
An attempt to smuggle 17 dogs in a Malaysian-registered lorry was foiled by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers on Monday (May 9).
A total of 8,520 e-vaporiser refill pods and 20 bottles of Binozyt, an antibiotic, were also found in the lorry.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, ICA said the case was detected when the lorry was directed for further checks at Tuas Checkpoint. During the checks, ICA officers found 17 dogs underneath a makeshift bed and inside the overhead compartment of the vehicle's cabin.
The chemical contraband items were also found under the bed.
After the discovery, ICA referred the Malaysian lorry driver and his attendant to the National Parks Board (NParks) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for further investigations. The dogs will be quarantined at NParks' Animal Quarantine Centre to be cared for and monitored for any illnesses. ICA added that the dogs would not be available for rehoming as investigations are ongoing.
The authority also reminded the public that the import of all animals requires approval from NParks. This is because animals smuggled into Singapore are from unknown sources.
As the health status of these animals is unknown, they may unwittingly introduce exotic diseases into the country.
The well-being of these animals would also be affected by poor conditions during the smuggling process. – Straits Times
Children at higher risk of infections, autoimmune diseases as M'sia returns to pre-Covid-19 normalcy
Two years of Covid-19 restrictions have left children, especially those aged five and younger vulnerable to infections and at greater risk of developing allergies, asthma, hypersensitivities and autoimmune diseases, an expert warned.
Molecular virologist Dr Vinod Balasubramaniam believes this is partly due to reduced interactions with people and nature as a result of lockdowns and physical distancing, which have weakened their immune systems.
As young children enter or re-enter society with the majority of the pandemic standard operating procedures (SOPs) including mask-wearing and physical distancing lifted, they are not able to build up resistance to common bugs or viral pathogens, leaving them susceptible to infections and diseases, he said.
Consequently, he said the rise in multifaceted infections among children is expected now, but these should be treated with caution, especially if they exhibit severe symptoms. Dr Vinod of the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Monash University Malaysia said this when commenting on the recent surge in hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), sudden emergence of hepatitis, and detection of Kawasaki Disease (KD) in children.
"Our immune system works exactly like our brain. It learns and develops over time and exposure to outer microbes is extremely important for it to collect 'data' and store it for future use.
"We have two main pillars in terms of immunity. We are born with an 'innate' immune system encoded in our genes, but this is 'tuned' by our 'adaptive' immune system, which collects data from the microbes around us to determine which are safe and which are dangerous.
"Without the right data, the immune system starts attacking things it shouldn't, causing allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases (when the immune system targets your body's own tissues).
"The prolonged isolation due to Covid-19 lockdown in the previous years has definitely impacted the 'learning' process of our immune system, especially children," he told the New Straits Times.
Dr Vinod noted that the problem would likely be more prevalent in infants than toddlers.
Although the human immune system is largely mature by approximately age six, some key components are still developing into adolescence, he said.
As such, he said the only people who could be certain that the isolation policies would have no negative impact on their immune system's ability to self-regulate were adults. – New Straits Times
'We're open for business'
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will use the ASEAN-US Special Summit in Washington, DC which is set to end later on Friday, to tell the world that Thailand is ready to welcome international travellers back with open arms.
As he made his way to the United States, Gen Prayut posted on Facebook that the visit is an important opportunity to tell world leaders at the meeting that Thailand has now fully reopened to international visitors and moving towards a "Next Normal" in the post-Covid world. Thailand is ready to welcome back visitors – whether they are business, leisure travellers, or those attending meetings or seeking medical care, he posted.
He said more than 300,000 travellers had visited Thailand one week after the Test & Go entry scheme was scrapped on May 1. Many more arrivals are expected from this month until September, and at least 1 million are tipped to visit during the high season between October and November, Gen Prayut said.
Gen Prayut also said that his visit to the US is an opportunity to hold talks with the US president and other high-ranking officials on the issue of cooperation, support for growth and recovery in ASEAN, and Thailand's role as the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November.
The trip will also help assure the US private sector that Thailand is on the road to economic recovery and is ready to rejoin the global supply chain and contribute to digital economy transformation, sustainable development and clean energy, he added. – Bangkok Post
5K-km submarine cable to connect PH, SEA, Hong Kong by 2024
A new submarine optical cable system will soon run along Hong Kong, the Philippines, and other countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) to further boost digital connectivity in the region.
In a statement on Thursday, fibre broadband provider Converge CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Uy announced his company’s involvement in the SEA Hainan-Hong Kong Express (SEA-H2X) cable system – a 5,000-kilometer (km) long submarine optical cable utilizing at least eight fibre pairs between Singapore to Hong Kong with a system design capacity of 160 terabits per second (Tbps).
“This submarine cable system will boost the connectivity between our two points of presence (PoP) located in Hong Kong and in Singapore. Further, this will serve as a crucial infrastructure to add diversity and redundancy to our international network,” Uy said.
He added that the system will “truly diversify” Converge’s international capacity portfolio as transpacific demand will be served by the Bifrost cable system, with trans-Asia demand will be serviced by the SEA-H2X.
In a media bulletin, Converge said the system is targeted to be ready for service in 2024 and will employ “state-of-the-art” optical submarine transmission equipment.
“The construction of SEA-H2X will respond to the high broadband demand between Hong Kong SAR and Southeast Asia countries by providing needed capacity and faster transmission, and in preparation for the coming 5G era,” Converge said.
