Think Positive, Think Asean Tribune
The Police are appealing for the next-of-kin of 68-year-old Mr Heng Ah Wau to come forward.
Mr Heng Ah Wau, a former resident at Blk 1 Marsiling Drive, passed away on 12 January 2022.
Anyone with information is requested to call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
Source: Singapore Police Force
PARIS — Novak Djokovic risks being frozen out of tennis as he chases a record 21st Grand Slam title, with rules on travelers who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 tightening in the third year of the pandemic and some tournaments reconsidering exemptions.
The Serbian, who has not been vaccinated, was deported from Australia on Sunday ahead of the Australian Open after losing a court case to have the cancellation of his visa overturned.
Under Australian law, Djokovic cannot get another visa for three years – denying him the chance to add to his nine titles at Melbourne Park – but the government has left the door open for a possible return next year.
The world number one, however, faces more immediate hurdles in his bid to overtake Swiss Roger Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal, with whom he is tied on 20 major titles, as he could be barred from the French Open as things stand.
The French Sports Ministry said on Monday there would be no exemption from a new vaccine pass law approved on Sunday, which requires people to have vaccination certificates to enter public places such as restaurants, cafes and cinemas.
“This will apply to everyone who is a spectator or a professional sportsperson. And this until further notice,” the ministry said.
“As far as Roland-Garros is concerned, it’s in May. The situation may change between now and then and we hope it’ll be more favorable. So we’ll see but clearly there’s no exemption.”
The ministry’s stance was welcomed by Germany’s world number three Alexander Zverev.
“At least it’s clear what’s going to happen,” he told reporters after winning his opening match at Melbourne Park on Monday. “At least they’re saying, ‘OK, no unvaccinated players are allowed to play in the French Open.’
“We know that now in advance, and I can imagine there’s not going to be any exemptions, and that’s OK.”
Next up
The next tournament on Djokovic’s calendar is likely to be the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, February 21-26.
A spokesperson for the event told Reuters that all players would need to provide negative PCR tests before being allowed into the United Arab Emirates.
“(Players) will then need to adhere to the testing protocols and processes stipulated by the ATP and the WTA,” the spokesperson added.
Organizers of the Monte Carlo Masters, which Djokovic has won twice, are awaiting French government guidelines for the next edition in April, while Wimbledon organizers AELTC are also yet to finalize safety arrangements for the major.
However, England’s Lawn Tennis Association said entry requirements for its events, some of which serve as Wimbledon warm-ups, would be determined by the government.
Currently, unvaccinated people can enter England but must isolate for 10 days.
Entering US
A U.S. Open representative said last week that the year’s final major would follow New York City Department of Health guidelines.
Djokovic could have trouble getting into the United States, because foreign air travelers have had to be fully vaccinated since November and provide proof before boarding flights, with limited exceptions.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said there are no exceptions for vaccine requirements “for religious reasons or other moral convictions.”
That rule could also affect Djokovic’s participation in U.S. hardcourt tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami in March.
The Serbian, who is among three ATP players in the top 100 yet to be vaccinated, could also face issues ahead of the Italian Open in Rome in May due to tough COVID restrictions in Italy.
Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told La Sexta TV station on Monday that it would “be great” to have Djokovic play in the April 26-May 8 Madrid Open, which he has won three times, though the government would be the arbiter.
Spain requires visitors to prove they have been vaccinated, had a recent negative test or have immunity based on recovery.
Source: Voice of America
BANGKOK, THAILAND — People in Thailand have faced increased repression of their rights and incidents of torture in recent years, human rights groups and activists say.
The Southeast Asian country saw widespread demonstrations erupt in 2020, with protesters criticizing the powers of the monarchy and leadership of the Thai government.
Calls for reforms saw thousands take to the streets in demonstrations that sometimes led to violence between protesters and riot police in the past two years.
