Mongolia has the highest employment rate in Asia with 7.3 per cent. The country has seen a poor labour market with a dipping employment rate. Even during the economic boom from 2010-2014 the employment rates remained steady in the country.

Pakistan has the second highest employment rate in Asia of 5.9 per cent. The political unrest in the country has hugely been contributing to the dampening growth as a result of which unemployment has risen.

Indonesia and Philippines have 5.5 and 5.3 per cent employment rate respectively. The experts blame the worsening Philippine economy on the neo liberal policies that have kept the agriculture economy at a back burner.

The hermit kingdom of North Korea has an employment at 4.3 per cent, closely followed by Sri Lanka with a rate of 4.2 per cent.  Bangladesh and Myanmar both have an employment rate of 4.1 per cent followed by China at 3.9 per cent.

India has been facing worsening job situation with the percentage of unemployed people rising. Malaysia has also seen a slight increase in the percentage of people who are out of labour force at 3.4 per cent.  In South Asia, Nepal has seen the lowest rate of people out of labour force at 3.2 per cent.

Countries like Japan and Singapore have lower percentage of people out of labour force at 2.4 and 2.1 per cent respectively. Vietnam and oil and gas rich Brunei also have an equally low percentage of unemployed people at 2.02 and 2 per cent.

Laos and Thailand are amongst the countries with a low employment with majority of people in Laos employed in agriculture sector. Myanmar and Cambodia have the lowest percentage of people out of the labour force.

With global unemployment predicted to rise, Asian countries have many challenges ahead of them to create jobs and fill the work deficit gap to reduce the social inequality between classes.

Cabinet has approved a new bill against widespread of fake news. The anti-fake news bill is expected to pass in the last session of parliament sitting.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman is expected to table the new bill in parliament next Monday.

A source told Sin Chew Daily that the cabinet has discussed the bill for many times due to prevalence of fake news. In order to protect people from continuing to be deceived, the government is drafting new law to curb widespread of fake news and rumours on social media.

Sources said according to the new bill, fake news is defined as untrue news and non-existence.

“Fake news is getting out of control and more people are victims of fake news. Some also make use of loopholes in law to deceive people online.”

It is learned that the new bill is targeting at social media.

The sitting of lower house or known as Dewan Rakyat is scheduled from 5 March to 5 April while upper house or senate 26 March to 5 April.  The government plans to pass the bill in this session of parliament sitting.

Earlier Azalina had said that the government set up a special law committee to look into ways to curb fake news which may threaten political stability, public order and national security. Fake news do not only appear in print and broadcast but also social media. Existing law is no longer adequate.

Printing Press and Publication Act 1984 is different from anti-fake news bill as the former is more on permit regulation.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chief executive officer Dr Mazlan Ismail has earlier suggested to amend Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act to increase penalty to RM500,000 fine (USD128,205) and 10 years’ jail.

Under Section 233 (1) of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act, one is liable to be jailed one year and a maximum fine of RM50,000 (USD 12,820) fine for spreading fake news on internet or handphone.

    Their warnings were made to a parliamentary committee which is examining possible measures, including legislation, to tackle false online information which the government says could threaten national security.

Executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter appeared before the committee Thursday, and are among scores of experts, academics and activists called to testify over eight days.

The financial hub is among several countries looking at legislation to rein in fake news but critics have cautioned this could be used to curb free speech. The Singapore government has denied it is trying to restrict free speech.

In a submission given to the committee before testifying, Alvin Tan, Facebook’s head of public policy in Southeast Asia, said: “We do not believe that legislation is the best approach to addressing the issue.

“Singapore already has a variety of existing laws and regulations which address hate speech, defamation and the spreading of false news.”

His comments came as Facebook is embroiled in a privacy scandal following revelations that British data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica exploited the personal data of millions of users of the social network.

Google also raised concerns about a fake news law, saying in a written submission that “an effective way of combating misinformation is through educating citizens on how to distinguish reliable from unreliable information”.

