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[Singapore] One-time check-in at public venues when entry via TraceTogether kicks in

Feb 03. 2021A single check-in with the TraceTogether app or token to public venues such as malls will suffice in the future. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

By Kenny Chee
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – The inconvenience of checking in and out with SafeEntry at different stores within a shopping centre will be a thing of the past once compulsory TraceTogether-only SafeEntry kicks in.

A single check-in with the TraceTogether app or token to public venues such as malls will suffice in the future, according to a written parliamentary reply on Monday evening (Feb 1).

Currently, people who visit public places that have many visitors or have a high transmission risk of Covid-19 – malls, dine-in eateries and workplaces, for example – must check-in using SafeEntry or TraceTogether for contact tracing purposes in the event of a detected coronavirus case.

After checking in, they have to do so again when entering other places within the venue, such as large shops in a mall.

Check-ins using TraceTogether is not mandatory for now.

But Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said in a written parliamentary reply to Mr Leon Perera (Aljunied) that with the better TraceTogether coverage after the implementation of TraceTogether-only SafeEntry at public places, “we will also remove some existing SafeEntry check-ins to minimise public inconvenience”.

“For example, after checking in to a mall via TraceTogether-only SafeEntry, a customer would no longer need to check in to larger retail stores and supermarkets inside the mall,” said Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security.

But there are exceptions.

Regardless of prior check-ins, patrons need to still check in with TraceTogether-only SafeEntry at establishments where the transmission risk is higher, as people are likely to be in close proximity for long periods of time or may remove their masks for legitimate reasons, like to exercise in a gym or eat at a food and beverage outlet.

The Smart Nation and Digital Government Office said last month that TraceTogether-only SafeEntry will be implemented “only after everyone has had a chance to collect a (TraceTogether) token in their constituencies, and a reasonable period of national distribution is achieved”.

More than 80 per cent of the population have downloaded the TraceTogether app or collected the token.

Public venues are not required to implement TraceTogether-only SafeEntry now, except for events or businesses that are part of ongoing pilots, such as live performances, cinemas and selected nightlife venues.

When TraceTogether-only SafeEntry is implemented, people will not be able to check in by scanning the SafeEntry QR code with a phone camera or the SingPass mobile app, or the barcodes on their NRICs.

This is an issue for some as they have concerns over using the TraceTogether app or token, such as after it emerged last month that the police could use TraceTogether data for investigations into serious crimes including murder and rape.

On Monday, Mr Teo said the Government estimates that more than half of the 40,000 public venues, where SafeEntry is currently mandatory, have already begun accepting TraceTogether token check-ins and are also ready to implement TraceTogether-only SafeEntry.

He also said the Government will help business to get ready for a smooth transition to TraceTogether-only SafeEntry, in his reply to Mr Perera’s question on the matter.

Safe-distancing ambassadors will guide businesses in using the free SafeEntry Business app – already used for reading ID barcodes like those on the NRIC – to scan the QR codes on TraceTogether tokens for check-ins. The Government has also published online guides on using the app.

Businesses using physical scanners that can only read ID barcodes will need to start using scanners that can read QR codes, or use the SafeEntry Business app.

“We are working on potential solutions that would make it more convenient for public-facing businesses to enable the checking in of TraceTogether tokens and TraceTogether-only SafeEntry. Details will be announced later,” said Mr Teo.

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S. Korea’s FX reserves inch down in January

Feb 03. 2021This file photo shows a Hana Bank official in Seoul inspecting US banknotes before their release into the local financial market. (Yonhap)

By The Korea Herald/ANN

South Korea’s foreign reserves edged down in January due to the US dollar’s strength, which trimmed the value of non-US dollar foreign reserves, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The nation’s foreign reserves came to $442.7 billion as of end-January, down $370 million from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the first monthly decline since last March, with the nation’s foreign reserves having risen for the ninth consecutive month in December.

Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

The country’s FX reserves had risen every month since April last year after dropping by the largest amount in over a decade in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic-caused market rout.

Foreign securities came to $404.5 billion as of end-January, down $5.21 billion from the previous month and accounting for 91.4 percent of the FX reserves.

Deposits rose $4.71 billion on-month to $24.9 billion, and gold holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.

As of the end of December last year, South Korea was the world’s ninth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. (Yonhap)

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[Japan] Govt extends emergency to March 7

Feb 03. 2021

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced Tuesday evening that the state of emergency related to the coronavirus pandemic will be extended by a month to March 7 for 10 prefectures.