Many activist leaders have faced charges including alleged defamation of the monarchy. Thailand’s “Article 112,” or the lese majeste law, criminalizes criticism of the monarchy. The charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison per conviction.
Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based non-profit organization, released its World Report 2022, saying Thailand’s government has cracked down on the youth-led democracy movement and that human rights defenders have been at risk.
The HRW report added that Thailand’s respect for human rights has gone from “bad to worse” amid the tensions throughout the year.
Only two months ago, youth protesters alleged they were tortured while in police custody following angry demonstrations in Bangkok’s Din Daeng district.
In a report published in November by Al Jazeera, pro-democracy activist Attasith Nussa described how he was tortured while detained after he attended an October protest over the mysterious killing of a 15-year activist during an earlier demonstration. Another teenager also alleged he too was tortured, saying he was burned and beaten.
The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a group providing legal assistance to individuals who had been victims of human rights violations, also told VOA via email that they have found “many cases” at the Din Daeng police station where lawyers were not immediately allowed to provide legal aid while detainees were in interrogation.
Police spokesman Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen acknowledged to VOA that the authorities have received complaints of alleged police torture in the past but questioned the legitimacy of the claims.
“If you were to assess the whole situation, anyone can bring a torture claim against the police after they get detained by authorities. Once you have been detained, police have you [put] forward behind bars. Any torture can happen along the way, not just the police,” he said.
“[Activists] can say anything they want to,” he told VOA in November.
But Pravit Rojanaphruk, a veteran journalist for Khaosod English, told VOA there has been evidence of torture towards activists for some time.
“It exists as far as we know. The authorities have always denied [it]. We have some evidence that torture is not something unheard of.”
The journalist posted a video on Twitter in February that showed authorities repeatedly kicking one protester while he was on the ground.
“If they could do that in the open, there is no question what they are capable of,” he added.
Pitch Pongsawat, an associate professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, said there were claims of torture from activists following a military coup in 2014.
“There are so many issues within this torture. Torturing the criminal in prison is always part of the story of police practices in Thailand. Since 2014, a series of students, some of them got arrested and harassed. We heard more harassment more than torture,” he said.
The TLHR sent VOA a report that states at least 18 people complained of torture following the coup.
In a shocking revelation in August, a leaked video went viral of a Thai drug suspect being suffocated while in police custody. The alleged killing by authorities in Thailand’s Nakhon Sawan province had led to four men being held in custody, including Colonel Thitisant Uthanaphon, nicknamed “Ferrari Joe” because of his extravagant sports car collection. Four more officers are reportedly on the run.
The same month, further controversy unfolded during a street demonstration in Bangkok, as videos surfaced online of police officers firing rubber bullets at close range toward pro-democracy protesters, sparking outrage online.
September saw 13 civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, sign a letter sent to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-cha, voicing concerns over the rights of peaceful assembly.
But with so many claims of mistreatment over the years, change may be near. Some of Thailand’s legislators have long sought an anti-torture law to be implemented and on October 5, Thailand’s House committee on law met to appoint a chair of a panel that would assign lawmakers to work on the bill.
But Chonthicha Kate Jangrew, a prominent pro-democracy activist and founder of the New Democracy Movement group, (NDM), is facing charges under Thailand’s lese majeste law. She maintains acts of torture are still taking place during protests.
“If you look at the torture, the violence by the police, most the time it happened on the street during the protest. One of the biggest problems on the street is that the police claim this is not torture, they say they just do their work and keep the peaceful order,” Chonthicha told VOA last year.
But Kan Sangtong, an observer at iLAW, a human rights group, told VOA he has never seen torture by authorities during anti-government demonstrations.
“I never see police torture with my own eyes. Sometimes, they use force to arrest and many times they use more than force, but they are very careful because the media watch them.”
Police spokesman Colonel Kissana added the police force is committed to following domestic and international law.
“We have made several announcements and several warnings before we perform enforcements. We got to step back, if you cross this line, we will begin our enforcement procedure. We make sure our procedures follow the basic four principles, legality, accountability, proportionality and necessity,” he said.
