“I am here also to fight for my country, along my teammates and other athletes as well. I will be fine celebrating Idul Adha far from my family this year,” Suhaida, who wears a hijab, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

She went on to say that she and other team members planned to perform their Idul Adha prayers in Palembang, South Sumatra.

When asked whether wearing a hijab caused her any discomfort on the court, Suhaida explained that the Muslim headwear didn’t put her at a disadvantage.

“I always been able to deliver my utmost skill as an athlete in my particular outfit. I enjoy wearing the hijab,” she said.

Malaysia is among the biggest names in sepak takraw. Suhaida’s team won silver at the 29th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur last year and bronze at the previous SEA Games in Singapore.

“This reminds us that prostitution still exists in Jakarta,” the Jakarta Council’s Mualif ZA said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

He was apparently referring to the city administration recently escalating its crackdowns on nightclubs and other establishments in tackling crime, including prostitution.

Prostitution is illegal in Indonesia.

Mualif, a National Awakening Party (PKB) politician, said that he would ask City Hall and law enforcement to reinforce measures to combat prostitution.

The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) announced on Monday that Japanese basketball players Yuya Nagayoshi, Takuya Hashimoto, Takuma Sato and Keita Imamura had been sent home after they were spotted in a Jakarta red light district in full team uniform.

The players were spotted in a notorious red light district of Jakarta in their national jerseys last week, JOC officials told a press conference, saying the quartet had been ordered to leave immediately.    News that Yuya Nagayoshi, Takuya Hashimoto, Takuma Sato, Keita Imamura had been booted out will come as a major embarrassment for Japan, who were forced to send a swimmer home from the last Asian Games in 2014 for stealing a journalist’s camera.”I just feel a sense of shame,” Japan’s chef de mission Yasuhiro Yamashita told reporters.

“We deeply apologize and intend to give the athletes thorough guidance from now on.” The basketball players had dinner after leaving the Games village and are believed to have been solicited by touts on the street to go to a hotel with women, Yamashita added.    “I would like to humbly apologize to the Japanese public, the JOC and everyone who supports basketball for this deplorable incident,” Japan basketball chief Yuko Mitsuya said in a statement.    “We will decide on the appropriate punishment for the four players once we have heard all the facts. We need to work harder to make sure this kind of scandal does not happen again.”Japanese swimmer Naoya Tomita was expelled from the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, four years ago after being caught on video stealing a journalist’s camera.

It’s also far from being the first case of sexual misconduct at a major multisports event, which typically draw thousands of athletes, officials and fans from around the world.

At the 2014 Asian Games, an Iranian official was kicked out for the verbal sexual harassment of a female volunteer, and a Palestinian footballer was accused of groping a female worker at the athletes’ village. In April, at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, a Mauritian official was accused of sexually assaulting a female athlete during a photo shoot.

Organisers say about 18,000 athletes and officials are visiting Jakarta and cohost city Palembang for the Asian Games, a regional Olympics featuring 40 sports.

Mahathir’s five-day visit to China – capped by meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang – was in part meant to move along renegotiation talks on the projects, but the Malaysian leader said more time was needed to achieve his objectives.

The premier continued to demur on whether he was seeking to cancel or defer the US$20 billion East Coast Rail Link and two pipelines worth over US$2 billion.

“If we have to pay compensation, we have to pay. This is the stupidity of the negotiations before. We must find a way to exit these projects … this is our own people’s stupidity.”

‘We like rich partners’: Malaysia’s Mahathir heads to China for fence-mending trip

Mahathir said while the matter was between the Chinese companies building the projects, he had told the government his point of view on why he felt the deals were lopsided.

“They agreed,” Mahathir said.

Mahathir said any anxiousness China felt about his takeover from the Beijing-friendly Najib would have dissipated with his visit. “They did not understand what I was doing. I had to explain myself,” Mahathir said.

With cross-border labour migration increasing, one question for governments has been how to ensure their citizens enjoy social security benefits abroad.

In light of this, labour authorities from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (CLMTV) are working toward an agreement that would guarantee migrant workers’ access to social security when overseas.

They met at the two-day 4th senior official meeting on labour co-operation amongst the CLMTV grouping on Monday in Hanoi.

Allowing workers enrolled in social security programmes in their original country to claim their benefits in another country has become a priority issue for some members of the grouping.

While there’s no official record of the number of annual Vietnamese migrant workers, Vietnam’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (LISA) said there are upwards of 76,000 Vietnamese people currently working in CLMTV countries.