This represents all the prefectures currently under a state of emergency except for Tochigi Prefecture.

If the government fails to contain the spread of the coronavirus by the new deadline, it will bode ill for the Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo this summer. Suga will be working on infection control with his back to the wall for the next month.

When Suga declared the state of emergency on Jan. 7, he made a point of stating, “We will definitely improve the situation in a month.” Suga clearly does not want to extend the state of emergency multiple times.

On Jan. 7, the daily number of newly infected people in Tokyo rose to a record 2,447. In contrast, the number was only 393, or about one-sixth of that, on Monday, when the government decided to extend the state of emergency.

Suga told people around him that the impact of the state of emergency had become clear, and he was considering extending it on a smaller scale. There was a proposal within the government to add Aichi and Gifu prefectures to the list of prefectures where the state of emergency will be lifted.

However, experts strongly cautioned that lifting the state of emergency would ease the mood of self-restraint and cause a rebound in the number of infections.

In response to the spike in infections, Suga shifted his focus from reviving the economy to curbing the virus. In the end, he chose what a government official called “the most prudent measure” of only lifting the state of emergency in Tochigi Prefecture.

The Olympic torch relay will begin in Japan in March, and some in the ruling party are saying that canceling the Games will cause a political crisis. To avoid another postponement or cancellation of the Games, it is necessary to find a way to lift the state of emergency by the extended deadline of March 7.

After March, there will be many events that will be milestones for people, such as graduation and entrance ceremonies. If the state of emergency is extended again at such a time, the government’s response to the novel coronavirus will inevitably be criticized by the public. Suga seems to have decided that playing things safe is in his best interest.

Revision of the laws on infectious diseases, which include penalties for people who do not comply with the government’s orders to take steps to prevent infections, are expected to come into effect on Feb. 13. Suga hopes the revisions will help contain the virus. He also expects the public’s anxiety to subside when vaccinations for medical personnel begin in late February.

Suga continues to hope to lift the state of emergency before the deadline, if the infection situation improves sufficiently in relevant areas. The first state of emergency declared last spring was ultimately lifted in stages before the deadline. However, infections spread easily in winter and the hurdles set by experts for lifting the declaration are high.

Shigeru Omi, the head of the government’s novel coronavirus task force, said Monday, “It is necessary to lift the state of emergency in such a way that infections can be maintained at a relatively low level afterward.”

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Mandalay mayor released from detention, placed under house arrest

Feb 03. 2021

Mandalay Mayor Dr Ye Lwin

By YIN MYO THWE
Eleven Media/ANN

Mandalay Mayor Dr Ye Lwin has reportedly arrived back and has been put at home under the control of security guards.   

“He arrived back home in the afternoon (of February 1). He’s all right. We heard he is put at home together with security guards,” said a source close to the mayor.

Dr Ye Lwin himself confirmed that he had arrived back home.

Like him, other cabinet members of the Mandalay Region taken by the military have not arrived back yet, and their situation is still unknown.

After the declaration of a state of emergency on February 1, ministers of the regional government including Chief Minister Dr Zaw Myint Maung and some officials were taken by the military in the early morning and detained in the Mandalay Palace.

Among those detained were the chairman, the secretary and some members of the Mandalay Region National League for Democracy and political activist and monk Bawa Alin Yaung Sayadaw U Sobita. 

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China calls for upholding Myanmar stability

Feb 03. 2021People line up outside a bank branch in Yangon, Myanmar, on Monday. Local banks temporarily suspended service for a number of hours on Monday due to poor internet connections, the Myanmar Banks Association said. [Photo/Agencies]

By YANG HAN
China Daily/ANN

China expressed its hope that the international community would contribute to the political and social stability of Myanmar, which saw relatively calm streets inside the country but increasing tension from outside.

The statement came after a yearlong state of emergency was declared and senior government leaders were detained on Monday following electoral tensions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday, ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting, that outside moves should be conducive to peaceful settlement of disputes and not to complicating the situation.

Barbara Woodward, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the UN, said Tuesday’s virtual meeting on Myanmar was being held behind closed doors “to allow for frank discussion”.

Brunei, speaking as the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said in a statement that the 10-nation bloc encourages “the pursuance of dialogue, reconciliation and the return to normalcy in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar”.