Instead of legislation, it called for “promoting quality journalism to ensure that there is a robust network of fact-checking organisations providing reliable information and debunking falsehoods”.

About 164 people have written to the committee to give their views on combating fake news. After the hearings, which are scheduled to end next week, the committee will make recommendations to MPs within months.

Legislation is among the options under examination by the committee, and no details about any possible law have been made public.

Domestic media is tightly controlled in Singapore, and the country is ranked 151 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. A number one ranking is the best.//AFP

India’s main opposition Congress party said that neither the party nor party president Rahul Gandhi has ever hired the services of the beleaguered company.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had questioned links between Congress and the company following media reports about the party’s plans to use the firm’s services next year’s elections.

“Will the Congress Party now depend upon data manipulation and data theft to win elections?” Prasad said, according to the Statesman.

Prasad insinuated that Gandhi’s twitter followers were artificially boosted by the firm, a charge the Congress Party denies.

Cambridge Analytica stated on its website that it had supported Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in Kedah province resulted in the BN coalition wresting Kedah back from then opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat in 2013.

The Najib Razak administration said on Tuesday that Cambridge Analytica had not been contracted, employed or paid in any way by BN, the Prime Minister’s Office or any part of the government of Malaysia.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said any services were provided personally to former BN leader turned opposition politician Mukhriz Mahathir. A former media officer to Mukhriz backed the claim.

“The 2013 election advice for Kedah was provided to Mukhriz personally,” Azrin Zizal said in a statement on Wednesday.

Azrin, the South-East Asia head of SCL group, Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, claimed that he had worked with Mukhriz personally and provided communications and strategy advice for him until 2015, reported The Star newspaper.

Mukhriz, a former menteri besar of Kedah who is now vice-president of Malay nationalist party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, denies ever working with Cambridge Analytica.

Editorials in several Asian newspapers pointed to the use of Cambridge Analytica across Asia and said that the scandal wouldn’t deter the company or other similar companies from being employed in future campaigns.

An editorial in the Nation Newspaper said that “it is highly likely that Thailand will see the use of voter profiling through social media in the next general election.”

The Nation cited cyber-security researcher Bhume Bhumiratana who said that the profiling of social media users was nothing new as marketing firms have been doing it for some time.

According to Bhume, it wasn’t a stretch for marketing firms to use the data mined in previous work to target specific sections of the electorate before going to say that for many Facebook users, their data was already likely collected by various apps.

“There is a high likelihood these apps will use our personal data in the wrong way,” Bhume said.

Arthit Suriyawongkul, coordinator of Thai Netizen Network, a leading non-profit campaign that advocates digital rights and liberties, said that profiling could be done easily in Thailand as the country still has no law that protects personal data in general.

However, he saw nothing wrong with political parties campaigning about what their prospective voters want to hear, unless the database is misused or illegally obtained. “There should be no problem if the parties can keep their promises,” he added.

He said he was more concerned that this issue could be used by the Election Commission or the National Broadcast and Telecommunications Commission as a reason for tighter control of social media.

In India, politicians warned social media platforms of repercussions if the platforms were used to influence the country’s electoral process through undesirable means.

Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that any attempt by social media sites, including Facebook, to influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means will not be tolerated, he told reporters in Parliament House complex.

“If need be, strong action will be taken,” he said.

The statement, delivered by New Zealand’s representative on behalf of 44 countries, raises concerns about the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha and the forced dissolution of his Cambodia National Rescue Party as well as about “a significant clampdown on the press and civil society across the country”.

“As we near the elections scheduled for 29 July this year, our previous optimism has been replaced by deep concern about the recent serious decline of civil and political rights in Cambodia,” the statement reads.

It calls for an inter-sessional briefing of the Human Rights Council ahead of the elections. “An electoral process from which the main democratic opposition party has been arbitrarily excluded cannot be considered genuine or legitimate,” it reads.

The 44 countries include Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the US and the United Kingdom. No Southeast Asian countries were signatories.

Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the UN Ney Sam Ol criticised the statement in a response, rejecting all the group’s concerns and accusing the council of being used as “a political tool to meddle in other State’s [sic] domestic affairs”.