The majority of Vietnamese workers are concentrated in Thailand with 50,000, followed by Laos with 20,000 and Cambodia with 6,000.

“Most of the Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia are independent individual workers. Only a small number are workers deployed to these countries as part of a contracted project or investment,” said Tran Hai Nam, deputy head of the Ministrys social insurance department.

Meanwhile, Vietnam currently hosts about 1,000 workers from countries in the CLMTV area, with the majority coming from Thailand (950), Myanmar and Cambodia with 25 people and Laos with nine.

Nam said these migrant workers in Vietnam are legal, with proper work permits and holding mostly manager, executive, technician and expert roles.

Vietnam’s deputy labour minister Doan Mau Diep expressed his hope that the discussions and presentations within the framework of the conference would bring a clearer understanding of migrant workers’ situation, as well as laws and policies in each country of the CLMTV grouping.

The attention paid to migrant workers would bring “practical benefits to the people and economic development of each country,” Diep said.

The theme of this meeting is in line with attempts to realise the commitments contained in the joint-statement of CLMTV labour ministers in their second convention in August 2017.

This meeting is also helping prepare the agenda for the third ministers’ meeting, slated for Cambodia in 2019, Diep said.

Markus Ruck, an expert on social policy from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said at the conference that despite the significant impacts of migrant workers, their benefit protection concerns have not been properly addressed due to each country’s lax regulations and a dearth of bilateral agreements on the issue.

Delegates from the five member countries shared their country’s social insurance policies and practices for migrant workers. They also got updates about the approval and implementation of ILO’s conventions and recommendations on social protection for migrant workers.

The video, uploaded on YouTube on Korea’s Liberation Day on Aug. 15, shows a woman in a small bikini swerving her mostly exposed derriere to K-pop music. Each of her poses is met with thunderous roars from soldiers

“How old are you?” asks the host, to which the woman, introduced as a fitness model working as a gym coach, answers “21.” The audience erupts in excited screams.

As of Monday at 4pm, the video had been watched more than 60,000 times with nearly 800 comments accusing the program of sexually objectifying women.

Another wrote, “Rampant sexual commercialization noted right here. It’s understood that soldiers have desires but this just makes them look bad.”

Opposing comments also noted that a woman’s body is nothing to be censored, and the fitness model must have voluntarily agreed to be in the show in such a context.

By 5pm on Monday, more than 15,000 had signed an online petition filed Friday asking the presidential office to ban future military performances. Another petition in opposition started on the website Monday asked the government to “not be swayed by feminist groups and restore Army to its natural state.” The latter had garnered less than 10 signatories.

If an online petition posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website garners more than 200,000 signatures within 30 days, the presidential office is required to issue a formal response.

Following the public uproar, the Army’s Capital Defense Command issued an official apology Monday, saying the controversial performance was put together and hosted by a private organization and the Army had no previous knowledge of the details of the program.

The fitness model’s performance had been merely a part of a package that included traditional Korean music, a magic show and singing, according to the CDC. The CDC vowed to thoroughly check future performances in advance to prevent repetition of a similar incident.

The Prime Minister said the projects could not go on due to Malaysia’s financial woes. However, details of the cancellation – including such matters as compensation – would have to be discussed later, he said.

Dr Mahathir said this at a press conference before ending his five-day visit to China on Tuesday (Aug 21).

Chair of the Korean firm’s Social Contribution Committee, Mr Gwang-Chul Choi, handed over the donation to Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Dr Khampheng Saysompheng at a ceremony held at the Attapeu provincial office on August 18.

Speaking at the donation ceremony, Mr Choi said “On behalf of the SK Group, I give my deepest condolences to the local residents who suffered in the accident.”

“We made the donation in the hope that residents will soon recover from the damage as well as the emotional hardship suffered.”

Dr Khampheng said the Lao government highly valued and acknowledged the support given by the Korean company to the Lao government so that it would be better placed to help people affected by the catastrophic flood.

“I would like to thank Mr Gwang-Chul Choi and Mr Sung-Soon Shin for visiting the site. And also, I would like to thank the countries and all other parties that have provided the Lao government with material and financial aid,” Dr Khampheng said, adding that the assistance would help to rebuild people’s lives as well as restore schools and hospitals.

“In the future, detailed recovery plans will be further discussed with the relevant sectors including the central government and the local government in Attapeu,” he added.