“We reiterate that political stability in ASEAN member states is essential to achieving a peaceful, stable and prosperous ASEAN Community,” the statement said.

United States President Joe Biden threatened sanctions against Myanmar’s military.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday, “We hope for a peaceful settlement of the situation in accordance with the current legislation through the resumption of political dialogue and the preservation of sustainable socioeconomic development of the country.”

In Myanmar, the military announced a major Cabinet reshuffle involving about a dozen ministers. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint were reported to be safe in their guarded residences, while some other senior officials and parliamentarians were still being detained.

The streets of Naypyitaw, the capital, were calm amid the presence of military personnel. Other cities were reported to be largely normal.

“Most of the businesses are open as usual,” said Amara Thiha, a security researcher based in Yangon, the nation’s largest city, adding that banking and telecommunication services have been restored.

The Military True News Information Team announced that all banks were open. All local banks temporarily suspended service for a number of hours due to poor internet connections on Monday, according to the Myanmar Banks Association.

Thiha said the situation in Myanmar was very calm compared with previous political turmoil in 1988 and 2007. The main tasks will be maintaining administrative efficiency in the coming months and reforming the electoral system in preparation for the new election.

Myanmar’s military also re-formed the Peace Talks Committee on Monday to continue discussions with armed ethnic organizations in order to achieve a lasting peace, especially in the country’s northern regions.

However, there was concern on Tuesday about possible uncertainties and outside interference. Dereck Aw, lead analyst for Myanmar at the global consultancy firm Control Risks, said potential large-scale protests could have “the potential to set in motion a prolonged crisis”.

Aw said the best-case scenario involves the parties agreeing to de-escalate the situation and reaching a compromise in the coming weeks.

“The extent of the impact depends on the reaction from the international community,” said Adam McCarty, chief economist at the research and consulting firm Mekong Economics, which operates in Myanmar and Vietnam. He added that Myanmar’s foreign direct investment can be negatively affected by the political situation.

Thiha in Yangon said he is more worried about Myanmar’s COVID-19 response, given the need to mitigate the economic impact on lower-income people in face of the pandemic and potential sanctions.

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Myanmar military pledges new election

Feb 02. 2021

By Eleven Media
Asia News Network

YANGON – The new Myanmar military government has pledged to hold a new national election and to award the right to form a new government to a winning political party.

The pledge was made in an official announcement by the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services Office today.

Its announcement included a statement that the Union Election Commission had failed to solve savere errors on voting results of Nov 8, 2020 General Election.

An earlier press release by the so called Tatmadaw Information Team (Tatmadaw is Myanmar word for military), it cited as many as up to 10.5 million potential fraud cases in the Nov election which the ruling  National League for Democracy (NLD) won another landslide victory.

The military said it had urgent then President Win Myint to organise a National Security Council meeting and Union Parliament meeting to resolve the alleged irregularities in the Nov 2020 voters list. However, the Win Myint government rejected the military’s demand.

Yesterday’s announcement said that the military will reform a new Union Election Commission to check the voters list in accordance with the law.

Meanwhile, the military said it will take charge of health policy and measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, and will be introducing economic measures to ease the impacts on the people.

It also pledged to continue to work on the agreements of the nationwide ceasefire among ethnic groups.

Upon completion of the tasks in accordance with the emergency enacted laws, the military will hold a free and fair Multi-Party Democracy General Election in accordance with the 2008 Constitution Law, handing over the reign to whichever party that wins.

The military’s Myawady News Agency reported that the National Defence and Security Council Meeting was held this morning.

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Myanmar nationals in Singapore shocked and saddened by military coup back home

Feb 02. 2021People entering the Myanmar Embassy in Singapore on Feb 1, 2021. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

By Charlotte Chong
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – Myanmar nationals in Singapore were shocked and saddened by the detention of their country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top leaders, after a coup by the military on Monday morning (Feb 1).

“My heart is in pain for my country’s condition,” said Ms Sisimyint, who goes by one name.

The 61-year-old shop assistant at Peninsula Plaza told The Straits Times that she cried in the MRT train when she thought about the arrests as she was “very sad”.

A Singapore Institute of Management student from Myanmar, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “No one expected this kind of detainment in 2021.”

The 21-year-old, who came to Singapore to study in 2016, was not too worried about his family back home as he believed international pressure will make it difficult for the military to act against civilians.

Myanmar’s military seized power early Monday morning in a coup against the democratically elected government of Ms Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy party.