It will connect the Philippines to Hong Kong, Hainan, Thailand, East Malaysia, and Singapore – with options to extend to Vietnam, Cambodia, West Malaysia, and Indonesia.
The cable system will be implemented by HMN Technologies Co., Limited (HMN Tech) – from its design and manufacturing to deployment.
It said the system will employ an “open system model” to have the flexibility to choose “best-in-breed” submarine line terminal equipment from third-party vendors at a later date. – Philippine News Agency
PM Chinh meets US business community
Cooperation activities between Viet Nam and the US continue to develop strongly in all fields, particularly in investment and finance, with businesses of the two countries playing a very important role, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
He was speaking during a meeting with the US business community in Washington DC on May 12 (US time), as part of the Vietnamese leader’s trip to the US.
The meeting was held by the US-ASEAN Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce.
PM Chinh affirmed that Viet Nam always considers the US as a leading, important partner.
He said the impressive growth of bilateral trade of between 17-20 per cent a year proves that there remains ample room for economic development between the two countries.
Viet Nam is the ninth largest trading partner of the US. Two-way trade turnover between the two countries in 2021 reached nearly US$112 billion in spite of difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the PM said.
PM Chinh added that Viet Nam is focusing on technology renovation, digital transformation and diversification of the supply chain.
The economies of Viet Nam and the US have much potential and strengths that can support each other. On that basis, there are many things that the two countries need to do to benefit people and businesses.
PM Chinh said the world is undergoing many changes with opportunities, advantages and challenges intertwining. – Vietnam News
Saving lives: Cambodia is mulling giving two-year-olds Covid-19 vaccines and a fifth dose may also be authorised
Cambodia is considering inoculating two-year-old children against Covid-19 and administering fifth dose jabs to eligible adults to curtail the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Hun Sen said such actions may be necessary as Covid-19 virus is continuing to mutate itself into various variants, and people all ages have to be shielded against it.
“I am considering inoculating the two-year-old kids as they too need to build their immunity and be protected so that when the virus gets them it will lead to a mild case and not severe,” he said, during a meeting yesterday in Washington DC with Cambodians living in the US and Canada.
“Cambodia rolled out the vaccination campaign for the three-to-five-year-old age group on February 23 so that they can be protected when they are in school for their early childhood education,” he added. Mr Hun Sen, the chairman of ASEAN, is in the US for the ASEAN-US special summit and will return to Cambodia on May 15.
“More than four million students have been vaccinated against Covid-19 and I am now looking at the possibility of inoculating two-year-old kids since we have enough vaccines,” he said.
He noted that health specialists were studying and reviewing data before the vaccination for two-year-olds were authorised.
Similarly, he said, Cambodia was looking to provide a fifth dose for adults to build up strong immunity against Covid-19. – Khmer Times
Detained deputy governor of Myanmar’s Central Bank hit with major corruption charge
A former deputy governor of Myanmar’s Central Bank detained by the junta for more than a year was formally accused of corruption by the military council on Tuesday – a charge that carries a prison sentence of 15 years.
According to an announcement from the military council’s anti-corruption commission, Bo Bo Nge –who was arrested on the day of the February 1, 2021 coup – is accused of violating Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law in a case filed at Naypyitaw’s Phayagon central police station in Ottarathiri Township.
The statement’s allegations center on the junta position that while he was working at the Central Bank under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, Bo Bo Nge was not properly supervised.
The junta report suggested that he failed to tax a February 8, 2021 withdrawal of the equivalent of US$1.4m in kyat from $5m in funds deposited by Open Society Myanmar (OSM) in their account with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank in 2018. OSM’s finance manager, Phyu Pa Pa Thaw, was arrested by the junta the following month in connection with the withdrawal.
This oversight resulted in a loss of 360m kyat (some $200,000) for the state, the military claimed. At the time the funds were withdrawn, Bo Bo Nge had already been removed from his post by the military council and was in junta custody.
He was also blamed in Tuesday’s announcement for reportedly failing to take advantage of optimal interest rates when Central Bank funds were deposited in private institutions, and not enforcing reports on all foreign transactions over $10,000.
A budgeting consultant who spoke to Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity described Bo Bo Nge as a hardworking individual widely respected in the banking sector, and criticised the junta’s corruption case as having been “built out of thin air.” – Myanmar NOW
Chevron and Pertamina announce partnership on lower carbon opportunities
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), through its subsidiary Chevron New Ventures Pte. Ltd. (Chevron), and Indonesia’s PT Pertamina (Persero) today announced a partnership to explore potential lower carbon business opportunities in Indonesia.
Aimed at serving local and potentially regional customers, Chevron and Pertamina plan to consider novel geothermal technologies; carbon offsets through nature-based solutions; carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS); as well as lower carbon hydrogen development, production, storage, and transport.
The partnership follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Washington, DC, attended by Jay Pryor, Vice President of Corporate Business Development for Chevron, Nicke Widyawati, President Director & CEO of PT Pertamina (Persero), Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, and Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM.
“We are excited to build upon Chevron’s nearly 100-year history in Indonesia. This MoU demonstrates Chevron and Pertamina’s commitment to continue identifying lower carbon opportunities through collaboration and partnership between Chevron, national energy companies, and governments, all of which have a shared interest in advancing national energy transition,” said Jeff Gustavson, President of Chevron New Energies.
“Through our potential work in Indonesia, and the entire Asia Pacific region, we hope to provide affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy, and help the industries and customers who use our products advance their lower carbon goals.” – AntaraNews.Com