Attapeu provincial Governor Mr Let Xayaphone said provincial authorities also expressed their acknowledgement of the Korean company’s donation to the flood relief fund, adding that it would play an important role in helping the flood victims to recover.

The SK Group has been actively involved in the relief and recovery effort since the accident occurred.

The firm provided relief funds directly to the government to help local people return to their normal lives as soon as possible.

On July 27, Tae-Won Chey, Chairman of the SK Group, visited the Embassy of Laos in Hannam-dong, Seoul, and met with Ambassador Khamsouay Keodalavong to offer his condolences and informed him of his wish to donate US$10 million to the relief effort.

In addition, SK E&C has organised a group of about 200 people to carry out emergency relief and restoration activities on site since the accident occurred.

One of the projects SK E&C is involved in is the repair of 8 kilometres of roads leading to villages that were critically affected by the flood. A number of wooden bridges have been replaced with metal ones so that relief supplies can reach flood-affected areas.

The company is now building large-scale temporary housing for about 150 families on a 10,000m2 site provided by the provincial government.

In addition to financial assistance, the Korean company has donated a million dollars’ worth of goods such as food and medical, sanitary and household essentials weighing about 111 tonnes to the Lao government and the flood victims.

The flood in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province is considered one of the biggest such events in Lao history.

The flood occurred suddenly after the collapse of one of five auxiliary dams at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project.

The river is rising because of heavy rains in northern Laos after the remnants of tropical storm Bebinca moved across the region last week.

Flooding has already occurred in low-lying areas of Vientiane as well as in other parts of the country. The warning was issued yesterday after the river level began rising rapidly a few days ago, flooding houses, shops and crops. Many people and their livestock have moved to safer areas as a temporary measure.

The authorities are now working to help those who have been displaced by floods. The rise in the Mekong has caused widespread inundation with many people comparing the situation to the floods of 2008.

A report issued yesterday said the river had flooded 58 families out of 386 houses in Nongda village and 13 families out of 769 houses in Tadthong village, Sikhottabong district, and authorities are helping residents to move to safe areas.

Meanwhile, in Hadxaifong district only five villages out of 36 villages along the Mekong river had been flooded as of yesterday. The number of affected families was not reported and the river had not yet risen to the danger level, according to district governor Mr Kane Vorasane.

“However, district authorities and villagers are keeping a close watch on the river and are moving their belongings to safer places,” he added. Head of the Weather Forecasting and Warning Division at the Meteorology and Hydrology Department, Mr Bounteum Sisouphanthavong, told Vientiane Times they were monitoring weather conditions constantly and working in collaboration with the meteorology and hydrology departments of other countries.

“When the Mekong rises above 11 metres in lowland areas of Vientiane, or other extreme weather conditions are forecast, we immediately send out warnings to the officials concerned, as well as issuing statements on Facebook, websites, radio broadcasts, television and other media outlets, to let people know what’s happening,” he said.

Although rainfall in Vientiane has not been heavy recently, yesterday the level of the Mekong in Vientiane was 11.65 metres at Km 4, while the warning level is 11.50 metres and the danger level is 12.50 metres. In Pakxe the river was measured at 11.68 metres, not far off the danger level of 12 metres.

The Mekong rose yesterday following torrential rain in the upstream provinces of Oudomxay, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khuang, Xayaboury and Huaphan.

In Luang Prabang province, the level of the Mekong measured 16.37 metres yesterday, close to the warning level of 17 metres. The river was 13.49 metres in Pakxan district, Borikhamxay province, touching the warning level of 13.50 metres, and in Thakhaek district, Khammuan province, it measured 12.60 metres, close to the warning level of 13 metres.

The forecast for today is that in Vientiane the river will rise to 12.22 metres at Km 4. In Luang Prabang it is predicted to be 16.35 metres, in Pakxan district 13.84 metres, in Thakhaek 12.84 metres, in Savannakhet 10.64 metres, and in Pakxe the level is forecast to hit 11.72 metres.  The hydrology official said that, although relatively little rain was forecast for the next few days, people who live in low-lying areas along the Mekong in Vientiane and other parts of the country should be on the alert for heavy rain, flash floods, landslides and other hazards.

The authorities are also warning people living near the Nam Ngum and Xebangfay rivers to move their belongings to higher land and to pay close attention to weather forecasts and emergency announcements from the authorities.

Everyone is urged to keep a close eye on weather alerts issued by the the Environment’s Meteorology and Hydrology Department.