The military said the detentions were in response to “fraud” in the general election last November. It handed power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposed a state of emergency in Myanmar for one year.

There were reports on Monday that phone and Internet connections in the capital Naypyitaw and the main commercial centre of Yangon were disrupted.

Ms Than Htwe, 45, who owns a phone shop, said she could call her relatives through messaging apps such as Viber and Facebook messenger on Monday morning.

But a 34-year-old finance executive, who declined to give her name, said she could not call her sister who does not have wifi access.

“I tried to call her direct phone line but can’t reach (her),” she said.  

An owner of a trading company, who only wanted to be known as Mr Soe, said that about 80 per cent of his business had stopped as his calls to his business partners in Yangon since Monday morning had failed.

“I hope the situation will get better in the next few days,” said the 33-year-old. 

A 43-year-old shop assistant, Ms Thiryhaing, who goes by one name, added: “We cannot do anything, we can only just pray.”

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Big Hit partnership with Naver, YG Plus a win-win for entertainment industry

Feb 02. 2021Boy band BTS performs during online concert “BTS MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E” conductd via Weverse on Oct. 10, 2020. (Big Hit Entertainment)

By Choi Ji-won
The Korea Herald/ANN

“Big Hit has chosen to increase pie of industry rather than expand just its shares.”

On Wednesday, Big Hit Entertainment, the label of global K-pop sensation BTS, announced its partnership with one of the nation’s biggest tech conglomerates Naver and fellow K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment.

Big Hit stated the firm and its affiliate beNX will invest 30 billion won ($26.8 million) and 40 billion won, respectively, in YG subsidiary YG Plus.

“We highly anticipate synergy between YG Plus’ expansive network in music distribution and the merchandise industry and Big Hit and beNX’s experience in the artist intellectual property business and platform operations,” Big Hit said in Wednesday’s announcement.

In its deal with Naver, Big Hit said the portal operator will be investing 354.8 billion won into beNX through a third-party-paid-in capital increase, while beNX will be taking over Naver’s fan community platform V Live. BeNX is the operator of Big Hit’s fan community platform Weverse.

With the additional acquisition of beNX shares, Naver is slated to become the company’s second-largest shareholder.

“Big Hit and Naver plan to build a whole new global fan community platform through the integration of V Live and Weverse’s user information, content, services and more. The two firms will maximize their synergy, with Big Hit, which holds long-accumulated experience in the entertainment scene, leading the business while Naver focuses on its technological strengths,” the statement read.

BeNX, to which Naver’s fan community V Live will be transferred, will change its name to Weverse Company Inc.

“We’re a company that can create a new ecosystem inside the global entertainment industry,” Big Hit Chairman Bang Si-hyuk proclaimed during the company’s listing ceremony last year, and perhaps the recent set of collaborations with other entities in the industry is the first step in his big plan.

“Big Hit’s fundamental goal is to lead the innovation and growth in the entertainment industry in a direction in which the corporations, artists, consumers and all other members of the industry could coexist,” Bang said in the ceremony on Oct. 15, 2020.

The “new ecosystem” Bang is aiming for is a business structure that can continuously yield profit through the virtuous circle of the companies, music labels and fandom. At a Big Hit briefing in August, Bang stressed “Big Hit’s philosophy has its core in the fans and content,” adding, “Weverse is the center of the ‘Big Hit ecosystem’ that connects the labels, the businesses and the global fandom.”

While Big Hit has continuously faced doubts due to its heavy reliance on BTS — a risky source of profit with the short-lived and fandom-dependent nature of idol groups — the company now seems to be expanding its spectrum of business as an entertainment firm.

“Along with partnerships with Naver and YG Plus, (Big Hit’s) Seventeen has sold over 1.2 million albums and Tomorrow X Together is topping the Japanese Oricon chart. So they’ve proved that they aren’t as dependent on BTS as before and the share prices have actually jumped recently,” culture critic Kim Heon-sik said.

Kim noted that Big Hit’s recent collaborations go beyond merely diversifying its own business models.

“The rules seem to have changed inside the industry, which was evidently competitive. Entertainment firms have realized, especially with COVID-19 continuing into 2021, they cannot survive by fighting alone. Big Hit has chosen to increase the pie of the industry, rather than simply expand its shares inside it.”

Kim further stressed Big Hit’s current strategy is based on the successes and failures experienced previously by other global K-pop labels.

