ASEAN News

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 …

METRO MANILA – ABS-CBN, the country’s largest broadcast network, has been ordered to stop broadcasting immediately after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease and desist order against the Lopez-led firm. The leading media network in the Philippines received a cease-and-desist order one day after the media giant’s broadcast franchise has been expired. Just before its main channel went …

Noting so far that the current governing coalition had not displayed true coherence, Everyone should have come together to prevent disunity, which was one of the big shortcomings of PH. In view of this, political observers have played down PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin’s possibility of bringing the party back to Pakatan Harapan (PH), the alliance that he abandoned before joining …

The government has decided on a ban on homecoming or ‘mudik’ during the Covid-19 pandemic to prevent the spread of the virus from April 24 to May 31. The ban is for regions that have implemented large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), red zones of coronavirus spread, and agglomeration of PSBB. A number of vehicles that are found to be heading to …

Authorities on the Island of Koh Phangan in Southern Thailand have arrested 7 Russian tourists for violating the emergency decree. All 7 Russians were caught partying and drinking on Sunday night, police said. Acting on a complaint filed by local residents on Koh Phangan, police raided a house at Nai Wok village shortly after midnight. According to the Bangkok Post, neighbours …

Thailand’s Prime Minister has come up with a novel idea, a two-hour time limit on shopping mall visits to help curb the Coronavirus. The Thai PM’s latest brain storm came during a briefing in Bangkok on Tuesday. Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha also said the number of people allowed in at any one time will also need to be restricted. “We’re preparing …

SINGAPORE – A 61-year-old man has been arrested by the police for attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a National Parks Board (NParks) officer at Sengkang East Drive and and fleeing on bicycle. The man was seen without a face mask and cutting plants illegally were the NParks officers are installing SafeEntry signs at the park connector. When the officers …

Laura Sarreal Elorde, Philippine’s Boxing Matriarch and widow of the late WBC and WBA junior lightweight champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, passed away peacefully on Sunday. She was 92. The grand old lady of Philippine boxing succumbed to pneumonia on Sunday morning. She was taken to Perpetual Help Medical Center ICU in Las Pinas three weeks ago due to low oxygen. …

SINGAPORE – Ministry of Manpower (MOM) Minister Josephine Teo said on Monday that as early as January, the well-being of migrant workers during the Covid-19 pandemic was “on the radar”. She explained that the Ministry of Manpower has contacted dormitory operators after the country has recorded its first  and mobilise whole-of-government resources confirmed cases of the Coronavirus by limiting the …