“Never before has it been like it is today; this Council has been dramatically politicized,” he says in a transcript of his remarks, arguing that the session under which the statement was read out did not have Cambodia on the agenda.

“It is not acceptable and it is not fair for Cambodia where the menu clearly mentions only sardine is to be served, but surprisingly tuna is put on the table, instead,” he said.

He goes on to say he “vehemently opposes” any suggestion of having an inter-sessional briefing on Cambodia, and characterises such a briefing as an effort by unnamed governments to bring about regime change.

“Therefore, Cambodia categorically dismisses this politically motivated statement, which bears ill intent to militate against Government’s effort in maintaining law and order, in fostering peace, stability and development for its people,” he said.

The Human Rights Council is scheduled to discuss Cambodia on Thursday afternoon.

This was revealed by Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali. He said that the department had received a court order for Datin Rozita Mohamad Ali to be blacklisted.

“We are also checking whether she has attempted to leave the country,” he said when contacted on Thursday (March 22). On Wednesday (March 21), the High Court was told by Selangor prosecution director Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad that Rozita and her bailor – a Royal Malaysian Air Force official – could not be contacted.

DPP Muhammad Iskandar said that they went to Rozita’s house in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, her family’s home in Melaka and the bailor’s home to serve the notice for them to appear in court, but no one was around.

He said attempts to serve the notice on Rozita and the bailor were made right until Tuesday (March 20) night.

On March 15, Rozita, 44, was bound over for five years on a good behaviour bond of RM20,000 for causing grievous hurt to her maid Suyanti Sutrinso, 21.

Rozita was charged with using, among others, a kitchen knife, a steel mop and an umbrella, to attack Suyanti at a house in Mutiara Damansara on June 21, 2016.

The maid suffered multiple injuries to her eyes, both her legs, her hands and internal organs. She also had a broken scapula, injuries to her right lung, a blood clot near her brain and a fracture to her cheek.

Rozita was initially charged with attempted murder. She was later charged under Section 326 of the Penal Code for causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means.

Judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar meted out the sentence against Rozita after she pleaded guilty to the amended charge.

The case was covered by the international media and a video on it went viral on social media.

Deputy Public Prosecutor, VV Suloshani, who prosecuted, had said the case affected the country’s image and the good relations between Indonesia and Malaysia.

As of March 22, some 70,000 people have signed an online petition (https://www.change.org/p/dato-equal-justice) calling for justice to be served equally to the rich and poor.

    Ride-sharing giant Uber has already suspended use of self-driving cars after one of its vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian Sunday in the US state of Arizona.

“We cannot speculate on the cause of the incident or what it may mean to the automated driving industry going forward,” Toyota said in a statement issued via the US company that conducts its autonomous vehicle research TRI.

“TRI is pausing Chauffeur mode testing to let its drivers emotionally process this tragedy. We’re monitoring the situation and plan to resume testing at an appropriate time,” the statement said.

“This pause is meant to give them time to settle their feelings and come to a sense of balance.”

Toyota said it would continue its tests of semi-autonomous cars on closed circuits.

But all testing of autonomous cars on public roads, which was previously being conducted in Japan and the US states of California and Michigan, is on hold.

Toyota, like Uber, has safety drivers behind the wheel of its autonomous cars during testing, though the drivers are not typically expected to operate the vehicles.

The Uber accident was the first fatal self-driving car crash involving a pedestrian and has raised fresh concern about the safety of autonomous vehicles.

German automaker BMW said Wednesday expressed sympathies over the incident but said it would not affect its self-driving car project, while Nissan has made no comment.//AFP

Win Myint, a trusted aide of Aung San Suu Kyi, is tipped to become Myanmar’s new head of state after President U Htin Kyaw resigned yesterday due to health reasons.

Analysts, however, expect no other changes in the government.

Shortly after the President’s Office announced the resignation of Htin Kyaw, Lower House speaker Win Myint also put in his papers.

