ASEAN News

SINGAPORE – As part of their efforts to revive the region’s ailing tourism industry, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are considering a digital coronavirus vaccine certificate. Allowing people who have been inoculated against COVID-19 to travel may help resurrect an intraregional industry that had surpassed 50 million annual tourist arrivals prior to the pandemic. According to Azmin …

A month after the military seized power in Myanmar in a coup, the Philippines requested the immediate release of imprisoned civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a complete return to the previous state of affairs. In a statement read aloud at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ informal virtual meeting on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. acknowledged …

Southeast Asian foreign ministers are preparing for a special meeting with Myanmar’s ruling military on Tuesday in the hopes of quelling deadly violence and opening a channel to resolve the country’s worsening political crisis. The talks will take place two days after Myanmar’s bloodiest day of unrest since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government a month ago, …

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has a long-standing policy of political non-interference in member states’ internal affairs. Despite the events of the previous five years in Myanmar, where the military carried out “clearing operations” against some 1 million civilians belonging to the Rohingya minority, the association remained committed to that theory. This, though, will not be an option …

Last Feb. 1, on the day of the convening of the newly elected parliament, the world was stunned as the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, seized power after the nation voted overwhelmingly for the return of Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy in the November 2020 election. Asean’s limits are well known, with the ideals …

Scuffles broke out on Thursday between opponents and supporters of the Myanmar coup, as Facebook shut down all accounts connected to the military of the country and blocked advertising on its platforms from military-controlled companies. According to local media, pro-military protesters marching in downtown Yangon, the largest city in the country, stabbed one man and punched and hurled rocks at …

After a bungled trapping operation outside a busy shopping center in Metro Manila, two Philippine police officers were killed and one wounded in an assault with a drugs enforcement team, raising more concerns about President Rodrigo Duterte‘s ongoing deadly drug war. Three Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents were also wounded in the attack on Wednesday evening, although the seriousness …

SINGAPORE: On Tuesday, Senior State Minister for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad declared that Singapore is considering a progressive wage model for the retail sector (Feb 23). The progressive wage model is a program aimed at rising the wages of low-wage workers by developing their skills and improving their productivity. In 2015, the scheme began. If included, under the progressive wage model, …

SINGAPORE – Without fear of spreading the coronavirus, Singapore has been testing a ‘bubble’ business hotel that will allow quarantined executives arriving in the country to conduct face-to-face meetings and even exchange documents. The bubble was set up in an exhibition venue near Changi airport in the city-state and has separate air ducts for tourists and guests, plus hundreds of …

The Hong Kong and Singapore governments are continuing negotiations about a quarantine-free travel bubble between the two cities that was postponed last year after a surge in Covid-19 cases occurred in Hong Kong. There are close discussions in Singapore and Hong Kong on the Air Travel Bubble. When we are ready, we will announce more information,’ says Daniel Ng, Director …