ASEAN News

SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) has registered 741 new coronavirus infections, taking the total cases to 20,939. Out of these cases, majority are involving foreign workers residing in dormitories and five Singaporeans and permanent residents More than 50 clusters were linked to the foreign workers living in dormitories. Out of 323,000 migrant workers living in dormitories, 17,757 has …

MANILA – The Philippines has secured the top spot of the most fiscally transparent budget in Southeast Asia in in the 2019 Open Budget Survey (OBS) transparency index released on April 29. The country’s score exceeded its South east asian neighbor with Indonesia’s score at 70, Thailand’s 61, Malaysia’s 47, Timor-Leste’s 40, Vietnam’s 38, Cambodia’s 32 and Myanmar’s 28. Philippines …

The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Thursday (May 7) that a thermal low cell covers upper Thailand while southerly and southeasterly winds prevail over the Northeast, the East, the Central and the lower North. The department forecast hot to very hot weather with thundershowers and gusty winds in the areas. The easterly wind prevails over the Gulf and the South …

A video showing the throw out of the body of Indonesian ship crew into the sea from a Chinese fishing ship, viral on social media. One of the South Korean television media broadcasted the video and was disseminated by South Korean Youtuber, Jang Hansol in his channel ‘Korea Reomit’. The video that shows a body of Indonesian ship crew thrown …

Malaysia’s Parliament will be convened for only one day on May 18. A 10-week pushback from the original date (March 9), the May 18 seating has to happen for one reason. If not reconvened, the Parliament will stand dissolved by June 5, six months from Dec 5, 2019 when it was last in session. That’s the constitutional mechanism in Article …

Metro Manila – Veteran filmmaker and one of Philippine cinema’s greats died on Thursday morning. He was 76. Ricky Gallaga, his brother, told Visayan Star Daily that the award-winning director passed away at the Riverside Medical Center this morning due to “complications arising from past health conditions”. Peque Gallaga Movies: Magic Temple, Batang-X, Magic Kingdom and Oro Plata Mata Gallaga …

HO CHI MINH – Vietnam’s success in their fight against the coronavirus has been a significant factor to assess possible risks in business as foreign investments are shifting their business to Asian countries including Vietnam. According to global consultancy McLarty Associates managing partner Kellie Meiman Hock, the companies are evaluating how countries are managing and responding to the pandemic as …

MANILA – Solicitor-General Jose Calida said on Wednesday that Congress and not the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should be blamed for the network’s shutdown. “Why blame NTC when they are only following the law?” Calida, the Solicitor General said in a statement to the media. “Without a valid and subsisting franchise from Congress, the NTC cannot allow any broadcasting entity …

To secure rice stocks, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed to open new rice fields in Central Kalimantan. The target is that 900 thousand hectares (ha) of new rice fields will emerge. The plan was again discussed in a limited meeting that discussed foodstuffs today. There are already around 200 thousand hectares in Central Kalimantan ready to be used as …

PHNOM PENH – The Ministry of Health confirmed zero Covid-19 cases for 24 days in a row, keeping the national count at 122 since Monday evening, with no deaths. 51 Cambodians, 40 French, 13 Malaysians, 5 British, 3 Chinese, 3 Vietnamese, 2 Americans, 2 Indonesians, 2 Canadians, and one Belgian were among the recorded cases. No new recovered patient was …