ASEAN News

Singapore – Primary school students will return to school for face-to-face lessons progressively from next week, while the year-end examinations for Primary 3 and 4 students will be cancelled, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Thursday (Oct 7). Year-end examinations for Primary 5 pupils will, however, still proceed under strict Covid-19 infection controls, MOE said in a statement. This …

Singapore – Singapore’s parliament has approved a law that gives broad powers to the government to deal with foreign interference that has sparked concern from the opposition and experts about its wide scope and limits on judicial review. The small and open city-state, which says it is vulnerable to foreign meddling, targeted fake news with a far-reaching law in 2019, …

ASEAN – Netflix has scored another success with the new Korean series Squid Game, which is on track to become the streaming service’s highest-rated series of all time. According to co-CEO Ted Sarandos, the Korean dystopian horror thriller is on pace to become the streaming service’s most popular program in a language other than English. Sarandos, who is also Netflix’s …

Russia – Russia’s old imperial dynasty descendant wedded his Italian fiancée in the first royal wedding on Russian territory in more than a century, since tsarist times. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov married Italian Victoria Romanovna Bettarini at Russia’s old imperial capital St Petersburg’s St Isaac’s Cathedral. The lavish ceremony was performed by Russian Orthodox clergy in front of hundreds …

Myanmar – An ASEAN special envoy dedicated to promoting dialogue in Myanmar’s coup-torn nation is unlikely to be permitted to meet with deposed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as stated by the country’s military regime. According to a monitoring organization, more than 1,100 people have died in the post-coup violence in Myanmar, and the Association of South-East Asian Nations …

Singapore – Panasonic is laying off 700 employees in Singapore because it will cease producing refrigeration compressors by September 2022. According to Panasonic’s news statement released on September 23, in order to guarantee that all impacted workers are “well-supported”, they have been collaborating with the relevant authorities, government agencies and United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries (UWEEI). The company is …

Leodegario “Ka Leody” de Guzman, the labor leader, has accepted the candidacy of a socialist political party to run for President next year. “Tinatanggap ko ang hamon niyo,” Mr. de Guzman remarked during Tuesday’s national convention of the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) which translates to “I accept your challenge.” The labor activist said that if he wins, he will …

The 28-year-old Elizabeth Tan, a Malaysian singer and actress, has decided to delay the release of her newest song until she can reach an agreement with company Warner Music. According to Elizabeth, even though her contract ended in February, the agency has refused to release her. She said that her contract with Warner Music has technically expired. Indeed, in January, …

Myanmar’s government has denied cutting internet access in conflict-torn areas, putting responsibility of recent data outages on anti-coup protestors for damaging military-owned communications towers. The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration in February, sparking massive anti-government demonstrations that security forces have attempted to suppress via deadly crackdowns. To fight back, …

The release of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou may revive bilateral ties with the US and Canada, but “toxic political rhetoric” may still “poison” the environment, state media of China reported on Monday (Sept 27). The governing Communist Party-backed Global Times newspaper claimed Meng’s return to China was a sign of improving bilateral economic and trade tensions but accused “anti-China elements” …