“Big Hit is not following in the footsteps of a certain company or model but making its own through analyzing all of them. They must have also learned from their success with BTS that open communication and the acceptance of change are important. I anticipate this case will set a precedent for other companies in the domestic entertainment scene.” Kim said.

“For Big Hit and its partners, the creation of good content will be paramount. One of the key issues would be that virtual events cannot be repeated — unlike on-site events which can be repeatedly held in different venues and still have unique value. Hopefully the partnerships can lead to unprecedented breakthroughs, not only in terms of the contents but also the lingering problems arising from South Korea’s unique ‘idol system.’”

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Pakistan receives China-donated vaccines

Feb 02. 2021Workers in Beijing load COVID-19 vaccines onto an aircraft on Sunday before it departs for Pakistan. The vaccines, developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group, known as Sinopharm, arrived in Islamabad on Monday, making Pakistan the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government. [Photo/China Daily]

By MO JINGXI
CHINA DAILY/ANN

A shipment of inactivated-virus vaccine doses donated to Pakistan landed in Islamabad early on Monday morning. It was China’s latest move to honor its commitment to make the COVID-19 vaccine a global public good.

“Vaccine cooperation between China and Pakistan demonstrated not only our mutual assistance as all-weather strategic partners, but also our joint efforts as two developing countries to make vaccines a global public good and promote their accessibility and affordability in fellow developing countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular news briefing on Monday.

Pakistan is the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government, but Wang said that China is also providing vaccine assistance to another 13 developing countries, including Brunei, Sri Lanka, Palestine and Zimbabwe.

Wang said that in the next phase, China will continue to provide such assistance to another 38 developing countries in need. It also is participating in the World Health Organization-led global COVID-19 vaccine program COVAX to provide vaccines to more developing countries.

Speaking at the opening of the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly via video link in May, President Xi Jinping announced that COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution in China, when available, will be made a global public good.

“This is what we said, and this is also what we are doing,” Wang said, noting that dealing with the virus requires concerted efforts from the international community.

“We hope all parties will take real actions to provide more vaccines to developing countries and contribute to the equitable use and distribution of vaccines globally so that we can defeat the virus at an early date,” he said.

At the handover ceremony at the Noor Khan Air Base on Monday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed his gratitude to the people and the government of China for helping Pakistan in its hour of need and making Pakistan the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government.

China has continued to show support for Pakistan since the pandemic started, including sending medical teams. Now, donating vaccines is another testament to the traditional friendship between the two countries, he said.

More and more countries, including Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil, have cast votes of trust in China by having ordered or received Chinese vaccines or given a green light to their emergency use.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

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[Japan] Govt to extend state of emergency for 1 month

Feb 02. 2021

By The Japan News/ANN

The government has decided that it will extend the coronavirus state of emergency, sources said Monday.

The government is coordinating to extend the state of emergency for about a month beyond the current end date of Feb. 7. Among the 11 prefectures where the state of emergency is now in effect, local medical services are still severely impacted in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures and in three prefectures in the Kansai region, so the government has concluded that it is necessary to keep countermeasures in place.

The government is considering lifting the state of emergency for Tochigi Prefecture, where the infection situation has been improving, while carefully considering whether or not to lift it for Aichi, Gifu and Fukuoka prefectures.

An advisory board of experts for the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry issues its analysis of the infection situation on Monday afternoon and the government will confirm it, before proceeding with procedures for extension on Tuesday. On Tuesday afternoon, the expert Advisory Committee on Basic Action Policy will decide whether the extension is appropriate. After giving advance notice to the Committee on Rules and Administration of both houses of the Diet, the government task force will make a decision. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to hold a press conference Tuesday evening to explain the situation to the public.

The government plans to ask the prefectures to request that restaurants shorten their business hours and close by 8 p.m. and that people refrain from going out unnecessarily, and to take thorough measures to prevent infections. Even for the areas where the state of emergency will be lifted, the government will request that they keep taking measures to prevent the spread. The Go to Travel tourism promotion campaign will continue to be suspended nationwide for the time being.

The government issued the declaration in Tokyo and three prefectures in the metropolitan area on Jan. 7 and added seven prefectures including several in the Kansai region on Jan. 13. When the declaration was issued in April and May of last year, it was extended for 25 days to cover all prefectures but was then lifted in stages ahead of the end date.