The resignation of the two senior political figures took place only a day after Suu Kyi returned home after the Australia-Asean special summit where the Rohingya crisis was comprehensively discussed and Asean was urged to play a bigger role.

While Asean has followed its traditional policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of a member country, Suu Kyi has been strongly criticised for her role in handling the situation. The United Nations’ human rights body has pointed to a possible genocide since August when violence forced some 700,000 people to flee from Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

Htin Kyaw took office after the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the 2015 election. His role in the administration was ceremonial as Suu Kyi, who was barred by the military-sponsored constitution from the position, created for herself the position of State Counsellor, effectively becoming the de facto leader.

Htin Kyaw is an old school friend of Suu Kyi, who was loyal to her and advised her at the peak of her political struggle and house arrest. The 71-year-old president, who has had a heart problem in the past, has been in poor health and was found to have lost a lot of weight recently. He reportedly received medical treatment in Thailand.

Politicians in Myanmar told The Nation that Htin Kyaw’s move to step down was due to health problems.

“We believe President Htin Kyaw resigned from his post because of his health. We need to respect his decision,” said NLD spokesperson Monywa Aung Shin.

“We’ve been hearing about President Htin Kyaw’s medical treatment for a long time. Everybody knows that he needs to take rest. So, we are not surprised by this development,” said Nanda Hla Myint, spokesperson of the rival Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The USDP was the ruling party during the previous administration under General Thein Sein.

Win Myint, 66, who is tipped to be the new president, is also a long-time trusted Suu Kyi loyalist. He served on the NLD’s executive committee for many years. He became House speaker after the 2015 election victory because of his background in law.

According to the constitution, Myanmar’s parliament would appoint a new president within a week.

Vice President Myint Swe, a retired general who took the position under the military quota, will be the acting president until the new head of state is appointed.

Analysts said the new president must be someone who is trusted by Suu Kyi. “We strongly believe Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will make an excellent choice again, selecting another capable leader who can lead the government and the country in line with NLD’s mission, vision and regulations,” said Monywa Aung Shin, an NLD executive committee member.

“Anyone who she selects as president will be someone she has complete trust in,” independent analyst Richard Horsey was quoted as saying by AFP. “That trust is the basis of her being the seat of power in Myanmar. She has no power under the constitution. Any power comes from that relationship with the president.”

Nanda Hla Myint agreed, saying, “We believe that the new president will be the second U Htin Kyaw – the one who she can trust, who obeys her, who is capable of making her desires happen, and who is really willing to follow her instructions. So, there will be no significant impacts.

“We do not expect many changes in Myanmar’s political climate due to this announcement. We believe Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to lead the State even though U Htin Kyaw resigned from his post,” he said.

Maung Maung Lay, vice president of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the private sector understands the nature of political change and is willing to cooperate with the new president.

Aleksandr Kogan said that British firm Cambridge Analytica, which is at the centre of a major scandal rocking Facebook, assured him that what he was doing was “perfectly legal and within the terms of service” of the social media giant.

A former CA employee says the company was able to create psychological profiles on 50 million Facebook users through the use of a personality prediction app that was downloaded by 270,000 people. It did so by scooping up data from the users’ friends on the social network — as was possible under Facebook’s rules at the time.

CA has blamed Kogan, the University of Cambridge psychologist who developed the personality survey called This Is Your Digital Life, for misusing the data. Kogan told the BBC he was “stunned” by the allegations against him.

“The events of the past week have been a total shell shock. My view is that I’m being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica,” he said. “Honestly, we thought we were acting perfectly appropriately. We thought we were doing something that was really normal.” He added:

“We were assured by Cambridge Analytica that everything was perfectly legal and within the terms of service.” CA’s chief executive Alexander Nix — suspended on Tuesday — was recorded boasting that the firm played an expansive role in US President Donald Trump’s 2016 election bid, doing all of its research, analytics as well as digital and television campaigns.

CA has denied using Facebook data for the Trump campaign and said it had in any case been deleted. Facebook says the data was taken without its knowledge and has launched its own investigation into CA.