ASEAN News

SINGAPORE: Singapore has one of the most successful strategies in the world to fight the coronavirus pandemic, but there is growing concern among rights activists that this is coming at a price, with “unjustified surveillance” through the communication tracing mechanisms of the government. With slightly more than 59,100 confirmed virus infections, there have been only 29 coronavirus-related deaths in the …

This year, cloud technology, networking, connectivity, communications, and security are expected to be the top areas of IT activity in the ASEAN region as companies are reshuffling their technology priorities to counter the effects of COVID-19. The latest research by data analytics and consulting company GlobalData shows that IT adoption from within these top five areas of projected demand is …

SINGAPORE: Plans to provide 37,000 frontline staff in the aviation and maritime sectors with COVID-19 vaccines started on Monday (January 18), with vaccination centers coming into full swing for both industries. During a visit to one of the Changi Airport Terminal 4 vaccination centres, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said that the Sea-Air Vaccination Exercise is already scheduled to vaccinate …

Compared to a year earlier, sea piracy and armed robbery in Asian waters jumped 17 percent last year, with an especially high incidence in the Singapore Strait, an international center led by Japan to tackle the scourge said on Friday. A total of 97 such incidents were recorded last year, of which, according to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Center in …

SINGAPORE: On Thursday (January 14), a Singaporean man was sentenced to a fine of S$ 6,000, 30 days imprisonment by law, for sending falsified documents relating to two shipments of cigarettes to Singapore Customs. Ekbal Din Shaik Dawood, 52, is the sole owner of Turino Export Import, a freight forwarding company. In January and February of last year, the company …

According to people familiar with the matter, Singapore’s Sea Ltd., the software start-up that has become the most profitable business in Southeast Asia, has acquired Indonesia’s PT Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi. After acquiring stakes from existing shareholders PT Danadipa Artha Indonesia and PT Koin Investama Nusantara through its subsidiary Turbo Cash Hong Kong Ltd., Sea acquired full ownership of the Jakarta-based …

SINGAPORE: Qualified staff members of Singapore Airlines (SIA) will begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Changi Airport Terminal 4 on Wednesday (January 13) as part of a vaccination campaign for some aviation employees. Singapore-based staff members who are already on the rostered routine testing programme are available for the vaccine, a SIA spokesperson said on Tuesday. These include cabin crew, …

SINGAPORE – When tackling fake news, social media platforms are hindered by their commercial interests, the Singapore law minister said, stressing the need for the city-state law against online falsehoods, which critics say stifles free speech.K. Shanmugam, speaking on Thursday in an interview for broadcast at the Reuters Next conference on Tuesday, defended the new city-state law against Facebook’s concern …

The year 2020 was a difficult year for Southeast Asia, which faced several disasters caused by severe weather events, particularly in the Philippines and Vietnam, two Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in addition to coping with the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic (ASEAN). Highlighting the urgent need to improve regional cooperation against disaster danger, in his …

Singapore officials have recently admitted that data can also be obtained by the police from their COVID-19 contact tracing software. According to the BBC, Parliament was notified on January 4 that the data could be used for criminal investigations. The officials had previously specifically ruled out, however, that the data would be used for something other than virus monitoring. Singapore …