Thai police are also facing pressure from the country’s media, with one reporter taking legal action against authorities after being hit by a rubber bullet last July.
Thanapong Kengpaiboon, a journalist for Thai-based news site Plus Seven, alleged that this was a deliberate act.
“I think [the police] must have more responsibility when doing their duties, and they have to protect the freedom of the press,” he said.
Source: Voice of America
SINGAPORE — Scientists are struggling to monitor an active volcano that erupted off the South Pacific island of Tonga at the weekend, after the explosion destroyed its sea-level crater and drowned its mass, obscuring it from satellites.
The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard some 2,300 kms (1,430 miles) away in New Zealand.
“The concern at the moment is how little information we have and that’s scary,” said Janine Krippner, a New Zealand-based volcanologist with the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program. “When the vent is below water, nothing can tell us what will happen next.”
Krippner said on-site instruments were likely destroyed in the eruption and the volcanology community was pooling together the best available data and expertise to review the explosion and predict anticipated future activity.
Saturday’s eruption was so powerful that space satellites captured not only huge clouds of ash but also an atmospheric shockwave that radiated out from the volcano at close to the speed of sound.
Photographs and videos showed grey ash clouds billowing over the South Pacific and meter-high waves surging onto the coast of Tonga.
There are no official reports of injuries or deaths in Tonga yet, but internet and telephone communications are extremely limited and outlying coastal areas remain cut off.
Experts said the volcano, which last erupted in 2014, had been puffing away for about a month before rising magma, superheated to around 1,000 degrees Celsius, met with 20-degree seawater on Saturday, causing an instantaneous and massive explosion.
The unusual “astounding” speed and force of the eruption indicated a greater force at play than simply magma meeting water, scientists said.
As the superheated magma rose quickly and met the cool seawater, so did a huge volume of volcanic gases, intensifying the explosion, said Raymond Cas, a professor of volcanology at Australia’s Monash University.
Some volcanologists are likening the eruption to the 1991 Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines, the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, which killed around 800 people.
The Tonga Geological Services agency, which was monitoring the volcano, was unreachable on Monday. Most communications to Tonga have been cut after the main undersea communications cable lost power.
Lightning strikes
American meteorologist, Chris Vagasky, studied lightning around the volcano and found it increasing to about 30,000 strikes in the days leading up to the eruption. On the day of the eruption, he detected 400,000 lightning events in just three hours, which comes down to 100 lightning events per second.
That compared with 8,000 strikes per hour during the Anak Krakatau eruption in 2018, caused part of the crater to collapse into the Sunda Strait and send a tsunami crashing into western Java, which killed hundreds of people.
Cas said it is difficult to predict follow-up activity and that the volcano’s vents could continue to release gases and other material for weeks or months.
“It wouldn’t be unusual to get a few more eruptions, though maybe not as big as Saturday,” he said. “Once the volcano is de-gassed, it will settle down.”
Source: Voice of America
SINGAPORE, Singapore reported 863 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total tally of the disease in the country to 291,849.
Of the new cases, 500 were in the community, 363 were imported cases, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.
There were 675 new Omicron cases confirmed yesterday, of whom 422 were local and 253 were imported, the ministry said.
A total of 196 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with eight cases requiring oxygen supplementation and 13 cases being in the intensive care unit.
Source: Nam News Network
The first Lulu outlet in Johor to offer an extensive range of specialty foods from around the globe and value-for-money products for the surrounding community
JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia, Toppen Shopping Centre has signed a tenancy agreement with Lulu Grocer, a full-fledged supermarket selling fresh food and an extensive range of imported products. Opening later in the year, this new branch is strategically located to cater to the requirements of the local residents. Lulu Grocer at Toppen will be the fifth branch to open in Malaysia and the first outlet in South Malaysia.
Source: Nam News Network